PEA RIDGE -- The Gravette Lady Lions traveled to Pea Ridge Feb. 8 to face the Pea Ridge Lady Hawks in the final conference showdown of 2019. Unfortunately, Lady Lions fans faced disappointment as the Lady Hawks dominated the contest to take the win by nine.
The Lady Hawks were the first to score, 15 seconds into the first quarter, on a jumper by Gabby Adams. A short time later, Shylee Morrison put up a layup for Gravette's first points of the contest. Pea Ridge built its lead to six halfway through the quarter, but the Lady Lions continued their scoring efforts and managed to cut the Lady Hawks' lead down to three by the end of the quarter.
Gravette was unable to gain much ground on Pea Ridge in the second quarter and trailed by two at halftime.
Pea Ridge outscored Gravette, 22-15, in the third quarter, extending its lead to nine going into the final eight minutes of the contest. The Lady Lions tried to close the gap, but the Lady Hawks held on to claim the conference victory, 64-53.
Jessica Bookout led the Lady Lion scoring drive with 18 points, followed by teammates Shylee Morrison with 15, Kaylan Chilton with seven and Kasandra Tajchman with five. Maggie McKenzie, Gabbi Scott, Abigail Beranek and Hamilton each had two points.
Earlier in the week, the Lady Lions played their final game in the competition gym in Gravette Feb. 5 against the Prairie Grove Tigers. Jessica Bookout and Maggie McKenzie were recognized before a full house of appreciative Lady Lion fans prior to the start of the game
It proved to be a real catfight for the Lady Lions and Lady Tigers throughout the 32-minute contest.
Prairie Grove gained control of the first half, holding Gravette to only six points while building a 14 point lead going into the break. Coach Will Pittman kept his Lady Lion team in the locker room for most of the eight-minute break trying to find a game plan that would work.
Pittman's efforts paid off and his Lady Lions hit the court running, racking up 22 points in the third quarter alone, while holding the Lady Tigers to 14. Gravette managed to cut Prairie Grove's lead down to six going into the final eight minutes of the competition.
The Gravette Lady Lions continued their fast-paced game until the very last second, but their efforts fell one point short, and the Prairie Grove Lady Tigers took the conference win, 46-45, over the Gravette Lady Lions.
No scoring statistics were available at press time.
The Lady Lions finished the 2018-19 regular season at 12-12 overall and 5-7 in conference play for fifth place behind Harrison, Pea Ridge, Berryville and Farmington going into the 4A Region 1 conference race. Gravette began its march toward the state playoffs on Monday, traveling to Harrison for the district tournament.
Sports on 02/13/2019