Pioneers lose conference games to Saints and to Blackhawks

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Blake Thomson (right) missed his opportunity to knock the ball out of Hunter Mills' (Gentry 5) hands as he shoots a jumper from inside the lane during the Jan. 22 conference contest between the Gentry Pioneers and Shiloh Christian Saints in Gentry. Oswald (Saints 25) attempts to block but to no avail, as Mills was able to land the shot for two of his five points for the night.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Blake Thomson (right) missed his opportunity to knock the ball out of Hunter Mills' (Gentry 5) hands as he shoots a jumper from inside the lane during the Jan. 22 conference contest between the Gentry Pioneers and Shiloh Christian Saints in Gentry. Oswald (Saints 25) attempts to block but to no avail, as Mills was able to land the shot for two of his five points for the night.

GENTRY -- It was a rough night to be a Pioneer fan Jan. 22 when Gentry played host to the Shiloh Christian Saints at Pioneer Gym in Gentry. It was all Saints as they pulled out the conference victory over the Pioneers by 17 points.

Shiloh gained control of the opening tipoff and, after about 40 seconds of moving the ball around the court, passed it to Seth Rosenfield on the left wing. He put up a three-point field goal, giving the Saints their first points in the contest. Three minutes later, Gentry hit a layup for its first points of the night.

With just under five minutes left in the quarter, the Pioneers tied the game at four all. But the Saints' offense went on a 14-4 run that gave them a 10-point advantage.

Gentry tried to come back in the second quarter, outscoring Shiloh 11-9, but only cut Shiloh's lead to 27-19.

The Saints continued to dominate the Pioneers throughout the second half behind outstanding shooting by Rosenfield, who ended the game with 31 points, giving the Shiloh Christian Saints the conference win, 64-47, over the Gentry Pioneers.

Casey Bates led the Pioneers in scoring with 21, followed by Blake Wilkinson with 11, Cory Hockenberry with six, Hunter Mills with five and Beau Tomblinson with four.

The Pioneers were on the road for the second conference matchup of the week when they faced off against the fourth-place Pea Ridge Blackhawks at Blackhawk Gym Jan. 25. Gentry fell behind early in the first half and never recovered, as the Blackhawks took the conference win, 73-25, over the Pioneers.

Sports on 01/30/2019