GRAVETTE -- A sea of orange filled the east and south bleachers at Lion Arena Friday night as the Gravette Lady Lions and their counterpart, the Lions, celebrated Lion Pride night. The Gravette Lions Booster Club handed out orange shirts to every Lion fan that attended this next to last home game of the 2020-21 season. Fans would not be disappointed as their Lady Lions took the conference win over the Farmington Lady Cardinals by 12 points.
The Lady Cardinals struck first with a free throw by Tori Kersey 30 seconds into the first quarter. Farmington managed to hold Gravette scoreless for the next three minutes until Shylee Morrison came alive and hit a field goal, putting the Lady Lions on the scoreboard for the first time.
Throughout the remainder of the first quarter, the lead stayed in Farmington's hands until the 2:40 mark when the Lady Lions came back and tied the contest at nine all. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Lions took were leading in the contest, 16-11.
The Lady Lions continued their roll over the Lady Cardinals, scoring 13 points to Farmington's five to take a 29-16 leading into the halftime break.
Farmington never threatened Gravette's lead in the second half as the Lady Lions took the conference win, 59-47, over the Lady Cardinals.
The Lady Lions had three players in double figures. Shylee Morrison put on a stellar performance, hitting 23 points and making 13 of 14 from the free-throw line for 93 percent. Kaylan Chilton had 13 points, landing 9 of 10 free throws for 90 percent. Dalancie Wishon was the other Lady Lion in double figures with 12. Other Gravette Lady Lions contributing to the scoring effort included Lizzy Ellis with five, Reese Hamilton, Taylor Neustel and Rachel Diehl each with two.
The Gravette Lady Lions returned to Lion Arena on Feb. 9 for senior night and the final home game of the season against the Lady Eagles from Huntsville.
Pea Ridge 50,
Gravette 41
Pea Ridge opened the game with a trio of 3-pointers, and Gravette never recovered as the Lady Blackhawks earned a 4A-1 Conference victory in Blackhawk Arena.
Bella Cates hit a pair from beyond the arc and Aidan Dayberry hit another to give Pea Ridge (16-4, 7-2) a fast 9-0 lead, and the Lady Blackhawks never allowed Gravette (11-6, 4-4) any closer than 12-6 after Lizzy Ellis' 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter.
Pea Ridge led by as many as 14 points on two occasions, the last being 46-32 after Dayberry's free throw with just under a minute remaining.
Blakelee Winn had 12 points to lead the Lady Blackhawks, whose win keeps them tied with Farmington for the lead in the 4A-1's West Division with three games remaining in the regular season. Cates added 11 for Pea Ridge, while Ellis had 10 points for Gravette.
