Defense Helps Blackhawks Pull From Wolves

— The first quarter shootout didn’t prove much, so Pea Ridge’s boys turned to a slower pace and made it work Friday night.

The Blackhawks’ stingy defense held Lincoln to just 23 points through the final three quarters and posted a 55-41 4A-1 Conference basketball victory over the visiting Wolves.

Pea Ridge (9-1, 2-0 4A-1 Conference) pulled away in the second and third quarters, when it outscored Lincoln 24-12 and stretched a 20-18 lead into a 44-30 cushion heading into the final eight minutes.

“It seemed like both teams took turns scoring in that first quarter,” Blackhawks coach Charley Clark said. “We started defending a little, and the biggest difference was our defensive rebounding.

“We couldn’t have had more than four defensive rebounds in the first quarter, and they got a bunch of offensive putbacks. We looked like we were a little stagnant, and I would have liked to start the game with some better energy.”

While the two teams slowed down in overall point production, Jacob Hall continued his scoring pace. Pea Ridge’s 6-foot-2 senior guard finished with a game-high 25 points, including five in the second quarter and nine of the Blackhawks’ 11 points over the final eight minutes.

Meanwhile, Lincoln (4-5, 1-1) managed only five field goals through the second and third quarter and went 26 minutes without hitting a free throw until Ossy Escareno hit one of two from the line wit 1 minute, 24 seconds remaining.

“The second half, we just wore down,” Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. “We started playing one-on-one, we got tired and didn’t run our offense.

“That’s the tale of it. When you don’t execute what you practice and turn it into one-on-one against a very good basketball team, it’s not going to work out well.”

Levi Pitts was the only other Blackhawks in double-digit scoring with 14 points. Payton Hulse led Lincoln with 16

PEA RIDGE 55, LINCOLN 41

Lincoln 18 5 7 11 — 41

Pea Ridge 20 12 12 11 — 55

Lincoln (4-5, 1-1): Hulse 16, Barnum 8, Goldman 6, Escareno 5, Simmons 2, McDonnell 2, Brewer 2.

Pea Ridge (9-1, 2-0): Hall 25, Pitts 14, Tillman 5, DeLeon 4, Mangrum 4, Rose 3.

GIRLS: Lincoln 54, Pea Ridge 29

Lincoln blew the game open over the final 12 minutes of the first half, when the Lady Wolves outscored Pea Ridge 21-3 and turned a one-point game into a 27-8 halftime cushion.

Hayle Sugg scored 9 of her team-high 11 points during that run as Lincoln (8-2, 2-0) stretched its lead to 9-5 to end the first quarter. Pea Ridge (1-7, 0-2) only managed a 3-pointer by Casi Caton in the second quarter before the Lady Wolves closed the first half with 12 unanswered points.

“When you don’t hit shots, you don’t tend to look very good,” Lincoln coach Deon Birkes said. “That’s what we talked about. We told them to just go out there. The shots would eventually fall, and when they did, that’s when we really took off.”

Caton finished with nine points to lead Pea Ridge.

LINCOLN 54, PEA RIDGE 29

Lincoln 9 18 14 13 — 54

Pea Ridge 5 3 12 9 — 29

Lincoln (8-2, 2-0): Sugg 11, Rowe 9, Neeley 9, Lloyd 8, Thordsen 8, Rich 6, Cunningham 3.

Pea Ridge (1-7, 0-2): Caton 9, Schooley 6, Cochran 4, Cypert 3, Skaggs 3, Minnie 2, Sanders 2.

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