PREP BASKETBALL: Pitts Remains Sidelined For Blackhawks

Isaac Mangrum, right, of Pea Ridge drives to the basket under pressure from Gravette’s Otto Troutner during Tuesday’s game in Pea Ridge.
Isaac Mangrum, right, of Pea Ridge drives to the basket under pressure from Gravette’s Otto Troutner during Tuesday’s game in Pea Ridge.

— Pea Ridge will be without senior guard Levi Pitts when it travels to Berryville on Friday night for the final regular season road game in the 4A-1 Conference.

Pea Ridge closes out the regular season with home games against league-leading Farmington on Tuesday, and Ozark on Feb. 5. Blackhawks coach Charley Clark doesn’t know if Pitts will be available next week.

Pitts suffered a high ankle sprain two weeks ago. Pea Ridge (18-5, 9-2) is in sole possession of second place in the 4A-1 Conference standings, one game behind Farmington.

“With Pitts being down, we have had to change a few things, and I am pleased with the way we are playing,” Clark said. “We have had some guys step up. When Pitts gets back, we will see what happens then.”

Pea Ridge defeated Gravette 44-43 on Tuesday night when Jacob Hall hit two free throws with 1.9 seconds left. Pea Ridge used an 11-0 run in the second quarter to take command before holding off a furious late Gravette comeback attempt.

— PAUL NIELSEN

Tale of Two Halves For Elks

ELKINS — Elkins boys basketball coach Nate Smith felt his players had too much “tunnel vision” in the first half of Tuesday’s 57-48 loss to West Fork.

Smith watched as his team trailed by nine points after the first quarter and went into halftime down 33-18 to the Tigers (21-3, 5-1 3A-1 Conference).

But the Elks (4-15, 3-4) slowed the pace in the second half, and as a result, Smith said his players were able to see the entire floor and attack holes in West Fork’s defense.

Elkins outscored the Tigers 18-12 in the third quarter and got within 49-41 with 3 minutes, 27 seconds remaining before falling short down the stretch.

“I thought it was a tale of two halves,” Smith said. “I thought the first half we really put a whole lot of pressure on ourselves and we didn’t perform the way that we wanted to. And when things started to snowball on us, they went down south in a hurry.

“When we got in the locker room, we sort of were able to take a deep breath and regroup and really start to execute. When we executed, we really got the shots we wanted.”

— ALEX ABRAMS

Cardinals In Right Position

FARMINGTON — With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the time has come for teams in the 4A-1 Conference to begin the final push toward top seeds in the upcoming district tournament.

And for the Farmington boys, that push to stay on top of the 4A-1 continued Tuesday with a hard-fought 53-46 win against Berryville.

The Cardinals built a 10-point lead at half, fell behind by one point at the end of the third quarter, then rallied early in the fourth to earn their sixth straight win. The victory, paced by a 19-point effort from Chase Garner, moved Farmington to 18-4 overall and 10-1 in the 4A-1 and kept the Cardinals one game ahead of Pea Ridge in the league race.

“This game is the reason why we’re trying to be the one seed or the two seed in that district tournament,” Farmington coach Beau Thompson said. “Anything can happen in a district tournament and you don’t want to have to play to get into a regional tournament. So I think this game will go a long ways as far as us getting there.”

Farmington hosts Lincoln on Friday before a pivotal matchup on the road against Pea Ridge next Tuesday.

— VERNON TARVER

Lady Pirates Ready For Stretch Run

GREENLAND — The defending Class 3A state champion Greenland Lady Pirates may be a game under .500, but they still have a chance to claim the 3A-1 West regular-season title.

Greenland coach Alan Barton loaded up a nonconference schedule, which included teams from larger classifications including several Class 4A teams and also 7A Fort Smith Southside, in order to prepare for the conference race. It looks to be working since the Lady Pirates are 5-1 in the league, despite being only 10-11 overall.

“We hope so,” Barton said. “That’s the idea. We’re happy to be making our way to .500. The great thing is we have Elkins on Friday and West Fork on Tuesday.”

Greenland is tied with league leader Elkins on the loss side, but the Lady Elks have just one more game remaining in the conference schedule, while the Lady Pirates have two.

Barton said the opportunity is there for his team, it must just seize it.

“The seat is there, all we’ve got to do is get in it, take the steering wheel and take care of what we know how to do,” Barton said. “The worst we can be is 5-3 and I told everybody 6-2 would win the conference.”

— PAUL BOYD

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