HUNTSVILLE -- Jim Stafford has won more than 1,000 games in his long coaching career, but every victory he gets is just as special as the first one.
On a night when Huntsville named the basketball court in Charles Berry Gymnasium in his honor, Stafford earned the season's biggest win, a 77-59 victory over Pea Ridge that locked down the conference's No. 1 seed in the upcoming 4A-1 district tournament next week.
Boys
Huntsville 77, Pea Ridge 59
Pea Ridge^14^12^10^23^—^59
Huntsville^16^19^19^23^—^71
Pea Ridge (18-8, 11-2): Caudill 25, Davis 12, Trundle 8, Sheppard 6, Hall 6, Hardy 2.
Huntsvillle (25-2, 12-1): Gosvener 24, Cain 16, Eaton 10, Kirk 10, Garrett 8, Aguilar 6, Pemberton 3.
Girls
Huntsville 51, Pea Ridge 37
Pea Ridge^5^5^8^19^—^37
Huntsville^14^7^16^14^—^51
Pea Ridge (9-17, 4-9): Cochran 16, Anthony 8, Dayberry 7, Skaggs 3, Fletcher 3,
Huntsvillle (22-4, 12-2): Campbell 12, Phillips 11, Tipton 9, Creek 9, Sulffridge 5, McCartney 3, Sone 2,
The Eagles (25-2, 12-1 4A-1) used an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead in the seciond quarter and never let it go. The win avenged an earlier 12-point loss to the Blackhawks (180-8, 11-2).
"There's nothing like a win," Stafford said. "It's better than a dose of medicine."
The Eagles got a balanced scoring attack with four players in double-figures, led by junior guard River Gosvener with 24 points. It was Gosvener's steal of a Pea Ridge inbounds pass and length-of-court layup that started the 11-0 run.
With the game tied at 14-14, Gosvener leaped up to snatch a pass near midcourt, then raced in for a layup and a 16-14 lead as the first quarter buzzer sounded. Caleb Kirk opened the second quarter with a three-point play, and twice more Gosvener came away with steals and buckets as the Eagles raced to a 25-14 lead.
"That helped our confidence a lot," Stafford said of the run. "The thing tonight was, we never let them make a run at us. The kids answered every challenge."
Huntsville got a big game from senior Christian Cain, who came off the bench to score 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. The first was a big bucket after Pea Ridge had cut the deficit to 27-22, and the second came on Huntsville's opening possession of the third quarter.
"Really we've got six starters, Christian is just not in there when the game starts," Stafford said, "He made some big plays for us tonight."
Pea Ridge was never able to mount a big comeback in the second half, although sophomore Britton Caudill gave the Blackhawks a huge game off the bench with a game-high 25 points.
"Britton is getting better every game," Pea Ridge coach Trent Loyd said. "Games like this, it's just going to help. We've got a young team, guys who haven't been in this type of atmosphere. I told them, this was like a postseason type of game for us. We're only going to get better from this."
Huntsville will close out the regular season on the road Friday when it travels to Berryville. Pea Ridge will host Shiloh Christian on Friday.
Girls
Huntsville 51, Pea Ridge 37
The Lady Eagles claimed the 4A-1 Conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament, but had to work to get it against a scrappy Pea Ridge team.
Huntsville (22-4, 12-2) led by 20 points in the second quarter, but the Lady Blackhawks (9-17, 4-9) fought back to make the game close.
Miranda Campbell led Huntsville with 12 points and Emily Phillips scored 11. Delanie Tipton and Cierra Creek each scored 9 points.
Mikhaela Cochran scored a game-high 16 points for Pea Ridge.
Huntsville's win coupled with Prairie Grove's win over Berryville gives the Lady Eagles the overall No. 1 seed in the conference.
Sports on 02/11/2015