PEA RIDGE -- Pea Ridge's sophomores are starting to play like veterans.
Sophomore Maggie Fletcher drained a long 3-pointer with five seconds left to force overtime Tuesday night, and classmate Jennifer Anthony scored the first four points in the extra period as the Lady Blackhawks defeated Lincoln 59-56 in a 4A-1 Conference basketball game.
How They Scored
4A-1 Conference
Girls
Pea Ridge 59, Lincoln 56 (OT)
Lincoln^19^12^9^11^5 —^56
Pea Ridge^9^14^14^14^8^—^59
Lincoln (4-4, 13-8): Cummings 13, Rothrock 13, Lloyd 8, Neely 7, Rich 6, Cunningham 5, Dobbs 2, NeSmith 2.
Pea Ridge (3-5, 8-13): Anthony 14, Cochran 13, Dayberry 12, Fletcher 11, Skaggs 5, Landis 4.
Boys
Pea Ridge 50, Lincoln 43
Lincoln^10^18^12^3^ —^43
Pea Ridge^12^13^8^17^—^50
Lincoln (11-9, 3-5): Pitts 12, Goldman 12, Barnum 8, Castaneda 7, Blankenship 2, McCaslin 2.
Pea Ridge (14-7, 7-1): Shepherd 13, Hall 12, Trundle 12, Davis 7, Hardy 4, Caudill 2.
Anthony led four Pea Ridge (8-13, 3-5 4A-1) players in double figures with 14 points, including a 3-pointer that cut the Lincoln lead to 49-48 with 22 seconds left in regulation. Senior Mikhaela Cochran added 13 points while sophomores Avery Dayberry and Fletcher added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
"Our sophomores are starting to play well," said Pea Ridge coach Larry Walker. "We had four sophomores that played a ton. We had a pretty balanced game for a change."
Lincoln took a a 51-48 lead with 14.4 seconds left in regulation after Jaycie Neely hit two free throws, and Walker said he was comfortable with any of his five players on the floor taking the final shot.
"We needed a three and we spread it out," Walker said. "We had traded defense for offense at that point and all five of them could take one. Fletcher moved up the court and got herself in the right position. Fletcher shoots quite a few of them, so, I wasn't worried about it."
Fletcher, however, was worried about the shot when it left her hands.
"I thought it was an air ball," Fletcher said. "The next thing I knew it went in and we were tied. The sophomores have to step up."
Anthony then hit a layup and two free throws to start overtime and Cochran hit a free throw with 10.7 seconds left for a 57-56 lead. Lincoln missed a contested running jumper from eight feet with five seconds left and Cochran hit two free throws with less than a second left in overtime to ice the game.
Shoni Rothrock and Kendra Cummings both scored 13 points for Lincoln (13-8, 4-4).
Boys
Pea Ridge 50, Lincoln 43
Pea Ridge used a 8-0 run the final 2 minutes, 19 seconds to rally past the Wolves. Pea Ridge outscored Lincoln 17-3 in the fourth quarter.
Pea Ridge senior Blake Shepherd scored six of his team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter. Joey Hall and Tristan Trundle scored 12 points each for the Blackhawks (14-7, 7-1).
Alec Pitts and Shandon Goldman had 12 each for Lincoln (11-9, 3-5).
Sports on 01/28/2015