PEA RIDGE -- Not all the excitement for Pea Ridge was in Little Rock on Friday night.
Joey Hall scored 26 points and Matt Thomas dropped in 20 to lead Pea Ridge to a 70-62 victory over Earle in the second round of the Battle of the Ridge. Pea Ridge grabbed an early 11-point lead then held off a second-half surge by Earle, which won the Class 2A state championship last spring with a 33-4 record. Tray Doolittle and BJ Murray Jr. each scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Battle at The Ridge
Blackhawk Gymnasium, Pea Ridge
Friday’s Games
Game 5: Bay 57, Carthage, Mo. 35
Game 6: Pea Ridge 70, Earle 62
Game 7: Joe T. Robinson 49, HFC 42
Game 8: Providence Academy vs. ESTEM, 8:30 p.m.
Today’s games
Game 9: Carthage, Mo. vs. HFC, 1 p.m.
Game 10: Bay vs. Joe T. Robinson, 2:30 p.m.
Game 11: Providence Academy/ESTEM loser vs. Earle, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Pea Ridge vs. Providence Academy/ESTEM winner, 5:30 p.m.
Friday's start time was moved up to allow players and fans at the Pea Ridge gym to watch a live stream of the Blackhawks' state championship football game against Warren at War Memorial Stadium.
Earle (7-3) got to within 65-62 after a 3-pointer by Murray, a standout senior guard. But Hall kept Pea Ridge (4-0) ahead when he drove past two defenders and made a basket with 24 seconds left.
"(Hall) has been that guy for us for a long time," Pea Ridge coach Trent Loyd said. "He makes the right decisions and took care of it down the stretch for us. Earle made a couple of runs, but we were able to get that shot or make that play."
Pea Ridge controlled the first half and led 33-25 after two quarters. Earle opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and prompted two timeouts by Pea Ridge, but the Bulldogs got no closer than two points in the second half.
"We underestimated Pea Ridge," Earle coach Billy Murray said. "Pea Ridge had an excellent game plan and they worked together. Our communication on defense was lacking and we gave up to many layups."
Thomas and Hall combined for 27 points in the first half and were the beneficiaries of some excellent ball movement by the Blackhawks. Kobe Rose added eight points and Logan Johnson seven points for the Blackhawks.
"When they share the ball like that, they're fun to watch," Loyd said of his players. "They all can score and they all can pass. We've been preaching 'team first, team first,' and you saw that tonight."
Earle began to warm up after trailing 18-7 in the first quarter. Tray Doolittle scored six consecutive points but Pea Ridge countered with two long passes that resulted in easy baskets.
Bay 57, Carthage, Mo. 35
Bay rolled to an easy victory after outscoring Carthage, Mo., 22-4 in the second quarter. Senior guard Taylor Layne scored 10 of his 15 points in the second quarter after hitting for 27 in Thursday's win over ESTEM.
Slade Grove added 13 points for Bay (7-8), the two-time defending state champion in Class A.
Joe T. Robinson 49, HFC 42
Trey Rouse scored 15 points to lead Joe T. Robinson past Hoops for Christ, a team compromised of home-school players from the Oklahoma City, Okla., area.
Rouse had three of his team's six three-pointers. Traejon Davis scored 14 and Silas Elliott 13 for HFC, which trailed 25-16 at halftime.
Sports on 12/10/2016