PEA RIDGE -- River Gosvener scored a game-high 21 points to lead Huntsville to a crucial 50-42 win against Pea Ridge in 4A-1 Conference action Tuesday.
The Eagles jumped out to a big early lead and never relinquished it to take a one-game lead in the race for the No. 1 seed in the conference heading into next week's 4A-1 District Tournament in Prairie Grove. The Eagles can lock down the top seed at home Friday against Berryville.
Girls
Huntsville^11^5^11^17^—^44
Pea Ridge^11^9^18^13^—^51
Huntsville (18-8, 10-3): Tipton 15, Campbell 13, Walkingstick 7, Gosvener 4, McClone 3, Watkins 2.
Pea Ridge (10-16, 3-10): Anthony 25, Landis 7, Fletcher 7, Dayberry 6, Bryant 4, Socha 2.
Boys
Huntsville^16^11^10^13^—^50
Pea Ridge^7^14^12^9^—^42
Huntsville (23-3, 11-2): Gosvener 21, Eaton 17, Bohannan 6, Yarbrough 4, Pemberton 2.
Pea Ridge (20-5, 10-3): Caudill 12, Hall 10, Holtgrewe 8, Wright 5, Church 5, Johnson 2.
Both Huntsville (23-3, 11-2 4A-1) and Pea Ridge (20-5, 10-3) have secured the top two seeds for the district tournament.
In the first meeting this season, Pea Ridge rolled to a big win at Huntsville, but on Tuesday it was the Eagles who led from start-to-finish.
"The last couple of games we've been digging a hole for ourselves," Huntsville coach Jim Stafford said. "At Shiloh and at Gravette, and we didn't get out of the hole at Gravette. We needed to get off to a better start than we've been getting off to."
Gosvener and Jack Eaton found success penetrating inside the lane for pull-up mid-range jump shots, and both were on early. Gosvener hit three shots in the opening quarter to help the Eagles to a 16-7 lead.
Pea Ridge also started to penetrate and work inside in second quarter, and a 7-0 run started by Westin Church's 3-pointer helped the Blackhawks get within 19-16 and later 20-18 on Joey Hall's inside bucket.
But the Blackhawks could never fully recover from the early deficit.
"It just seems like the past couple of games we've been in a little slump," Pea Ridge coach Trent Loyd said. "We haven't been able to score the ball very well. A couple of guys just need to see the ball go in again and when they do, I think we can get back going."
Huntsville survived the Pea Ridge run, as Eaton scored inside and drew a foul, hitting the free throw for the three-point play with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left in half for a 23-18 Huntsville lead, and the Eagles led 27-21 at halftime.
The game was close for most of the second half. Hall hit a 3-pointer and driving layup midway through the fourth quarter, pulling the Blackhawks within 30-26, but the Eagles answered on Eaton's pullup just inside the free-throw line, and Gosvener and Eaton hit clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Stafford said he wanted to attack the basket Tuesday night, something his team did not do in the pervious meeting.
"We wanted to penetrate more than we did at our place, and they guarded us real well at our place," Stafford said. "We got a lot better shots tonight. We had pretty good offensive patience. We took a bad shot or two late, but early in the game I thought we had real good patience."
Girls: Pea Ridge 51, Huntsville 44
Clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch helped Pea Ridge claim an upset win.
Lady Blackhawks' standout Jennifer Anthony hit 9-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter to help Pea Ridge (10-16, 3-10) hold off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Huntsville, which trailed 40-37 after three quarters. As a team, Pea Ridge was 11-of-12 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Maci Campbell led the late Lady eagles surge with a huge 3-pointer and two layups. But Pea Ridge nailed down the win on a pair of free throws by Kieara Bryant with 30 seconds left.
Anthony led the way for Pea Ridge with a game-high 25 points. Delanie Tipton led Huntsville (18-8, 10-3) with 15 points and Campbell finished with 13.
Sports on 02/10/2016