GRAVETTE -- A change of wardrobe and lineups helped Gravette snap a two-game losing skid with a 54-42 victory over Gentry.
Lions first-year coach Matt Busch sported a gray suit he had donned just once before during a loss against Pea Ridge. If he had lost again Friday, the Christmas present may have been returned. But he switched shirts and from a solid orange tie to a one speckled with black and white.
Girls
Gravette 60, Gentry 49
Gentry^16^11^10^12^—^49
Gravette^17^16^9^18^—^60
Gentry (12-9): Boss 20, Fuamatu 13, Dezurik 6, Hays 6, Hosteter 4.
Gravette (16-8): Dixon 15, Kildow 13, Branscum 12, Garcia 10, Foster 6, Bookout 2, Pinter 2.
Boys
Gravette 54, Gentry 42
Gentry^10^13^13^18^—^54
Gravette^10^11^6^15^—^42
Gentry (11-9): Morris 20, Folker 8, Cripps 7, Hammond 7.
Gravette: Duke 13, Trembly 12, Childress 11, Wishon 10, Johnson 2, Kardynalski 2, Miller 2, Soule 2.
And after Friday's 3A/4A District 1 win, it's now his go-to look.
"I'm feeling pretty nice about it. I like this suit now," Busch said. "This will be what I wear during the district tournament."
The starting lineup switch made an even bigger impact. Gentry's tallest starter, Jon Faulkenberry, is 6-foot-1.
Gravette (18-6 overall) opened with four starters several inches taller. Chris Childress, a 6-4 post who usually is a spark off the bench, was the new addition. The size advantage allowed the Lions to limit Gentry (11-9) to one shot on most possessions and give themselves multiple second chance opportunites off of offensive rebounds.
"We lost two in a row this week, so we decided to go bigger," Busch said. "We were just trying to get as big as we can and it certainly paid off tonight."
First-year coach Brent Hester spent most of the game shouting "block out" from the Gentry bench. His Pioneers had won four straight games before running into the taller, longer Lions' squad.
"We're the smaller team most nights," Hester said. "We have to block out to have a chance. We've been playing pretty well against teams other than Gravette, but we just don't match up very well against a team with that much size."
Gentry jumped into a full-court press to begin the second half, but it backfired as Gravette outscored them 13-6 during the third quarter. That included a 7-2 run that began with a 3-pointer by Seth Duke, who finished with a team-high 13 points, after the Pioneers had trimmed the deficit to 27-25 midway through the quarter.
Austin Morris, who led all scorers with 20, hit a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter and and a bucket by Cole Cripps helpled the Gentry get as close as 39-34. But a Gentry 3-point attempt that would have cut it to a one-possession game rimmed out and Dayten Wishon began a personal 6-0 run with a rebound putback to help the Lions stave off the rally attempt.
"We were trying to run some clock," Busch said. "Dayten had seen teams try to write this book before. They were playing zone (defense), so we were trying to draw them out and if he gets a step on you, he's going to get what he wants. If he doesn't, he's so tall and has such good body control that he's still going to get what he wants.
"He really put us on his back there."
Girls
Gravette 60, Gentry 49
The Lady Lions overcame early foul trouble and Teagan Dixon scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures.
Gravette trailed by six points in the early going before freshman Cally Kildow took over, scoring all 13 of her points in the first half to help her team take a 33-27 lead at halftime.
Junior Berenice Garcia swished a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight of her 10 points during an 11-4 run to open the fourth quarter that allowed Gravette to pull away.
Gentry junior Hannah Boss led all scorers with 20 points.
Sports on 02/04/2017