SPRINGDALE -- Gravette's Dayton Wishon screamed "Let's go!" as he pumped his right fist during a second quarter run that gave the Lions the lead for good in a 69-56 victory over Shiloh Christian at Champions Gymnasium.
The Lions (14-3 overall, 9-0 in 3A/4A District 1 play) rallied from a 17-10 deficit to take a 24-21 lead at the half. Wishon, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, scored the first six points of an 8-0 run that was capped by his 3-pointer to give Gravette an 18-17 lead with two minutes, 41 seconds to go in the second quarter.
Girls
Gravette 61,
Shiloh Christian 35
Gravette^11^13^20^17^—^61
Shiloh Christian^9^8^10^8^—^35
Gravette (11-7): Branscum 17, Foster 14, Bookout 12, Dixon 10, Garcia 3, Kildow 3, Pinter 2.
Shiloh Christian (5-11): Enos 20, Carley Johnson 10, A. Johnson 3, Berus 1, Caroline Johnson 1.
Boys
Gravette 69,
Shiloh Christian 56
Gravette^5^19^21^24^—69
Shiloh Christian^7^14^9^26^56
Gravette (14-3): Johnson 21, Duke 15, Trembly 15, Wishon 10, Childress 8.
Shiloh Christian (8-8): Hutchinson 25, Lyall 11, Reece 8, Berus 3, Neal 3, Turpin 3, Ezell 2, Bryant 1.
"Our kids played hard, played with composure and they made free throws." said Gravette first-year coach Matt Busch. "It was fun and it was competitive and it's hard to win at Shiloh -- I don't care what sport you're playing."
The Lions led 24-21 at halftime. Shiloh Christian (8-8, 4-5) was late exiting the locker room when coach Jacob Skinner believed he had 10 minutes for intermission and was unaware officials had informed the scorekeeper to put eight minutes on the clock.
That was just the beginning of the Saints' woes. It turned into a nightmarish third quarter as it began with a pair of ill-advised fouls -- one on an extra long-range 3-point attempt and the other on a shooter that was off-balance -- that led to five straight Lions' free throws. In addition, Saints junior Joshua Ezell was ejected after being whistled for two technical fouls during the third quarter.
It all added up to a 19-2 Gravette run.
"We were able to build a little gap with they got the technical," Busch said. "It gave us a chance to make them play from behind and that really helped us."
Shiloh Christian senior Connor Reece salvaged the quarter by scoring all eight of his team's points during an 8-2 run, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to trim the Lions' lead to 45-30.
"It's a process for us," said Shiloh Christian coach Jacob Skinner. "The kids know this and they've got to trust it. Trust the process and we're going to get there ... We learned least year that it's all about peaking at the right time (in the district tournament)."
The Saints cut the margin to single digits (48-40) when Jack Hutchinson scored five straight points with five minutes to go, but that was as close as the Saints would get.
"There for about four or five minutes, we showed exactly what we can be when we cut it to eight," Skinner said. "The second quarter was just a disaster for us and the third quarter was the same way."
As Gravette steadily pulled away in the fourth quarter, a portion of the lights went out in the gymnasium with 1:36 remaining in regulation. It caused a delay of several minutes and Shiloh Christian students lit up flashlight apps on their phones while inexplicably "Callin' the Hogs."
It was a strange end to a strange second half, but didn't change the outcome of the game as the Lions were leading by 15 points (62-47) at the time.
Senior Andrew Miller finished with 21 points to lead four Lions in double figures. Shiloh Christian's Jack Hutchinson led all scorers with 25 points.
Girls: Gravette 61, Shiloh Christian 35
Two big runs by the Lady Lions helped Gravette pull away for a 26-point victory.
The Lady Saints capitalized when Gravette freshman and leading scorer Cally Kildow went to the bench with her third foul early in the second quarter. They went on an 8-0 run that was capped off by Kennedy Berus' steal and pass down-court to sophomore Lia Enos for a layup.
But the Lady Lions forced eight turnovers out of their 1-3-1 full-court press to close the half with a 15-0 run to take a 24-17 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Shiloh Christian cut the deficit to 27-23 on a steal and layup by Carley Johnson, but Gravette answered with an 8-0 run over the next 51 seconds of regulation. The Lady Lions went on to outscore the Lady Saints 34-12 the rest of the way.
Enos led all scorers with 20 points while Gravette received a combined 31 points from juniors Kyrstin Branscum and Tori Foster.
Sports on 01/14/2017