The Gravette Lions may have felt that after beating the Blackhawks by 11 in Pea Ridge earlier this year, they might have an easier time of it at home. The resurgent Lady Hawks destroyed that notion as they raced out to a solid lead in the first quarter, then salted the game away by the end of the third with tight defense, superior shooting and balanced scoring.
Pea Ridge rang up twice as many field goals as did Gravette, 18 to 9. The Hawks held their west county foe to just a single goal in the first and last quarters on their way to their dominating win.
Gravette got a trey and three free throws to start the game in the first. It wasn't enough as the Hawks racked up 14, led by two goals and a free toss by Allisa Short. Lauren Wright added a 3-pointer with Blakelee Winn, Aidan Dayberry and Ravin Cawthon each contributing 2 points in the early going.
The Lady Lions picked things up considerably in the second period, scoring 16 points. However, the Hawks matched the Lions' output and raised the ante by 4 points as they scored 20 to race out to a 34-22 halftime lead. Dayberry brought the Hawk fans to their feet with a pair of treys with Winn also scoring 6 by dropping in two goals and two free throws. Wright hit her second shot from downtown, Cawthon added another goal, Short scored inside and Josey Goldberg converted a free throw as six Hawks scored in the quarter.
Any hopes that the Lions could come back in the second half as they did last month was quashed in the third quarter as the Hawks outscored them 13-8 to build an almost insurmountable 47-30 lead going into the fourth quarter. Winn exploded on the Lions, ripping two treys, scoring another goal, then going two for two from the line to score 10 of the points. Dayberry hit her third trey of the evening for the other score.
The fourth quarter turned into a free throw shooting contest which the Lions did a little better in, hitting 10 of 13 with the Hawks ripping 8 of 16. However, the Hawks' Dayberry and Goldberg pumped in solo goals with the Lions only getting one from the field as the teams tied for the quarter 12-12, leaving the Hawks 17 point third quarter lead intact. Dayberry scored three of the free throws with Winn, Wright, Goldberg and West each scoring 1.
Winn led all scorers with 17 with Dayberry close behind with 16. Short and Wright racked up 7 points each with Cawthon and Goldberg scoring 4 each and West 1.
The game closed out the regular season for the Hawks with the district playoffs beginning this week. The Lady Hawks were scheduled to have a game Tuesday and if they won, they are then scheduled to play Berryville to play for a semifinal berth and a ticket into the North Region next week.
Sports on 02/19/2020