JONESBORO —Outscored 26-6 in the fourth quarter, the Blytheville Chickasaws (7-3, 2-2 4A-3) dropped their 4A-3 conference battle with host Valley View, 55-44, Tuesday night.
Valley View (6-5, 2-2 4A-3) led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, but Blytheville took a 26-21 lead into halftime.
The Chicks then outscored Valley View 12-11 in the third period to lead 38-32 going into the final period.
The Blazers cashed in 11 of their 16 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Valley View was 14 of 22 at the line for the game, while the Chicks were 8 of 14 at the stripe for the game. Blytheville was 4 of 6 at the line in the fourth quarter, however.
Tedrick Washington and Winston Peace led Blytheville with eight points each, while Lamont Jackson and Jaquon Fowler chipped in six apiece. Curtis Smith and Johnny Anderson added five points each, Deveon Smith four and Gary Cook two.
Andrew Hunt scored a game-high 17 for the Blazers, including knocking down five three-pointers. Travis Graf added 12 in the win.
“Laid an egg in the second half,” Blytheville head coach McKenzie Pierce said on Facebook after the loss. ‘Didn’t play like we wanted to win & to be frank, we didn’t prepare with focus coming into today like we wanted to win. I’ll be honest, I think we are the best team in the conference when we are right but we’ve been inconsistent with how we prepare. On to the next one!”
Blytheville will play the Westside Warriors on Thursday, Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the NEA Tournament at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.
JONESBORO— The Blytheville Lady Chickasaws held a four-point lead heading into the final quarter of play against the Valley View Lady Blazers but were narrowly defeated in the 4A-3 conference matchup, 47-44.
The Lady Chicks led 26-19 at the half.
Lady Blazer Katie Dreiling scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lady Chicks. Dreiling also grabbed 13 rebounds on the night for a double-double.
Alvindavia Lockett led the Lady Chicks with a game-high 18 points.
The Junior Lady Blazers upended the Junior Lady Chickasaws 53-4, and in the seventh grade game the Lady Blazers defeated the Lady Chicks 34-17.