Trumann overcomes slow start to beat Chicks

BLYTHEVILLE – If the Blytheville-Trumann outcome had been judged on the first five minutes of play, it would’ve been a Chick runaway win.

However, Trumann overcame a slow start and outplayed Blytheville over the final 27 minutes to notch a 61-60 win over their conference rival.

The host Chicks (5-9, 3-5 3-4A) darted to a 10-2 lead, forcing Trumann into error after error as they built their lead.

Tristen Battles, a Trumann Wildcat junior, has his eyes on the basket while being defended by Blytheville’s Micah Dawkins. Battles and the Wildcats earned the one-point win over their conference foe Chickasaws.

The Wildcats (4-9, 3-3) settled though and mounted a comeback which took them to victory.

“(Blytheville) is so athletic and they play hard,” said Trumann head coach Billy Phelan describing the opening of the game. “They’re bigger than us, faster than us and it shocked us a little early. They got up in our passes and that never stopped the entire game.

“We just had to get use to the speed, athleticism,” he continued, “and we played together as a team, as a unit of five and it helped us.”

Tristen Battles, a Trumann Wildcat junior, has his eyes on the basket while being defended by Blytheville’s Micah Dawkins. Battles and the Wildcats earned the one-point win over their conference foe Chickasaws.

That unit of five was led by Cobey Riddle who powered the rally with a 26-point performance.

“We have a senior group and four of them start for us and started for us last year,” explained Phelan. “You don’t know which one will step up on a given night. Tonight it was Cobey. He is a backbone piece of our team and is definitely a leader … Proud of him and how he works.

“You know he’ll tell you he’s a pretty good golfer but I’d say he’s a pretty dang good basketball player,” added the head coach.

That basketball player keyed a 31-13 run from the 3:20 mark of the first quarter, turning a 10-2 deficit into a 33-23 halftime lead.

On an assist from Tristan Battles, Riddle drained a three to start the spurt and it was three of his 12 points during the run. For a six minute stretch over the first and second periods, Trumann connected on eight consecutive shots, including four threes – one from Riddle and three by Coda Cameron.

The Wildcats 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter lead had swelled to 31-19 at that point.

“We just stopped playing,” replied Blytheville head coach Leon Harris of the way his team’s performance tailed off after the first five minutes of the game. “We got real lax, thinking it was going to be an easy game.

“At this level, in this conference everybody can play,” he added. “If you get a team on its heels at the beginning of the game and then give them life, it’s tough to stop that momentum and tonight that’s what happened.”

Blytheville trailed by as 12 points in the second half but began to rally as the third quarter closed when Johmir Guyton sank a jumper in the final seconds of the frame. As the period ended, the Chicks trailed 46-38.

Gavin Greenwell’s three stretched the lead back to nine after Trumann forced a Blytheville turnover on its opening possession.

From there, the Chicks scored 14 of the next 19 points to close the gap to 54-52 after Micah Dawkins hit one-of two free throws.

But it was Riddle who halted the run when he drove to the basket and drew the foul on Dawkins as the shot went through the hoop. He calmly drained the free throw to convert the three-point play and extend the lead to five at 57-52 with 1:12 left.

After a Blytheville turnover, one of its 16 in the game, Cameron was fouled but could only manage to hit one freebie as the clocked ticked under 40 seconds.

Dawkins, who scored a team-high 20 points, responded with a turnaround to pull the host team within four at 58-54. Then Greenwell followed with a free throw to keep it a two-possession game at 59-54 with 26 seconds left.

Cameron came up with a steal, one of his four in the game, but Greenwell’s two ensuing misses from the charity stripe provided Blytheville a little life with 14 ticks left on the clock. Tyrin Walker raced up court with the rebound and found Guyton for a three from the corner. With six seconds remaining, the Chicks trailed by two.

Blytheville applied a full court press and nearly came up with a steal before Greenwell got control of the basketball. He was fouled and promptly hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left.

Walker hit a three as the buzzer sounded to cap the scoring.

“(Blytheville) made it hard on us and we barely won,” commented Phelan. “It wasn’t like we pulled away and the game wasn’t even close. We had to make free throws at the end to win it.

“If you win a game on the road in conference you have to be a little lucky and we were,” he concluded.

In addition to Riddle, Cameron reached double figures with 12 points and Greenwell added 11.

Trumann shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field, while Blytheville was 23-of-53 for 43 percent.

The Chicks dominated the offensive glass by a 16-2 margin but could only convert those into eight second chance points.

Dawkins was joined in double figures by Guyton who scored 14 and Walker 12. Blytheville forced seven turnovers and recorded 10 steals, but only five after the first quarter of play.

“For two and half quarters, the effort was poor and I’m not pleased with it at all,” summed up Harris. “Still, I have to remind myself we have a bunch of kids who haven’t really played much.

“Experience means a whole lot. I think we can get past this loss tonight and turn this thing around.”