Gosnell upended in first round of 4A-3 District Tournament

Westside Warriors 63, Gosnell Pirates 59

BLYTHEVILLE— The Gosnell Pirates fought back and forth with the Westside Warriors but ended up on the short end of a 63-59 score. The Pirates and Warriors were locked in a tight battle, but a chippy third quarter did not go well for Gosnell. Back-to-back-to-back technical fouls led to the ejection of junior guard Jai Jacobs, then, minutes later, a Pirate fans was ejected by game officials. The bottom line was, during the craziness, the Warriors extending their lead from two points to ten in a matter of seconds of game play. Gosnell could not recover and Westside walked away with the four point win.

“I think tonight showed that we are highly capable to compete with just about anybody, especially when they go out and put the effort in,” explained Pirates head coach DeAntra Scott. “Tonight, I think it came down to those three technicals. Just wild it went from a two or four point game to a ten point game. Then they battled back. I can’t be more proud of them.”

Gosnell led early in the contest with multiple three’s by sophomore guard Marcus Anderson leading to the Pirates winning the first quarter 10-6.

GHS expanded on their lead to six with 5:35 remaining; however, the Pirates began getting fouls called against them. The Warriors connected on three-of-four from the charity stripe and then got a three- point basket by Weston Honeycutt to tie game at 15 points with 4:14 remaining.

Westside built upon their lead and led 28-24 to end the half.

The Pirates continued to have foul issues and outnumbered the Warriors five to one early in the third quarter. Then the confusion began as a referee teed up Jacobs from across the court. Jacob’s, along with the rest of Chickasaw Arena, was unaware of who the technical was called on and within seconds of receiving the first, was given a second, leading to his ejection, and then a third one. This led to the Pirates faithful losing it with the referees.

Honeycutt was put on the charity stripe where he drained five of six free throws and within seconds the Pirates trailed by ten points.

Scott expressed that he, along with school administration, were discussing next moves as there shouldn’t have been a third technical, and the plan as of moment’s after the game was to protest the matchup.

“We are going to protest it right now and talk about it. Overall, those three techs are huge. A huge momentum swing,” said Scott. “It kind of got Honeycutt going to as he had ten (points) at the half and then ended with 30 at the end of the game.”

When asked why the techs were given out, Scott expressed there was a lot of frustration built up due to the foul calls.

“It was frustration at the referee. The foul count were per usual as it is usually is crazy when I play against Westside. I understand the frustration,” Scott expressed. “They were looking for fouls and we were hoping to get the same foul calls. It just didn’t go our way. However, I can’t blame it all on the referees. There were several defensive lapses and we just got to be more mentally tough next time.”

During a Westside turnover and the Pirates push, a Gosnell fan caught the referees ear and was ejected from the arena.

Westside went on to lead by 10-points at the end of the third quarter.

Gosnell wouldn’t go down quietly and with a three-point basket by junior forward Kerrion Terry tied the game at 55 all with three minutes remaining in the game; which led to a time out by Warrior’s head coach Mark Whitmire.

Westside’s ability to hit from the free throw line led to the Warriors being able to escape with the victory and a trip to the regional tournament and a semifinals matchup against the 4A-3 District tournament host Blytheville Chickasaws.

“It was a physical game. I thought my guys played very well,” said Whitmire. “We are excited because that punched our ticket to the regional tournament. So now we are back in the playoffs and I’m really proud for these guys and it was a big win for us.”

Whitmire continued, “Blytheville has a really good basketball team. It will take out best game to play against those guys, because they have been playing very well. All we can do is tip it up and do the best that we can.”

Gosnell was led offensively by Anderson with 20 points. Terry chipped in 15 points.

Scott explained, having three sophomores — Anderson, Grant Glintborg, and LaMarco Wilborn— gaining tons of experience this season, they will be three he will lean on next season. Scott added the sophomore group is “something special”. As well as Jacobs, Terry, and Chase Perkins, who will be seniors next year will be leaders on the team. Scott’s first season at his alma mater ends with a record of 8-19, 2-8 in Conference 4A-3.