Introduction
The Pea Ridge Blackhawk Men's Basketball team is one of the trending topics around the 4A-1 basketball conference and Northwest Arkansas. The Hawks are soaring high with a 20-3 record, 7-1 in conference, giving them an 86% win rate. The hawks are averaging an impressive 62.5 points per game, while only allowing 44.2 opposing team points, giving a winning gap of 18.3 points.
The Men's Blackhawk Basketball Team has had a remarkable season so far, and have eyes focused towards the playoffs. Through the years, Pea Ridge has been known to have solid Basketball teams. Unfortunately, during the 2020-21’ season, the hawks took a blow to the shoulder due to COVID-19. They ended the season going 3-9 overall finishing 4th in the Conference.
Cruising through the next 3 years, Loyd and his Men progressed going from 7-16 in 2021-22’, 15-7 in 2022-23’, and now 20-3 with 7 games remaining in the regular season.
Lets Talk Basketball
In a recent interview with Head coach Trent Loyd, He explains his team goals they aspire to have, why he loves what he does, and different ways he improves his team during the off season.
“I love the relationships that are created from being able to coach basketball.”, says Coach.
“I get to show up and surround myself with 20+ young men that love the game of basketball just like I do. Every day is a new challenge, and every day is a new opportunity to grow in this profession.”
Loyd then continues to explain the process of developing one's skill in the sport of basketball.
“In basketball you have a lot of different positions and skill levels. We focus a lot in the off-season on skill development and will have individualized plans for our athletes to help them grow their game.”
“This can be anything from ball handling, to post moves, to athletic ability. During practice we will separate into guards and bigs segments to allow more specific position breakdown drills. This allows for meaningful reps during the season.", says Loyd.
With eyes positioned on the 4A-1 playoffs, Loyd expresses the importance of impacting the community and goals they have for themselves as a team.
“On the floor our goals during every season are to maximize the ability we have for that team.”
“We want to compete for conference and district championships. Most importantly though, we want our guys to look back and enjoy the experience they had with Pea Ridge Basketball.”, Loyd says.
“Off the floor, we want our guys to impact the community just like they do our basketball program. We want them to be involved and be seen. Our community does such a good job of supporting our basketball program, and we want them to know how much we appreciate that.”
The Hawks face 4-14 Gentry Pioneers tonight at home at 6:00 PM (CT) for Colors Day. Then the Lady hawks follow with another game at 7:30 PM (CT). Trent Loyd and his talented team will hopefully advance to 8-1, and then travel to Farmington High School on January 26, 2024 and play at 6:00 PM (CT).
GO BLACKHAWKS!