Report by Wes Gwaltney
The Batesville Pioneers and Lady Pioneers would split up on Monday and both hit the road taking on different schools.
In the first game of the day, Coach LaRose and the Pioneers would travel to Sheridan to take on a very good Yellowjacket team and would face a back and forth affair throughout the game.
Leading by just one after the first quarter, the Pioneers would stretch their lead to double digits on several occasions throughout the game before having to hold off a late Sheridan charge to grab the victory 81-75.
Leading the Pioneers was 3-point specialist Senior Gunnar Shell who would be nearly unstoppable from the perimeter with 18 points and would be joined in double digits by teammates Junior Logan McSpadden, Senior John Paul Morgan, and Freshmen Caden Griffin.
To wrap up Pioneer basketball action, Coach Fowler and the Lady Pioneers would travel to Beebe to take on the Lady Badgers.
The motto of score seventy and play good defense would hold true as the Lady Pioneers were nearly perfect from the floor in the opening quarter putting up 30 points and leading Beebe by 22 at the end of one-quarter of action.
Senior Missouri signee Izzy Higginbottom would have eighteen alone in the first quarter and by halftime would increase that to 24 as the Lady Pioneers tacked on 22 more points in the second quarter and would lead the Lady Badgers 52-22 at the halftime break.
Cruising through the second half, 11 different Lady Pioneers would account for points on the evening as the Lady Pioneers would pick up the victory 75-39 over Beebe and stayed perfect on the season.
Joining Higginbottom in double digits were Senior Riley Freeman with 13 and Sophomore Kayla Ward with 10.
One more non-conference matchup awaits both teams as they travel to the campus of North Arkansas College to meet Huntsville on Tuesday evening before returning to conference play next Tuesday at home against Greene County Tech.
