Lady Blackhawks crunch Prairie Grove shooting

PRAIRIE GROVE — The Lady Blackhawks eliminated the Prairie Grove Lady Tigers 45-39 from the District 4A-1 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 18, as the Lady Tigers picked an inopportune time to go cold with an inability to score.

The score was knotted at 13-13 at the end of the first quarter. Prairie Grove (10-17) fell behind when Pea Ridge (20-7) began the second quarter with an 8-0 run and trailed 30-24 at halftime.

The Lady Tigers didn’t execute against a physical brand of defense employed by Pea Ridge in the third. Prairie Grove did not record a single field goal in the period. Every interior shot was contested and a lot of contact ensued. The Lady Blackhawks owned a 41-30 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Eventually fouls began to rack up against Pea Ridge. Then, once they reached the double bonus the whistles stopped. Pea Ridge coach Heath Neal called the official over during a time-out and the Lady Blackhawks went the next 4:55 without another foul being called against them.

Pea Ridge scored just 4 points and made just one of five free throws in the fourth. Their only field goal came on senior Allisa Short’s 3-pointer that bounced out before falling back in. That gave the Lady Blackhawks a 44-33 lead with 4:15 to play.

Short scored a gamehigh 16 points for Pea Ridge which advanced to a matchup with Berryville on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Pea Ridge 45, Prairie Grove 39

Pea Ridge 13 17 11 4 — 45 PrairieGrove 13 11 6 9—39 Pea Ridge (20-7): Allisa Short 4 5-6 16, Blakelee Winn 4 0-1 8, Aidan Dayberry 2 1-3 5, Ravin Cawthon 2 0-0 5, Hayley West 2 0-0 5, Josie Goldberg 1 1-1 3, Lauren Wright 1 1-4 3. Totals 16 8-15 45.

3-point goals — Pea Ridge — 5 (Short 3, West, Wright)