Turning up the pressure

Turnovers dog Lady Hawks in 73-30 loss to the Tigers

TEXARKANA, Texas — Pleasant Grove turned the ball over 29 times, while Mount Pleasant had 13 in the Lady Hawks’ 73-30 loss in a girls varsity basketball game at Hawk Gym on Tuesday.

“We have got to handle the ball better,” Pleasant Grove head coach Marsha Cowling said. “We have to handle pressure better. We can’t be scared to dribble, and we have to make better decisions. This is the first year for all of them to get varsity experience, so we just haven’t gotten over the hump yet of handling pressure.”

The Lady Hawks shot 25 percent from the field on 11-of-44 shooting, while the Lady Tigers hit on 30 of 65 shots for 46 percent. Pleasant Grove pulled down 32 rebounds, and Mount Pleasant had 38.

Lexie Snyder hit a 3-pointer for the Hawks late in the fourth quarter. Pleasant Grove’s Emma Henard had a putback and a chip shot in the fourth. Henard finished with a team-high eight points and a gamehigh seven rebounds.

The Tigers, who outscored PG 15-9 in the final stanza, got off to a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter.

Winter Crouch, who finished with six points, had a layup and a jump shot for the Hawks in the third quarter.

The Hawks had 21 turnovers in the first half, and the Tigers had seven. Mount Pleasant outscored Pleasant Grove, 19-5, in the second quarter and went into the locker room with a 40-13 lead.

Emma Crabtree had the only Hawk field goal in the second quarter on an 8-foot jump shot.

With Mount Pleasant up, 18-1, Autumn Crouch converted a traditional 3-point play for Pleasant Grove to make it 18-4. Winter

Crouch, Autumn’s twin sister, drove in for a layup to cut the deficit, 18-6.

The Tigers nailed down a shot from 3-point land to go up 21-6, and the Hawks’ Henard responded with a layup as Mount Pleasant took a 21-8 lead after the first quarter.

Pleasant Grove had nine turnovers in the first quarter, while Mount Pleasant had three.

Hali Hargrove poured in 12 points to lead the Hawks to a 36-33 victory in the junior varsity game.

Staff photo by Kelsi Brinkmeyers Pleasant Grove player Autumn Crouch dribbles the ball as a Mount Pleasant player attemots to block her durnig their game Tuesday at Pleasant Grove.