Prairie Grove Girl’s Basketball: Six Games In Six Days

PRAIRIE GROVE — Six games in six days will test Prairie Grove’s girls basketball team as they kick off the season in earnest.

“After Thanksgiving we play 10 games in 16 days,” said Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud, who has compiled a 275-100 record since 2004.

Beginning Nov. 27 at home in a rivalry game against Farmington, Prairie Grove plays an NBA-like schedule. The Lady Tigers go on the road Nov. 28 visiting Haas Hall, then play two games the next day Nov. 29 at the Scranton tournament. December begins with the Lady Tigers at Elkins on the first. They return to Scranton to wrap up the tournament on Dec. 2. The stretch concludes with conference games Dec. 5 versus West Fork and Dec. 8 against Gentry.

“We’re playing four conference games in that stretch,” Froud said. “That should help get us in shape. By the time Christmas break gets here they’ll be ready for a break.”

Newcomers

Newcomers are expected to have a large impact and Froud thinks the team will be deeper this year.

“Freshmen are going to have a lot of experience at the high school level,” Froud said. “We have a new girl, a sophomore (Aniyah Gibbs, a 5-3 guard), who is new to our program. She is new to the high school level.”

The upside of this concentration of late November/ early December games is the players will get more familiar with each other and with the structure of the program.

“The more we play together, the more we jell, the better we get,” Froud said.

The season gets underway with junior Emily Grant (8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists as a sophomore) recovering from an injury. Froud hopes she will be back in December.

League Outlook

Froud expects the league to be tough this year saying Berryville and Gravette have the most talent returning. Berryville has a pair of 6-footers in juniors Hannah Morrell and Kelcee Hopper.

“Berryville is big and huge, Gravette is a lot smaller and quicker,” Froud said.

Froud thinks Shiloh may have the best player in the league in 5-10 junior playmaker Lia Enos.

“Our league overall has got some good talent,” Froud said. “Each team has some good players.”

One of Froud’s proteges, Michelle Lumsargis, a 2012 Prairie Grove graduate, has been hired as an assistant at Lincoln.

“That makes it fun,” Froud said of the rivalry dominated by the Lady Tigers. “She was a real good player here, a great shooter. She’s smart, she has a mind for the game, understands the game. I think she’ll be a valuable asset to Lincoln.”

Scrimmage

The Lady Tigers scrimmaged during the Nov. 7 annual Black and Gold game. Gray opened up an early 14-2 lead over Black. Sarah James Stone helped Black stay back in the game with an inside bucket and by hitting a pair of free throws before the half. In the second half, junior forward Kaylee Elder hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing to wipe out a 6-point deficit. The shots drew applause from her father, John Elder, taking a respite from preparations for the football playoffs.

“She takes after her dad, I taught her to shoot like that,” John Elder grins and gestures with his arm. “We’re both lefties.

Black won on a Larisha Crawford’s free throw.

“Tonight was a typical Black and Gold game,” Froud said. “We knew what each other was going to do. We shot the ball well at times. I think once we get used to playing together, we’ll be a fun team to watch.”

Rebounding

Froud thinks rebounding could turn out to become a team strength. He said having the 5-9 Stone back will be a boost to the Lady Tigers on the boards. Stone didn’t play last season.

“She’s going to help us having her back inside to rebound,” Froud said. “Audrey Doering (5-6 junior) and Madi Vinson (5-7 senior) will help us in rebounding. Ninth-grader Jasmine Wynos (5-9) will help. She’ll hold her own. We have a new girl, who moved in, (Gibbs). She’s strong enough physically and athletic enough to go get it.”