Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Relentless Pressure
GRAVETTE — The Lady Lions turned up the heat out of the gate using full-court pressure to jump out to a 10-0 lead.
Kyrstin Branscum hit a trey 20 seconds into the game and Tori Foster added another in the first 1:27 as Gravette went on to a 60-41 win in girls basketball over Prairie Grove Dec. 12.
Gravette coach Will Pittman said the Lady Lions are a good group, fun to coach and play hard.
“I don’t have to get on them about going hard,” Pittman said. “They do it in practice. They do it in games.”
His bench is deep and he is able to rotate fresh players in and out without losing a step.
“When you can go to the bench and bring in somebody who has just as much intensity that’s definitely nice to have,” Pittman said. “This group, they just want to win that’s what’s good about them. We’ve had a lot of different leading scorers this year. They want to score points as a team and figure out ways to win.”
Prairie Grove’s first field goal came on Sara James Stone’s putback with the game 3:03 old, but the Lady Tigers had trouble getting into their offense. In contrast, Madison Spencer’s layup courtesy of Teagan Dixon’s offensive rebound and dish for an easy drive down the lane gave Gravette a 14-4 lead. Mallory Smith checked in and scored off a steal as five different Lady Lions contributed points in the first quarter which ended with Gravette ahead, 16-8.
Four more Lady Lions scored in the second. Bernice Garcia sank a 3-pointer as did Gabbi Curtis, sandwiched around Jessica Bookout’s two points. Freshman Shylee Morrison came off a screen to nail a trifecta. After an offensive rebound two quick passes set up Caity Rose’s 3-pointer from the left wing as Gravette maintained a 33-20 advantage at the 3:43 mark of the second.
Prairie Grove freshman Jasmine Wynos split two defenders and drove for a layup, but Morrison went into a Harlem Globetrotters act maintaining her dribble while going to the floor and avoiding a steal. She recovered and drove the lane, drawing a foul and sinking free throws to put Gravette on top, 36-22, at the half.
Emily Grant, who recently returned to action following an achilles injury, hit a 3-pointer for Prairie Grove, then added an old-fashioned 3-point play in a 46-second span of the third, but 3-pointers by Branscum and Kildow bumped the lead back up. Gravette led 48-31 after three quarters. Eight different Lady Lions made 3-pointers with a team total of nine.
Branscum led Gravette (6-2, 3-0) with 13 points. Grant scored 11 for Prairie Grove (4-6) and Stone had 10.