Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Presses West Fork, Earns Road Win
LADY TIGERS OVERCOME ROUGH START
WEST FORK —Prairie Grove overcame a slow start offensively by turning up the pressure on defense to earn a 45-39 road win at West Fork on Jan. 16.
The Lady Tigers had no field goals for the first 5:57, began 0-for-3 at the free throw line and converted a single field goal in the first quarter which ended with West Fork leading 12-5.
Full-court pressure tilted the contest in Prairie Grove’s favor starting in the second quarter. Prairie Grove fashioned a 9-0 run. Jordan Sugg’s layup arrived via Sarah James Stone’s steal and lead pass. Fourteen seconds after that Stone took a steal the length of the court and laid the ball in with her left hand. Sugg stole the ball once more and pushed it up the floor setting up Lexie Madewell’s drive and finish off the glass. Another West Fork turnover resulted in more Prairie Grove points. Jasmine Wynos’ rebound reset the offense and Emily Grant drove the lane finishing with a bank shot that put Prairie Grove ahead, 14-12.
Then came a 2:59 scoring drought, yet Prairie Grove continued to harass West Fork with an aggressive press and West Fork only managed a single basket during that span. Larisha Crawford found Madewell open at the top of the arc and she let a 3-pointer rain down regaining the lead for Prairie Grove at 17-14. They would not trail again. Madi Vinson went baseline to score a runner which cushioned Prairie Grove’s halftime lead at 21-17.
An 8-3 run boosted the margin to 29-20 with half the third quarter gone. Aniyah Gibbs had four points including a left-handed layup completing a length of the court drive after making a steal. She also executed a bounce pass with her left hand from the baseline that Stone scored on in the paint. Stone had a steal and outlet to Madewell during the run.
West Fork cut the lead to 29-27 with 7 straight points by Elyssa Hauser, but Grant’s dribble penetration got Stone to the foul line. Savannah White stepped out-of-bounds turning the ball over with just over a minute left in the third. Possession reverted to Prairie Grove and Crawford found Grant open for a 3-pointer on the wing. Another West Fork turnover led to Stone’s twisting lay-up while strolling down a crowded lane and Prairie Grove took a 35-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
West Fork hurt its chances by committing one more turnover when the in-bounder stepped in-bounds after a charging call erased a Prairie Grove basket. Prairie Grove took the ball out underneath the goal and Madewell promptly fed Wynos for a layup and a 43-32 lead. West Fork got a reverse lay-up by top scorer Joei Haase-Selvidge and a 3-pointer from Hannah Johnson to stay within, 43-37, at the 2:16 mark. Beyond that the only score they got was at the buzzer on Johnson’s jump-hook which was too little, too late because Madewell got open against the press. She missed an uncontested layup, but calmly rebounded and put in the miss before West Fork could reach her.
“I’m really pleased with our effort,” said Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud. “Our shots weren’t falling in the first quarter, but we did a great job causing turnovers. Our shots weren’t falling, but they didn’t say ‘Oh well, it’s one of those nights.’ The girls kept competing and playing hard. We finally hit some shots. Larisha Crawford and Jordan Sugg did a good job defending their point-guard and Lexie Madewell and Aniyah Gibbs did a good job of defending their best 3-pointer shooter. Sarah James Stone and Jasmine Wynos did a good job of getting us second chance shots with offensive rebounds.”
PRAIRIE GROVE 45, WEST FORK 39
Prairie Grove 5 16 14 10 — 45 West Fork 12 5 10 12 — 39 Prairie Grove (6-7): Lexie Madewell 5-15 1-2 12, Emily Grant 3-9 3-5 11, Sarah James Stone 4-9 1-4 9, Jasmine Wynos 1-7 3-4 5, Aniyah Gibbs 1-4 2-2 4, Madi Vinson
1-5 0-1 2, Jordan Sugg 1-2 0-0 2, Kaylee Elder 0-2 0-0 0, Larisha Crawford 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 10-18 45.
West Fork (9-9, 4-5): Joei HaaseSelvidge 5 2-3 13, Hannah Johnson 4 0-0 11, Elyssa Hauser 5 1-1 11, Sara Blackard 2 0-0 4, Emmey Jarnagan 0 0-1 0, Savannah White 0 0-2 0.
3-Point Goals — Prairie Grove 3-17 (Grant 2-5, Madewell 1-4, Gibbs 0-1, Elder 0-1, Stone 0-1, Sugg 0-1, Crawford 0-2, Vinson 0-2). West Fork 4 (Johnson 3, Haase-Selvidge).
Rebounds — Prairie Grove 24 (Stone 8, Wynos 8). Assists — Prairie Grove 6 (Crawford, Grant, Madewell, Stone, Gibbs, Vinson). Steals — Prairie Grove 9 (Stone 4). Turnovers — Prairie Grove 11.