Lady Lions win key conference showdown
GRAVETTE — Gravette junior Brynn Romine made a steal while laying flat on her back and found an outlet that led to Alexa Parker’s free throws, effectively sealing the game.
Parker’s free throws capped the Lady Lions’ 16-9 run in the fourth quarter to break away from a 40-40 tie at the end of the third quarter and beat Prairie Grove, 56-49, in a 4A-1 Conference game crucial for tournament seedings in Lion Arena Friday.
Neither team had played for a week, with games postponed due to winter weather across the region. Both coaches pointed to that as a factor. Romine paced Gravette (13-9, 7-4) with 21 points, while Dalacie Wishon added 12.
“She played really well tonight. Romine did a good job. She played good on both ends of the floor, and it was just one of those games, both teams were tired because we’d been off and nobody’s been able to practice much. Our girls just overall kind of gutted it out toward the end when I know everybody was tired,” said Gravette coach Will Pittman. “I was pleased with all mine, they did a really good job of being tough and fighting through the tiredness.”
Romine’s steal came after Gravette dodged a couple of bullets. A charging foul turned the ball over, and Prairie Grove pounded the offensive glass but couldn’t get two extra shots to fall before Keeley Elsea cleared a rebound for the Lady Lions. Romine made 1 of 2 free throws. Dalacie Wishon stole the ball at midcourt but turned it back over with 33.6 seconds showing on a backcourt violation.
“All of a sudden, our shots quit falling. Turnovers bothered us in the second quarter,” said Prairie Grove coach Scott Reed. “In the tail end of the first half, they kind of got us. We corrected those and we had some bad timing on a few of those turnovers in the fourth quarter. Then it seemed like everything they were doing was working for them. They were getting to the line when they needed to get to the line. We couldn’t seem to get to the line on a few of those that we felt like we got contact. Then, when we did get to the line, we were kind of iffy on whether we were going to make them or not.”
Lexi Henry scored 21 points for Prairie Grove. Her 3-point shot pushed the Lady Tigers into a 4342 lead with 6:07 to go, but Gravette scored the next eight points. Wishon’s 3-point play restored the lead to the Lady Lions 27 seconds later. Romine found Elsea open for a layup and later added another assist to keep the momentum going Gravette’s way.
“She sees the floor good and she found Elsea one time underneath and she finished it, and then Wishon and she finished it,” Pittman said. “Romine did a good job of finding them and the girls did a good job finishing, but they’ve always got their hands ready because they know Brynn will find them if they’re open,” Pittman said.
The game started off as a shootout, with the teams combining for 35 points in the opening frame.
Lexi Henry scored 10 first-quarter points, Camyrn Cash hit a 3-pointer, Ella Faulk converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, Kenleigh Elder tossed in three points, and Hope Kidd contributed a free throw to fuel a 20-point outburst by the Lady Tigers.
Gravette kept pace with balanced scoring between Romine (5), Wishon (4), Keeley Elsea (4) and Parker (2) adding to 15 first-quarter points.
The Lady Lions countered with an 11-2 run of their own in the second quarter to capture a 26-22 halftime lead.
Prairie Grove fed the hot hand of Cash in the third quarter. Cash knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the period. Henry added a triple, Elder had a bucket and Faulk sank a free throw. The Lady Tigers outscored Gravette, 18-14, to tie the game at 40-all at the end of the third quarter.
“Prairie Grove played really well, too. They’ve got a couple of really good players. Henry’s a great player, she’s hard to contain. Ella Faulk does a good job for them and Camryn Cash shot it well,” Pittman said.
Gravette got the Lady Tigers in foul trouble, with both Faulk and Ava Nall fouling out. Prairie Grove has been utilizing a sixplayer rotation, and the foul problems plagued them, especially when the Lady Tigers weren’t able to finish with their first five.
“They play aggressive defense and we did a good job offensively of being aggressive, and that led to some fouls. Then we met passes really well tonight when they were kind of breaking passing lanes and they picked up a few cheap fouls like that, just by [us] meeting the ball,” Pittman said. “I was just pleased with our girls being aggressive on both ends of the floor.”
Pittman threw a shout-out to Gravette fans packing the house and expressing loud vocal support for the home team.
“We’ve got great fans, and it’s been snowy and still crazy snowy out there, but our fans usually come out no matter what. We appreciate them and you know we couldn’t do this without them. They pay for everything in here by coming to these games. Our community support is outstanding, and it showed up again tonight when it’s been snowy, and we still filled the bleachers,” Pittman said.
Gravette needed to win following a January 27 loss to Gentry that left the Lady Lions equal to Prairie Grove in the 4A-1 standings prior to Friday’s game.
“These three games are important for us. We came in tied with Prairie Grove, so that’s a big win. We need to win Saturday against Pea Ridge and Tuesday against Berryville to try to keep that three spot,” Pittman said. “This is a big stretch for us, and you got to get the first one in order to do that, and the girls did a good job tonight of gutting it out and making plays.”
Gravette beat Pea Ridge, 71-45, Saturday, while Prairie Grove defeated Berryville, 66-51, to stay one game back.
“I know everybody who played tonight was probably in the same boat, being out of school all week. It’s tough on high school kids. You want to get in a flow. You like that TuesdayFriday game, that MondayThursday practice. All of a sudden, the snow storm. It’s tough on these kids, great effort from our kids all night long. Mentally, we weren’t at the top of our game. There was a lot of things that mentally were just off. The effort was there. It just wasn’t our night,” Reed said.