Lady Blackhawks can’t contain Tigers
PRAIRIE GROVE — Pea Ridge sliced a 10-point halftime deficit to 4 early in the third quarter but Prairie Grove responded with an 18-0 run en route to winning 58-32 Friday.
The Lady Tigers came in brimming with confidence after knocking off Gentry, the No. 2 seed in this week’s 4A-1 girls basketball tournament at Berryville, on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Prairie Grove senior Ella Faulk asserted senior leadership in the absence of leading scorer Lexi Henry and passed to freshman Hope Kidd for the winning basket on a reverse layup with 2.7 seconds left against Gentry.
“It was definitely tough, but I think that it showed a lot tonight,” Faulk said. “It was definitely hard without hard and it’s hard not having someone who’s that good not out there, but it showed a lot with us just as a team [banding together].”
Faulk said the Lady Tigers have adjusted to firstyear coach Scott Reed’s system.
“I definitely learned a lot. He’s taught me a lot of different things that I didn’t even think that I would need, but I definitely need them and it’s been very, very good. He’s taught me a lot,” Faulk said.
On Friday, Leah Telgemeier scored the first basket of the game for Pea Ridge but Prairie Grove reeled off 10 straight points, establishing a pattern that would repeat. Kenleigh Elder’s putback kick-started a three minute run culminated by Henry’s 3-pointer.
Reilly Ingram sank a triple for the Lady Blackhawks off the bench before Prairie Grove scored nine unanswered points, expanding a 14-5 first quarter lead to 19-5 early in the second on another Henry trifecta.
Jadyn Spivey’s triple in the last minute of the second made it 26-16 at halftime. Early in the third, Henry’s driving bank shot upped the Lady Tiger lead to 12 points. Pea Ridge countered with an 8-0 run featuring back-to-back 3-pointers by Mia Dayberry, and a pivot in the paint for a layup by freshman Makenzie Stites, trimming the Lady Tiger advantage to 28-24.
Prairie Grove then scored the last 16 points of the third quarter to open up a 44-24 lead.
Henry turned a steal into a long outlet and assist to Faulk running the court as the margin ballooned to 22 points with 26 seconds gone in the fourth. Pea Ridge never got back in the game and lost 58-32.
Pea Ridge finished the regular season one game below .500 at 14-15 overall, but 4-10 in the conference. The Lady Blackhawks entered the 4A-1 District tournament at Berryville on Tuesday, Feb. 14 as the No. 5 seed pitted against No. 8 Shiloh Christian (6-18, 2-12).
Prairie Grove took the No. 4 seed going into the district tournament, facing the winner of the Berryville/Shiloh Christian game on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m.