Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Tigers Steamroll 4A-1 Foes
PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove Lady Tigers, ranked number two in 4A classification by Maxpreps, remained perfect (4-0) in 4A-1 play with a pair of wins over conference opponents last week.
On Tuesday, Prairie Grove handily dispatched the defending 4A champion Shiloh Saints, 55-37, then on Friday, utilized a 30-point third period to bury the Gentry Pioneers, 68-33, at Prairie Grove’s Tiger Den gym.
Justyne Huber continued her early season, offensive onslaught by scoring a game-high 24 points against the Saints on Tuesday. Huber also pulled down seven rebounds and tallied two of the Tigers’ 10 steals on the night.
Seven points from Michelle Lumsargis and a nickel from Lacey Beeks in the opening period, helped Prairie Grove carve out a 15-10 advantage after one period. That lead swelled to 11 points by halftime. Huber tallied nine points in the second frame, with her final three counters coming on a “hoopand-harm” three-point play with 12 seconds left before intermission, bringing the score to 29-18.
Prairie Grove came out with guns blazing in the third period, opening the stanza with an 11-0 run. Beeks started the period with a lay-up and was followed by four consecutive points from Lumsargis. Huber capped off the run with an inside bucket, followed 30 seconds later by a triple that made the score 40-18. Shiloh closed the gap to 40-23, but Huber scored the last four points of the period, bringing the score to 4423 heading into the final frame.
Huber scored three points in the final frame, while Beeks, Brooke Barnett, Kappie Bryant and Abby Smith each added a bucket to the final 55-37 tally.
“I thought Lacey Beeks set the tone for us in the first period and then Justyne Huber and Michelle Lumsargis were able to hit some 3’s that allowed us to later take advantage on the inside,” Lady Tiger coach Kevin Froud said following the victory.
Lumsargis and Beeks followed Huber in the scoring column with 14 and 11 points respectively, while Barnett, Smith and Bryant all finished with two points. Barnett led the Tigers in rebounds with eight and Whitnee Fitts led the Tigers in steals with four. Shiloh was led in the scorebook by Megan Henley with 14 points and Alexis Jones with nine.
Against the Pioneers on Friday, the Tigers turned a modest 29-18 lead at halftime into a 68-33, continuousrunning clock blowout, thanks in large part to a 30-point third period scoring frenzy.
Huber again led the Tigers in scoring with 14 points and was followed by Lumsargis with nine; Smith, eight; Haylee Fitts, eight; Beeks, seven; Kim Reynolds, four; Callie Robinson, four; Bryant, three; Cecilia Martinez, three; Barnett, two; and Whitnee Fitts, two.
The Tigers improved to 13-1 on the season and travel to Farmington on Friday to face a Cardinal squad that is also undefeated in conference play and has moved up to number three (one spot behind Prairie Grove) by Maxpreps.