Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Junior High Basketball Team Brings Home Trophy
PRAIRIE GROVE — Local U. S. 62 junior high boys and girls basketball teams took part in the seasonending 4A-1 District Tournament held at Prairie Grove’s Tiger Den gym.
MONDAY FEB. 4 JUNIOR GIRLS
PRAIRIE GROVE 45, GRAVETTE 14
The junior Lady Tigers kicked off the tourney with a complete drubbing of the Gravette Lions. Taylor Hartin paced the Tigers with 13 points, with twin sister, Mattie Hartin, following closely behind with 12 Points. Parker Lopez and Taylor Doss finished with 8 and 6 points respectively, while Megan Reynolds, Ashley Cox and Hannah Keelin scored 2 points apiece.
The Tigers punched their ticket to the championship game on Saturday with a 49-16 dismantling of the Ozark Hillbillies on Thursday. Mattie Hartin led all scorers with 16 points.
TUESDAY, FEB. 5
JUNIOR BOYS
GENTRY 60, LINCOLN 38
The Lincoln junior boys season ended on Tuesday after their firstround loss to Gentry. The Wolves only trailed the Pioneers by 2 points at halftime, but where outscored 3111 after intermission. Garrett Blankenship led the Wolves in scoring with 9 points; Dalton Barnum and Noah Swayne had 8; Roni Castaneda, 6; Darien Cheatham, 5; and Harrison Swayne, 2.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6
JUNIOR BOYS
PRAIRIE GROVE 47, BERRYVILLE 36
The Tigers built a 15 point halftime lead, then spent the second half fending off the Bobcats, before hanging on for the victory which propelled them to the semifinals.
Dylan Soehner led Prairie Grove with 14 points, Gavin Heltemes scored 10; D.J. Strong, 7; Nick Ellis, 6; Nick Kincaid, 6; Daniel Young, 3; and Dalton Bradley, 1. Prairie Grove’s season ended the next night with their 43-35 loss to the Gentry Pioneers in the semifinals.
JUNIOR GIRLS FARMINGTON 37, LINCOLN 35
(DOUBLE OT)
In the most exciting game of the night the Farmington Cardinals beat the Lincoln Wolves by 2 points in double overtime. With the score tied 28-28, Farmington’s Kaylee Brown and Lincoln’s Ashtyn Rothrock traded lay- ups in the last 10 seconds of regulation, with Rothrock’s coming at the buzzer sending the contest into overtime.
Both teams only scored 2 points in the first overtime, but the Cardinals were able to outscore the Wolves 7-5 in the second overtime to earn the win. Rothrock led all scorers with 17 points, while Tori Hamley paced the Cardinal’s with 12 points.
Farmington’s ledger showed Brown with 8, Brooke Smith, 7; Trish O’Connell, 6; Josie Tevebaugh, 2; and Alexis Shelley, 2.
For Lincoln, Kayse Solley scored 7; Cynthia Ortiz, 3; and Rachel Williams, Sydney Brewer, Sam Cheatham, and Lexington Hefley all finished with 2 points.
Farmington season came to an end the next night when they fell 40-29 to the Gentry Pioneers in the semifinals.
JUNIOR BOYS
FARMINGTON 41, OZARK 29
The Cardinals concluded Wednesday’s games with a victory over the Hillbillies in the nightcap. Farmington sprinted out to a 24-9 lead by halftime, then held on for the victory, which propelled them into the semifinals. Coy Sigmon and Brice Waggle led the Cardinals with 12 points apiece. Matt Thomas pitched in 9; Matt Wilson, 6; and Tanner Curtis, 2.
Thomas scored 25 points in the Cardinal’s semifinal matchup against the Pea Ridge Blackhawks, helping Farmington earn the 4633 win and securing a place for them in the championship game on Saturday.
SATURDAY, FEB. 9
JUNIOR GIRLS
GENTRY 28, PRAIRIE GROVE 26
Prairie Grove led 12-4 early in the second quarter on Camree Bartholomew’s putback and 2416 midway through the third on Ashley Cox’s baseline jumper but both times Gentry rallied. The
junior Lady Pioneers pulled to within, 26-25, on Haley Borgeteien-James’ banked-in 3-pointer and took the lead on a pair of Borgeteien-James free throws after the 5-foot-6 freshmen came away with a steal. She added another foul shot with 13 seconds left and Prairie Grove’s only field goal of the period was disallowed when Mattie Hartin banked in what looked like a gametying shot with a second left.
“Close doesn’t count,” said Prairie Grove coach Shelley Dougan, who had high praise for the Hartin twins.
“They work hard, they’re in the gym shooting on their own. Good things happen to people who work hard. It doesn’t just happen on its own.”
Gentry won 28-26 and took home the first place girls trophy with Prairie Grove earning the second place trophy.
Despite the loss, Dougan said she was very proud of her team.
“They worked very hard over the summer and spent countless hours in the gym. Its hard to end it not coming out on top.”
JUNIOR BOYS GENTRY 48, FARMINGTON 33
The Gentry junior boys made the tournament a dual championship with a 48-33 win over Farmington. The junior Cardinals led 20-19 at halftime and the game was tied at 31 points apiece after three quarters but Gentry scored 17 unanswered points over the first 4:35 of the final frame to put the game away.
“I give all the credit to Gentry. They took us out of our rhythm and offense,” said Farmington coach Matt Mahan. “They sped us up and they were able to get a lot of easy transition baskets. They made us work hard for our baskets.”
Mahan said he was proud of the Farmington junior boys for being able to reach the championship contest, yet wished they could have won it.