Prairie Grove Wins Tournament Championship

PRAIRIE GROVE BEATS FARMINGTON IN 4A-1 TOURNAMENT FINAL, 48-41

GENTRY — Prairie Grove ( 23- 4) added another jewel to the Lady Tigers’ conference championship tiara, claiming the 4A-1 district tournament title with a 48-41 win over Farmington (20-8) on Feb. 16.

“It is just a pleasure to coach these girls,” said Tiger’s coach Kevin Froud, “I’m just enjoying the ride for as long as they’re here.”

The Tigers came out of the gate with a focused intensity, leading by as much as 12 points midway through the second period. The Cardinals never quit scrapping and actually held a 1-point lead late in the contest. The Lady Cardinals’ dreams of a district crown were dashed when the Tigers outscored them 10-2 in the last 2:36.

“You’ve got to give Prairie Grove credit,” said Cardinals’ coach Brad Johnson. “We took the lead and they come right back and immediately make a play. That’s a credit to them, but I’m really proud of the way our kids fought and hopefully we’ll get to face them again sometime down the road.”

The Cardinals opened the contest with a frigid shooting performance, which allowed the Tigers to race out to a commanding 12-1 lead. Prairie Grove’s Macie Kultgen had the hot hand in the first period, scoring 8 of the Tigers’ 12 points. Farmington’s Haley Maxwell stroked a 3-pointer before the end of the period, which cut the lead to 12-4.

Justyne Huber, who led all scorers with 18 points, converted a fastbreak layup early in the second, which put the Tigers up 16-4. Then, with 5: 19 left in the period, the Cardinals offense started heating up. Farmington utilized a 14-4 run, fueled by 8 points from Maxwell to cut the lead to 20-18. Huber added a couple freebies from the charity stripe to the Tigers’ ledger before half, giving Prairie Grove a 4 point, 22-18, cushion at intermission.

Prairie Grove’s lead hovered around 4 points until 4:43 of the third period when Lacey Beeks pulled the popper on a 3- ball, then followed that up with a base- line jumper 30 seconds later that swelled the Tiger’s lead to 9 points, at 31-22.

Huber and Farmington’s Kristi Duchanois traded buckets, then Tiffany Rhame converted a “hoop and harm” 3-point play cutting the lead to 6 points, at 33-27. Beeks added a free-throw to the Tigers total, giving them a 7-point advantage heading into the final stanza.

A 3-pointer from Duchanois and a pair of triples from Rene Scheyder highlighted a 12- 4 Cardinal run to begin the fourth period. Scheyder’s second 3-ball gave the Cardinals a 39-38 advantage, which proved to be their only lead of the game. The Tigers countered with a pair of free-throws from Huber and a layup by Kultgen which gave the Tigers a 42-39 lead. Prairie Grove added 6 more points from the charity stripe, while Farmington was only able to muster 2 more points from Maxwell, bringing the final score to 48-41.

Offensively, Kultgen and Beeks joined Huber in double-figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively, while Whitnee Fitts was the only

other Tiger to enter the scoring ledger with 2 points.

Maxwell and Duchanois each finished with 13 points for the Lady Cardinals, Scheyder finished with 7 points, Lindsey Blackburn tallied 4 points, Rhame added 3 points, while Kaci Sigmon finished with 1 point.

BEN MADRID ENTERPRISE-LEADER The Prairie Grove girls basketball team show off their newly won district tournament first place trophy. The Lady Tigers defeated U.S. 62 rival, Farmington, 48-41, to win the crown on Feb. 16 at Gentry.