Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Girls Seize 20th Win
LADY TIGERS EARN RIGHT TO PLAY FOR REGIONAL TITLE AT POTTSVILLE
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove girls rolled with the pushes, yet seized their 20th win, 43-29, after being bounced around like inside a pinball machine with Pottsville’s physical style of play.
The Feb. 27 victory in semifinal of the 4A North Regional hosted by Pottsville propelled the Lady Tigers into their third Regional championship game in four years and assured coach Kevin Froud of his eighth consecutive 20-win season. Big plays came at timely moments from different girls.
With the Hartin twins both on the bench in foul trouble not only did Prairie Grove maintain their 22-15 halftime lead but stretched out the margin to 31-17 at the end of the quarter giving up only two points in the period. Ashley Cox, who earlier had a put-back, blocked a shot and held onto the rebound with the Apaches trying to claw the ball loose. The alternate possession belonged to Prairie Grove and they went on offense.
Apache Erica Lackey got down- court ahead of the Lady Tigers to score in transition with 1:42 remaining in the third but Parker Lopez drove, drew a foul and sank free-throws, then came away with another key defensive rebound for Prairie Grove. The Apaches vigorously tried to trap the ball through- out much of the quarter and Prairie Grove passed over a double-team on the left wing to Camree Bartholomew high on the left box. She turned and spotted Cox alone on the baseline for a layup and a 28-17 Lady Tiger lead.
A crucial factor was Prairie Grove’s ability to score with very little time left at the end of the first three quarters. Mattie Hartin put up all 11 of the Lady Tigers points in the first period and canned her third trey of the quarter to beat the buzzer. The opportunity came after Taylor Doss stripped the ball away from an Apache driving the lane and pushed Prairie Grove out to an 11-5 first quarter lead.
“It was a physical game. We knew that going in that it was going to be physical and at their place,” said Froud, mentioning contributions off the bench.
“Megan Reynolds came in and helped us with 4 points late in the first quarter. We did a great, great job of defensive rebounding and with the win we made it to our third Regional championship game in four years, which is a good compliment for these girls. It’s a good accomplishment for them.”
Sklar Campbell drew Pottsville within 5 on a free-throw before Lopez worked her way to goal and scored in front of the rim just before the second quarter horn sounded. The field goal pushed Prairie Grove back to a seven-point, 22-15, halftime lead. At the end of the third Lopez cleared a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor drawing a foul enabling Prairie Grove to in-bound under their own basket. Lopez again danced into the lane but this time found Bartholomew spotting up for a 3-pointer at the top of the key and Prairie Grove went up 31-17 after three quarters.
Pottsville had been cold from 3-point range all the way through before Erica Lackey and Katie Cormier hit backto-back treys in a 19-second span with 5:03 to go in the fourth. Froud took timeout and stabilized the Prairie Grove girls, who held the ball for almost a minute before Bartholomew was fouled and converted both. Lopez did likewise and the Lady Tigers rolled to a 43-29 win.
Mattie Hartin led Prairie Grove with 14 points. After starting the game 2 of 6 from the free-throw line, Prairie Grove was 10 for 12 during crunch time in the fourth and finished 14-20. No Apache reached double figures. Lackey had 8 and Cormier 7 to lead Pottsville. The victory put Prairie Grove into the 4A North Regional championship on Saturday against former 4A-1 rival, Ozark, which shifted to the 4A-4 this school year.