Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Hartin’s Hot Hand Carries Lady Tigers
PRAIRIE GROVE — Arkansas Baptist 6-feet-1 senior Caroline Hogue lived up to her billing as a prolific shotblocker but she couldn’t touch Prairie Grove’s 5-foot-6 Mattie Hartin on the perimeter.
Nominated as a McDonald’s All-American, Hogue demonstrated her athletic ability throughout the game by handling the ball, shooting 3-pointers and blocking shots on the interior. However a major problem for the Eagles’ zone with Hogue guarding the paint came from Mattie Hartin’s red-hot first half shooting. Mattie Hartin was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half with 4 trifectas coming in the first quarter. She was also 4 of 4 at the freethrow line helping Prairie Grove seize a 28-18 halftime lead with a 3-pointer set up by an assist and screen from her twin sister, Taylor Hartin, in the closing seconds.
“Mattie and Camree [ Bartholomew] hit some shots. Mattie had six threes in the first half,” said Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud. “Mattie Hartin, she actually had a great tournament in all. She was our leading scorer every time. That helps us when she’s able to do that. Overall, we had a good shooting tournament. That’s what makes us a good team when people step up and make plays.”
The shot was huge and countered 7 straight points from the Eagles. Hogue did have an opportunity to contest one of Mattie Hartin’s shots when Mattie took an outlet pass and went right at her attacking the basket. Hogue was whistled for a personal and Mattie sank both foul shots giving Prairie Grove a 22-11 lead with five minutes and four seconds left in the second quarter. Mattie Hartin hit again from downtown after her teammates kept a possession alive with a pair of offensive rebounds.
Hogue answered with a 3-pointer for the Eagles, then grabbed her own missed shot and dished to Hanna Estes for a layup. Estes sank both shots of a 1-and-1 cutting Prairie Grove’s lead to 25-18 before Mattie Hartin’s sixth 3-pointer ended the half.
Hogue began the third with a smooth drive scoring with her left hand to account for the Eagles’ only points of the period. As the action went back and forth, Hogue blocked a Parker Lopez shot out of bounds and Prairie Grove in- bounded under their own basket with Lopez coolly snapping a 15-footer.
Camree Bartholomew, who had two treys in the first half, missed from the top of the key but tracked the rebound down in the left corner leading to Taylor Hartin’s trifecta. Arkansas Baptist played most of the third with two 6-footers on the court and Madison Jones, a 6-feet-2 junior, grabbed an offensive rebound but Prairie Grove tied up the ball and was awarded the alternate possession as the scrappy Lady Tigers held their own on the boards.
Prairie Grove worked the clock and made 3 of 4 freethrows to close out the third, leading 36-20. They never let Arkansas Baptist make a run in the fourth and won 43-27 to secure their 10th straight state tournament bid. Mattie Hartin finished with 24 points on 6 of 13 shooting. She was 6 of 8 at the foul line.
“[Hogue] She was a great player. We did a good job of guarding her. Ashley Cox and Sara James did a good job of staying on her and our team defense helped,” Froud said. “She made it hard for us to get shots inside. We still took them. We kept going at her but she [made it hard to score inside]. Our pressure and aggressivesness finally wore on them and we were able to hit some shots.”