Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Ozark Squeaks By Prairie Grove
PRAIRIE GROVE — Nearly three quarters went by before Prairie Grove shots started going in and a 14-point deficit hindered a comeback one point short.
Prairie Grove (22-13) lost by the narrowest of margins, 40-39, to Ozark (29-3) on the Lady Hillbillies’ home-court in the 4A State girls basketball tournament on March 9. The semifinal setback ended a deep post-season run for a young team with no seniors and without anyone taller than 5-feet-7. The fact that the outcome was still in doubt until Mattie Hartin was clobbered on a drive trying to tie the game and she didn’t get a call in the waning seconds stands as a monument to coach Kevin Froud’s diligence in drawing out the best from his players.
The typically good shooting Lady Tigers were ice cold for an extended time. Days earlier junior Taylor Hartin put up 30 points in a 65-42 win over Crossett and her twin sister, Mattie Hartin, scorched Arkansas Baptist for 24 in the 4A North Regional the week before; but, except for Ashley Cox’s layup off a teammate’s feed on dribble penetration early, no Lady Tiger could find the hoop in the first quarter.
Prairie Grove dug in defensively and stayed in the game trailing just 5-2 after one period of play. The Lady Tigers held Lady Hillbilly guard Kylie Ladd scoreless in the first 9:51 until she made back-toback 3-pointers to give Ozark an 11-6 lead which was extended to 18-9 at halftime. Ozark stretched the margin to 23-12 before Prairie Grove freshman Sarah James put in a missed 3-point shot. Ozark appeared to have scored last in the third as Kylie Ladd drove the lane and banked in a spectacular shot while falling down. She was fouled and converted a 3-point play, but Taylor Hartin maximized the 5 remaining seconds.
With Ozark backing
off,
she allowed the inbounds pass to bounce beside her before seizing the ball near mid-court dribbling to the right wing and cooly swishing a trifecta to cut Ozark’s lead down to 26-17 at the end of the third.
Prairie Grove staged a furious rally outscoring Ozark 22-14 in the fourth quarter. Mattie Hartin hit a trey from the top of the key and Camree Bartholomew zoomed down the lane for a lay- in to account for a mini 5-0 Lady Tiger run. After a pair of Ozark freethrows, Prairie Grove again scored 5 consecutive points capped by Bartholomew’s 3-pointer that made it a game with Ozark hanging onto a 30-28 lead with 3:05 to play.
Ozark coach Brett Nagel called timeout and on the in- bounds play from the side, Kylie Ladd got by all defenders for a layup. Bartholomew, who had uncharacteristically missed all three tries when fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the first half, then made 4 straight free-throws offset by a pair from Kylie Ladd. Ozark continued to lead by two, at 34-32, at the 2:28 mark but on the next possession Kylie Ladd found her dribble beyond her control and lost the ball out of bounds when driving deep to the baseline.
Prairie Grove set their offense in motion and Taylor Hartin came up big, knocking down a game-tying 18-feet jumper with an open look from the right baseline. Kylie Ladd put Ozark back in the lead at the foul line but Parker Lopez polished the glass with a driving shot and the score was again deadlocked, this time at 36-36. Kylie Ladd drew yet another foul and made both for a 38-36 Ozark lead with 55 seconds showing.
Prairie Grove ran their offense with Mattie Hartin breaking into the paint where her shot was challenged as she was knocked down. In an all-out battle for the rebound, Ozark freshman Hannah Ladd finally procured the ball and was fouled in the deep left corner.