Heartburn Relief From Season LINCOLN GIRLS BREAK 8-GAME LOSING STREAK

LINCOLN — Gravette coach Will Pittman knows tough competition in northwest Arkansas can take the heart out of a girls basketball team after watching his Lady Lions dismantle Lincoln, 65-52.

Pittman’s 2011-2012 squad at Gravette had the talent to compete with sharp-shooting Shyanne Nichols playing point-guard and 6-feet-2 Monica White in the post among skilled players on the roster. On paper the Lady Lions were formidable much like the 2016-2017 Lincoln girls team. Like this year’s Lady Wolves, the 2011-2012 Gravette girls won a couple of games early (39-37) at Pea Ridge and ( 67-29) versus Elkins.

They then suffered loss after loss in conference play, ( 60-56) to Ozark, ( 56-50) at Farmington, ( 67- 64) to Gentry, and (60-52) to Pea Ridge before breaking the streak with a 10-point win over Gentry (61-51) in February. The Lady Lions never did hit their stride and despite upsetting Gentry in the first-round were eliminated in their second game of the district tournament.

“It’s a tough league,” Pittman said, noting the regular season has a different feel with a blended 4A/3A District-1 this season.

“The 3A teams in there are tough, Greenland and Elkins, and West Fork which used to be 3A hasn’t been beat all year,” Pittman said, responding to a question of what might contribute to a team like Lincoln unable to get over the hump.

“Kendra Cummings is one of the best players in the league, any team would take her,” Pittman said. “You have got to play well every night if you want to win. I’ve been pleased with the effort our girls have shown night in and night out.”

Pittman’s strategy backed up his statement. The Lady Lions played a trapping defense, double- teaming Cummings each time she crossed mid-court.

Until Thursday’s 55-26 rout of Haas Hall, Lincoln hadn’t claimed a victory since winning 54-21 on Dec. 28 over Episcopal, out of Little Rock, while competing in the Airedale Classic at Alma. The Lady Wolves lost 57-55 at home to Shiloh Christian, 32-30 at Prairie Grove, and 39-37 at home to Gentry. Their eight-game losing streak continued with frustrating losses (40-38) at Greenland Jan. 20 and (36-35) at Shiloh Christian Jan. 24 exemplifying the Lady Wolves’ season.

Against Greenland, a late Lincoln (3-17) lead evaporated when the Lady Wolves couldn’t find the basket and Greenland (14-5) won after Fiona Wilson hit 2 of 2 free throws on a trip to the foul line in the final seconds. Lincoln had a chance to tie or go for the win with a 3-pointer. The Lady Wolves couldn’t get a shot to fall, clanging off the rim as Greenland escaped with the two-point win.

Lincoln coach Brian Davenport was still looking for answers after the Jan. 17 home-court loss to Gravette, a team the Lincoln girls beat, 56-48, in December. Coming into the Greenland game he stressed a need for defense and eliminating turnovers.

“I want to see a better defensive effort,” Davenport said. “We need to value the basketball a lot better than we did tonight. We left too many in the air and they (Gravette) were aggressive and got their hands on a lot of passes.”