Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Calls Go Against Lady Tigers
PRAIRIE GROVE — Gravette couldn’t get the ball to star Shylee Morrison so junior forward Kaylan Chilton drove, drew a foul, and sank two free throws, lifting Gravette to a 55-54 win.
Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud touted his defense for playing well and keeping the ball out of Morrison’s hands on the last possession. He wasn’t happy with a controversial no- call on alleged traveling violations Gravette (17-8, 8-3) appeared to get by with, nor with a foul called against the Lady Tigers (9-15, 3-8) that allowed Chilton to make 2-of-2 free throws with 1.7 seconds left flip-flopping the lead into the Lady Lions’ favor and erasing a 54-53 Prairie Grove lead.
“We had the perfect scenario, their best player didn’t have the ball. Another player went in and made a play,” Froud said. “In a coaching standpoint here I felt they missed a couple of walks at the end and with 1.7 seconds and them initiating the contact you really don’t (expect a foul call). A lot of times they swallow the whistle, but officiating wasn’t the cause of this game.”
Froud said he felt the officials did a good job, although he told them they missed a couple of calls at the end. Still, he refrained from becoming critical while allowing for human error.
“That’s going to happen. We made some turnovers in the first half and some turnovers here and there and that cost us,” Froud said.
On the opposing bench, Gravette coach Will Pittman dealt with adversity of his own, managing personnel and playing time after Gabbi Scott’s early exit in the first minute of the game, Morrison’s foul trouble and ankle injury on the last play of the third quarter, then having to play from behind in the final seconds.
The Lady Lions were already minus Lizzy Ellis, a 5-foot-4 junior guard, averaging 15 points-per-game before she went out with injury.
“It was a hard-fought game, real proud of Kaylan Chilton, she made a real big play at the end, drew contact and then those are big-time free throws. She’s a real mentally-tough kid. She’s been out a few games. This is her first game back in awhile and she stepped up and knocked those down,” Pittman said. “I was pleased with the whole group. It was a tough game. We had to play a lot of people. We were dealing with some injuries. We lost a starter right away in the first minute, Gabbi Scott, then Shylee got in a little bit of foul trouble.”
Gravette found a way to win, something Froud says his team which has no seniors and lost one of its most experienced players in junior Mariah Halbert, 5-foot-5 guard out for the season with a back injury, must learn to accomplish.
Froud felt the Lady Tigers played hard and competed. He told them after the game, “I’m not aggravated at you. I want you to win.”
The Prairie Grove girls showed improvement. They were outscored by Gravette 20- 4 in the third quarter during a 55-36 conference loss on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Last week, Prairie Grove reduced its turnover total from 24 in the Jan. 14 game to 13. The Lady Tigers, led by Trinity Dobbs with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, had more rebounds (31-25) and assists (10-5).
“We’re there, that close and then we lose and I want these girls to win ‘cause they’re good enough to win. Just like anything, we’ve got learn how to win,” Froud said. “We’re a young team and we’ve got to learn how to win them situations, hit some shots and not turn the ball over, unforced turnovers. We’re getting better and it was one of the better games we’ve played tonight and hopefully, we’re getting better at the right time.”