Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Girls Knock Off Morrilton
LADY TIGERS QUALIFY FOR STATE, ADVANCE TO REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL
FARMINGTON — When Cheyanne Kemp’s hotly-contested 3- point attempt caromed off the backboard, time seemed to stand still for players involved while the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Players from Morrilton ( 19- 6) momentarily froze in disbelief while the ball bounced around before Prairie Grove (16-12) retrieved it as time expired with the Lady Tigers winning 39-36.
“Really good defense contesting, it should have never been that close. That shows you how important free throws are, but the girls, they made the plays when they had to,” said Prairie Grove head coach Kevin Froud.
Froud utilized timely advice from former assistant Shelley Dougan and it paid off as the Lady Tigers knocked off 4A-4 top seed Morrilton, punching its ticket to state.
“We’ve been in this situation before so I said let’s take some air out of it and try to get them to foul us and we were able to do that,” Froud said. “Coach Dougan hit me up the other night when we were playing somebody and we didn’t score much and she said, ‘Why didn’t you just start holding it when you had that lead and slow the game down?’ so I’ll credit her to that for this one tonight. We went about three possessions and didn’t hit our shots so I was like we’re just going to milk some time and hopefully make our free throws.”
The Lady Tigers advanced into the regional quarterfinals and punched their ticket to state despite only scoring 12 points in the second half and all six of their fourth quarter points from the freethrow line. Defense saved Prairie Grove which held Morrilton standout Kemp to 10 points and no free throw attempts. No stop loomed larger than forcing Kemp to fire up an off-balance three which bounced off the rim in the final seconds.
Froud praised the play of several girls who collected key defensive rebounds after Morrilton misses.
“Ella Faulk’s there was a big one, Trinity had a big one, big defensive rebounds on shots that they missed
and we were able to hit some shots and some free throws. I’m just so proud for these the way they competed and played and the way they’ve done all year. I mean, they could have rolled over halfway through the season. We were on a seven game losing streak and they’ve turned it on here at the end,” Froud said.
After three days of postponement due to winter weather the 4A North Regional finally got underway Saturday morning with Prairie Grove taking on Morrilton. Six different players scored in the first quarter as the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 16-6 lead. The Lady Tigers maintained a double digit lead at halftime of 27-17.
Scoring fell off for Prairie Grove in the third, but their defense held up. Kemp missed a long 3-point attempt at the end of the third quarter which concluded with the Lady Tigers leading 33-25.
Olivia Kestner blocked a shot but Morrilton managed to power its own rebound in, cutting the lead to 33-27. Froud called time-out with just under three- and- half minutes to play and sent Faulk back into the lineup.
Drue Hollis dove on the floor deflecting the ball out. Officials ruled it was last touched by Prairie Grove with 5:11 to go and Morrilton in-bounded. Kemp eventually hit a jumper narrowing the Lady Tiger lead to 33-29.
Lindsay Aday knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner, cutting the lead even further to one, at 33- 32. Morrilton then burned another time- out. Prairie Grove twice missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but inched closer to the double bonus. Lexie Henry’s free throws ended a 6:45 scoring drought for the Lady Tigers and stretched the lead out to 35-32..
Ella Faulk sank 1 of 2 free throws at the 29 second mark. Kemp scored at the other end to make it a two- point game. A crazy bounce went off Henry’s leg turning the ball over but Morrilton missed and Faulk again claimed an important rebound. She was fouled and made a free throw extending the margin to 39-36 with six seconds showing.
Prairie Grove defended well on the last possession and withstood Kemp’s 3-point try.
Trinity Dobbs led the Lady Tigers with 10 points. Lexi Henry finished with 9 and Ella Faulk added 8.
PRAIRIE GROVE 39, MORRILTON 36
Prairie Grove16 11 6 6 — 39 Morrilton 6 11 8 11 — 36 Morrilton (19-6): Cheyanne Kemp 5 0-0 10, Johnna Brockman 4 1-2 9, Allison Dunlap 1 4-5 6, Grace Brown 1 2-2 4, Kamryn Reel 1 0-0 3, Jennifer Hartman 1 0-1 2, Wyleigh Keeton 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 7-10 36. Prairie Grove (16-12): Trinity Dobbs 4 2-2 10, Lexie Henry 3 2-4 9, Ella Faulk 2 4-8 8, Camryn Cash 2 0-0 5, Torie Price 1 1-1 3, Zoe Hubbs 0 2-2 2, Olivia Kestner 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 11-17 39.
3-Point Goals — Morrilton 1 (Reel). Prairie Grove 2 (Henry, Cash).