Lady Tigers Remain Unbeaten

Lincoln’s Boys Earn First Conference Win

Photo by Mike Capshaw/Lincoln’s Roni Castaneda tries to get a shot off in heavy traffic during a 44-37 win against Prairie Grove on Jan. 19.
Photo by Mike Capshaw/Lincoln’s Roni Castaneda tries to get a shot off in heavy traffic during a 44-37 win against Prairie Grove on Jan. 19.

LINCOLN --Prairie Grove's girls remained unbeaten in 4A-1 Conference play with a 57-36 win against Lincoln here Tuesday, Jan. 19.

After falling behind 10-2 at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Wolves matched the Lady Tigers bucket-for-bucket to stay within single digits (27-18) at halftime. Prairie Grove's relentless, "run-and-jump" full-court press, however, forced turnovers and fast-break layups that allowed the Lady Tigers to pull away down the stretch.

Girls

Prairie Grove 57, Lincoln 36

Prairie Grove^10^17^15^15^—^57

Lincoln^2^16^6^12^—^36

Prairie Grove (14-3, 7-0): Lopez 15, M. Hartin 11, T. Hartin 10, Stone 7, Cox 6, Doss 6, Bartholomew 2.

Lincoln (4-11, 0-7): Dobbs 11, Howard 11, James 5, Cunningham 3, McConnell 3, Rothrock 3.

Boys

Lincoln 44, Prairie Grove 37

Prairie Grove^7^7^10^13^—^37

Lincoln^10^15^5^14^—^44

Prairie Grove (2-14, 1-6): Ellis 9, Strong 9, Disney 6, Soehner 5, Cooper 4, Simmons 2, Heltemes 1, Johnson 1.

Lincoln (7-12, 1-6): Means 11, Barnum 9, Blankenship 9, H. Swayne 8, Castaneda 5, N. Swayne 2.

Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said it was difficult to extend the lead early against a pesky and steadily improving Lady Wolves squad.

"We would get up by like 10, and we couldn't hit a shot or two to bump it up to 15 or so," Froud said. "Lincoln kept hanging around by hitting some big threes ... Every time we would get a little lead, they would knock down a three or two.

"[Lincoln] played hard. They shot [the ball] well and it's obvious coach [Brian] Davenport is doing a good job here."

For Davenport, Prairie Grove represents the type of program he's hoping to build at Lincoln. In his first season a year ago, Davenport said he inherited a "seasoned" group of seniors that helped Lincoln win three times as many games as it had the previous season. With those senior starters gone and only one senior on this year's roster, it's been an uphill battle to keep the program heading in that direction.

"Teams like Prairie Grove and Huntsville, they're the standard for our conference," Davenport said. "They have excellent coaches who have built strong programs ... I'm not here to just coach [this season]. I want to climb that mountain as a program and be standing right there with them in the years to come."

Lincoln was playing without its leading scorer in Kendra Cummings, who suffered a knee injury late in Friday's loss against Gentry.

Boys: Lincoln 44, Prairie Grove 37

The Wolves held off a late Tigers rally to come away with their first conference victory.

Using sound defense, Lincoln put together a 16-2 run to take control of the game in the first half. The scoring spurt began on a buzzer-beating, 3-pointer by Roni Castaneda at the end of the first quarter. It was capped off on a steal by Noah Swayne, who lobbed the ball down the court to Dalton Barnum for a layup that made the score 23-9 midway through the seocnd quarter.

"We started the game out with just great defense," said Lincoln coach Tim Rich. "That's what really fed that run there for us. That offense came off of our defense."

Prairie Grove responded with a 15-5 run to close the margin to 35-34 with under three minutes to play in regulation, but the Wolves wouldn't be denied. Free throws by Barnum and Gavin Blankenship, as well as a key offensive rebound by Barnum off of a missed free-throw attempt, helped the Wolves stave off the Tigers' late rally attempt.

Sports on 01/27/2016