LINCOLN -- Prairie Grove is having a subpar season by standards coach Kevin Froud has achieved, but Friday they faced Lincoln, an opponent sorting through the aftermath of an emotional trainwreck.
Tiger Season Woes
Through his first 10 years as a head coach at Prairie Grove, Froud has never experienced a losing season, accumulating a 233-70 record with a state championship in 2010 and state runner-up in 2013. The Lady Tigers have been consistently good in past years, so much, that this season, more than one long-term winning streak against a conference opponent has been broken. Thus far, the 2016-2017 Lady Tigers have struggled, losing twice as many games (14) as they have won (7), counting Friday's 50-36 win at Lincoln (4-20).
Lincoln Coaching Shakeup
Lincoln recently dismissed head girls basketball coach Brian Davenport, whose record this season was 3-17 with an overall record at Lincoln of 19-51. Also exiting was assistant coach Stefanie Howard and starting guard/forward 5-feet-7 senior Natalie Howard. Lincoln Middle School assistant principal Stan Karber has been named interim head girls basketball coach.
Sole Survivor
The sole survivor among the coaching staff is Michelle Lumsargis, who is working as an intern. Lumsargis is a 2012 Prairie Grove graduate, who was part of a Froud-coached 28-2 Prairie Grove team that won conference, district and regional championships. She banked in a desperation 3-pointer to force overtime against Farmington in the Regional finals. Her continued presence on the Lincoln bench provides the only continuity between the coaching tactics of Davenport and strategy implemented by Karber. Lumsargis has already made an impression on her new boss.
"She (Lumsargis) has an unbelievable basketball mind," Karber said.
Froud gave Lumsargis a big hug as the teams shook hands after the Lady Tigers' win Friday.
Lincoln Leads Early
The Lady Wolves led until midway through the first quarter. Darian McConnell caught an in-bounds pass into the front-court and drove to the basket ahead of a Lady Tiger full-court press. She missed, but 5-feet-10 sophomore forward Jessica Goldman scored with a follow shot. A minute later, Tristan Cunningham yanked down a defensive rebound, getting the outlet to point-guard Kendra Cummings. She pushed the ball up the floor, finding Alllison Cunningham open for a 15-foot baseline jumper and a 13-9 Lincoln advantage.
Challenges For Karber
Karber is facing all sorts of challenges in assuming the head coaching position, even more so filling in on a temporary basis. He has an advantage in knowing the students who have come through the middle school, but has to quickly familiarize himself with each's individual athletic abilities within a team concept.
"I told them to just execute, take everything they've learned this season and play hard," Karber said. "They've had a bad hand dealt to them. We're going to play it out."
Pivotal Second Quarter
The game was only 4:14 old when Cummings drew her third personal and was subbed out. Prairie Grove then scored seven straight points to conclude an 11-0 run. Sophomore Meliah Hutsell sank a 3-pointer, followed by Grant with a layup while a teammate battled for a loose ball on the floor, gained control and found her. Grant hit a high-arcing shot to finish the run with Prairie Grove in front, 20-13, en route to a 24-19 halftime lead.
"Kendra Cummings got in foul trouble and she's our primary ball-handler and senior leader," Karber said. "Once she went out, it was tough to recover. We had some quick turnovers and they didn't seem to miss."
Snakebit Lady Wolves
Not much has gone right for the Lincoln girls this season. Typical of the kind of things which have befallen them was a free throw attempt by Goldman. Down 40-29 after the third quarter, Lincoln desperately needed points but the front end of a 1-and-1 died on the rim as if the ball stubbornly refused to fall into the net. Possession was awarded to Prairie Grove.
Double Whammy
Cummings drew her fourth foul with 5:13 left in the third quarter. She also experienced frustration posting up on offense. Lincoln repeatedly tried to get the ball to her on the low block only to have Prairie Grove knock it away. Cummings scored six points in the fourth off the dribble. Then with 1:13 to go Lincoln once more passed towards Cummings down low. She was knocked over, falling hard to the floor. No foul was called as Prairie Grove stole the ball and went down-court. As Cummings slowly got up an official stood over her, accompanying her as she crossed half-court. Then she was assessed a technical foul by another official, which counted as her fifth personal with the double whammy of sending her to the bench and Prairie Grove guard Larisha Crawford to the free throw line where she made both giving the Lady Tigers a 14-point lead.
Sportsmanship
Karber is experiencing some of the same problems that plagued Davenport -- At times, Lincoln can't seem to get calls on their home court and when they complain a technical foul has often been the result. Froud displayed sportsmanship by inserting five reserves in the final minute as Prairie Grove claimed a much-needed 50-36 victory. If the Lady Tigers feel at times their season has gone south, they don't have to look far to find another team in a worse fix.
Sports on 02/08/2017