PRAIRIE GROVE -- Deadly long-range shooting and a stifling defense are always a solid combination and the Prairie Grove girls had that working Dec. 2 against rival Farmington in the second "Battle of 62" of the young season.
Prairie Grove (4-0) dropped seven 3-point bombs in the first half and put the clamps on Farmington for a 29-15 lead and cruised home with a 46-27 victory at the new Tiger Arena in nonconference girls basketball.
The Lady Tigers had 10 3-pointers for the game, and showed they have more firepower than just the Hartin twins -- Mattie and Taylor -- who were well below their season averages with 12 combined points. Camree Bartholomew scored 17 points in the first half and led all scorers with 19, including four treys. Taylor Doss hit two 3-pointers early and added another late and finished with nine points.
"We were a little short-handed, had to overcome a few things tonight," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "One of our starters, Parker Lopez, dislocated her shoulder in practice the other day and is going to be out for a little while and Taylor (Hartin) twisted her ankle a little bit and that's why she didn't play as many minutes as she usually does.
"I told them all that is the kind of stuff that happens over a season and we just have to pull together as a team and have people step up. Camree and Taylor hit some big shots early for us and got us going."
Farmington (1-3) was led by nine points each from Trish O'Connell and Tori Hamley.
Prairie Grove jumped out 9-3 with three quick strikes from long-distance. The Tigers led 29-15 at the half and 34-23 at the end of three quarters but made it 40-23 early in the last quarter on Doss' third triple.
Due to the injuries, Froud said he had to play his under-sized posts Ashley Cox (5-7) and Sarah James Stone (5-9) together more minutes than usual.
"They aren't real big, but they give it all they have," Froud said. "Usually we have to kind of alternate them to keep them out of foul trouble, but they both played almost the whole game tonight and did a really nice job of it. I was very pleased with that."
The Prairie Grove defense also held Farmington to 10 points in a half, 23 through three and less than 30 for the game.
Boys
FARMINGTON 49, PRAIRIE GROVE 35
While Prairie Grove still has a significant number of players out for football, the Tigers made it interesting for most of the first half.
Prairie Grove led 15-13 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 25-19 at the half before Farmington started to pull away in the second half.
Matt Thomas scored 19 points and Matt Wilson had 16 for the Cardinals.
Nick Ellis led the Tigers with 12 points, Cameron Simmons had 11 and Taylor Moore 10.
Sports on 01/04/2017