PRAIRIE GROVE -- Senior night proved challenging for Prairie Grove 2017-2018 Female Athlete-of-the-Year Sarah James Stone and the Lady Tigers basketball team.
Lincoln came in Feb. 2 and shot the lights out early, taking an 11-5 first quarter lead. Tristan Cunningham hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first period and Hollie Webb's 3 blocked shots helped Lincoln get 7 blocks on the night. The Lady Wolves were up 28-21 at halftime and still in front, 36-31, after three quarters of play.
Despite shooting 21 percent from beyond the 3-point line (3-of-14) while Lincoln knocked down 37 percent and committed 14 turnovers, Stone and the Lady Tigers stayed in the game. Prairie Grove's overall field goal percentage was a woeful 24 percent on 15-of-62 shooting, but they eventually cooled Lincoln off. The Lady Wolves made 38 percent of their field goal attempts (16-of-42). Prairie Grove got off 20 more shots to finish with one fewer field goals than Lincoln.
"Fundamentals are everything, you're not hot every night and when you can't make a shot you got to do everything else," said Stone, who led Prairie Grove with 15 rebounds. "You got to do defense and rebounding, grab those loose balls and you have to do everything else you can to contribute to the team."
Prairie Grove held a 41-29 advantage on the boards and offset some of the turnovers with 10 steals, coming away with twice as many as Lincoln had. Prairie Grove was better in the crucial area of free-throw shooting. The Lady Tigers made 25-of-34 for 74 percent compared to a 62 percent clip for Lincoln. Prairie Grove outscored Lincoln 16-11 in the fourth quarter to force overtime in which the Lady Tigers prevailed, 58-50.
"They had a very good game that night and we weren't on, we couldn't make our shots," Stone said. We still played hard and tried to get loose balls and grab rebounds. It definitely was not our best game. We were struggling, but in the end I'm thankful for the win, especially for senior night."
Prairie Grove won Jan. 5 at Lincoln, 43-33, with Stone contributing 5 points and 7 rebounds. Lincoln took a 9-8 first quarter lead in that game and stayed within 28-23 at the end of the third quarter before Prairie Grove sealed the victory with a 15-10 scoring production advantage in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Tigers swept the regular season home-and-away series, then faced Lincoln in the first-round of the 2018 District 4A-1 tournament, which the Lady Wolves hosted. This game was no contest. Stone and teammates limited Lincoln to 10 points in the first three quarters cruising to an easy 40-21 win and berth in the 4A North Regional.
Lincoln's last win in the series came in 2006 with the Lady Wolves winning 52-32.
While coaches and teammates were disappointed Stone didn't play her junior year that all went out the door when she came back out for basketball as a senior.
"They welcomed me back with open arms and that was really sweet," Stone said. "We just wanted to have a good season, and to play hard."
Stone never played with the junior girls or the sophomores because she was moved up to varsity the beginning of her freshman year so it was fun to get to play with them.
"I'm so thankful I came back," Stone said. "I missed Coach Froud, I missed the team, I missed the game. It was a good break, but it was time to come back for sure cause I love the game, I love Coach Froud."
Reflecting on her senior season, Stone is glad she came back to basketball.
"Thank you to all my family and thank you especially to Coach Froud for just taking me back and welcoming me back into the team," Stone said. "I really appreciate that."
Prairie Grove 57, Lincoln 50 Overtime
Feb. 2, 2018, at Prairie Grove
Lincoln^11^17^8^11^3^--^50
Prairie Grove^5^16^10^16^11^--^58
Lincoln (9-8): Tristan Cunningham 5 3-4 16, Jessica Goldman 4 3-6 13, Madison Jones 3 2-2 10, Averi Massey 2 1-3 5, Tania Ortiz 2 0-0 4, Hollie Webb 0 2-2 2. Totals 16-42 11-17 50.
Prairie Grove (8-8): Emily Grant 5-22 13-16 23, Jasmine Wynos 2-9 5-8 9, Larisha Crawford 2-5 0-0 6, Aniyah Gibbs 2-12 2-2 6, Sarah James Stone 1-6 3-4 5, Lexie Madewell 1-4 1-2 3, Kaylee Elder 1-2 0-0 3, Audrey Doering 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan Sugg 0-1 1-2 1, Madi Vinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-62 25-34 58.
3-Point Goals -- Lincoln 7-18 (Cunningham 3, Goldman 2, Jones 2). Prairie Grove 3-14 (Crawford 2-4, Elder 1-2, Gibbs 0-1, Madewell 0-1, Stone 0-1, Vinson 0-1, Grant 0-4).
Rebounds -- Lincoln 29. Prairie Grove 41 (Stone 15). Assists -- Lincoln 6 (Hollie Webb 2). Prairie Grove 6 (Crawford, Doering, Grant, Stone, Sugg, Wynos). Steals -- Lincoln 5. Prairie Grove 10 (Grant 4). Blocks -- Lincoln 7 (Hollie Webb 3). Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 14. Total fouls -- Lincoln 25. Prairie Grove 16. Fouled out -- Kirk, Cunningham.
Sports on 06/20/2018