PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud cautions that his young team playing primarily sophomores at the present needs to avoid a vulnerability of going long periods of time without scoring.
The Lady Tigers don't have any seniors. Prairie Grove went to Pottsville on Tuesday, Dec. 3, and sustained a 55-32 nonconference loss without the services of juniors Jasmine Wynos or Mariah Halbert, two seasoned athletes out with injuries. Halbert was lost for the season with a back injury while Wynos is expected to return after breaking a bone in her hand.
"We were just physically out-matched that game," Froud said. "We came out and played a pretty good first quarter then after that in high school they had a great team hitting shots and the second quarter we only scored one point. So, when you're doing that, you're just going to dig yourself a hole and that's kind of what happened to us."
The Lady Apaches had balanced scoring with eight different players contributing anywhere from Abbie Cain with a team-high 10 to Rilee Underwood with four points. Pottsville made seven 3-point shots and jumped ahead 19-12 after the first quarter then extended its lead to 30-13 at halftime when Prairie Grove went ice cold in the second.
Inept rebounding coupled with 20 turnovers contributed to Prairie Grove's struggles on offense. At the end of the third quarter Prairie Grove trailed 44-18 which Froud attributed to fundamental mistakes of not blocking out and throwing the ball right into the hands of the Lady Apaches.
"They were doing a lot to cause it, but we just want to focus and have the right intensity," Froud said. "We've got to compete for all four quarters. We can't take some long time off."
Trinity Dobbs led the Lady Tigers with 7 points; and three nights later Prairie Grove played much better during a 38-32 win over Greenland.
Pottsville 55, Prairie Grove 32
Prairie Grove^12^1^5^14 -- 32
Pottsville^19^11^14^12 -- 56
Pottsville (4-2): Abbie Cain 3 2-2 10, Kimbra Rhodes 3 1-1 9, Lindsay Aday 2 5-6 9, Tori Smith 2 0-0 6, Layla Stroud 3 0-0 6, Shannon Lasey 2 2-4 6, Julia Reynolds 2 1-2 6, Rilee Underwood 2 0-2 4. Totals 19 10-17 55.
Prairie Grove (3-3): Trinity Dobbs 3-8 1-1 7, Olivia Kester 2-4 1-1 5, Logan Meadors 1-6 2-3 4, Alex Torres 1-7 2-2 4, Torie Price 1-8 1-2 3, Arianna Harrel 1-3 1-2 3, Emma Vance 1-2 0-0 3, Abby Preston 1-5 0-0 2, Charity Stearman 0-1 1-2 1, Eleanor Giardino 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-45 9-13 32.
3-point Goals -- Pottsville -- 7 (Cain 2, Rhodes 2, Smith 2, Reynolds). Prairie Grove -- 1-10 (Vance 1-2, Price 0-1, Giardino 0-1, Dobbs 0-1, Preston 0-2, Torres 0-3).
Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 17 (Torres 4). Assists -- Prairie Grove 5 (Dobbs 2, Price 2). Steals -- Prairie Grove 7 (Meadors 2). Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 20.
Sports on 12/11/2019