SPRINGDALE -- Two was enough for Prairie Grove's girls to snap an 11-game conference losing streak with a 39-35 overtime victory against Shiloh Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Only two Lady Tigers (6-12, 1-8 4A-1 West) hit field goals during regulation and overtime. Emily Grant led the way with 19 points while Larisha Crawford added 14. The duo combined for all 24 of their team's points (12 each) to help Prairie Grove take a 24-15 lead at halftime.
One of the six points neither scored in the game was critical. It came when senior Kaylee Elder sank a free throw with 6.9 seconds remaining in overtime to seal the four-point victory.
"They've all came in extra and shot a lot, and we finally shot the ball well in a game," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "We told them to shoot it when they were open, and they did and hit them. Then, we just made some free throws there at the end to get the win.
"We needed it. It was Dec. 7 of last year the last time we've gotten a (conference) win."
Prairie Grove led by double digits (29-19) heading into the fourth quarter before the Lady Saints (6-17, 1-8) roared back to tie the score at 32-32 on a bucket by 6-foot-3 sophomore Anna McCredy, who led all scorers with 23 points. But McCredy fouled out with 47 seconds remaining in regulation, and Prairie Grove outscored Shiloh Christian 7-3 the rest of the way.
"They are extremely hard to score on because (McCredy) protects the rim and forces you to hit outside shots," Froud said. "When they went to man (defense), we held it out (near the half court line) because I thought we could pull her away from the basket and get some shots when she wasn't in there in the middle.
"On offense, she's hard to stop. Once she fouled out, I felt like we could do some more stuff, so that was big for us when she came out."
Crawford and Grant started red hot. They combined to hit their first four three-point shot attempts, including consecutive 3-pointers by Grant off of turnovers, to spot their team an early 12-4 lead.
"We came out flat in the first half, so we got on to them at halftime a little bit because they needed it," Shiloh Coach J.D. Dudley said. "We came out in the second half and started doing what we needed to do. We started getting some chemistry there and hitting shots, and it was pretty. That shows how well we are capable of playing.
"We've just got to put a full game together."
Prairie Grove^12^12^5^3^7^--^39
Shiloh Christian^6^9^4^13^3^--^35
Prairie Grove (6-12, 1-8): Emily Grant 19, Larisha Crawford 14, Kaylee Elder 3, Lexie Madewell 2, Jordan Sugg 1.
Shiloh Christian (6-17, 1-8): Anna McCredy 23, Carley Johnson 4, Shea Sandefur 3, Katie Thompson 3, Ryli Russ 2.
Sports on 02/06/2019