Lady Tigers Began 2010 Postseason Run

STORIES OF THE DECADE 2010-2019

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/KAREN E. SEGRAVE Prairie Grove's Julie Rutherfors (No. 14) drives past Star City's Queona Walker (No. 30) in the class 4A girls state championship held Thursday, March 11, 2010 at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs. The Lady Tigers won the finals by a score of 59-56. Earlier during their postseason run Prairie Grove defeated Gentry, 71-48, and Shiloh Christian, 52-33, in the District 4A-1 tournament at Farmington's Mryl Massie Gymnasium.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/KAREN E. SEGRAVE Prairie Grove's Julie Rutherfors (No. 14) drives past Star City's Queona Walker (No. 30) in the class 4A girls state championship held Thursday, March 11, 2010 at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs. The Lady Tigers won the finals by a score of 59-56. Earlier during their postseason run Prairie Grove defeated Gentry, 71-48, and Shiloh Christian, 52-33, in the District 4A-1 tournament at Farmington's Mryl Massie Gymnasium.

SPORTS EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of an on-going series highlighting top sports stories for the 2010-2019 decade at Prairie Grove High School and its alumni.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- On Friday, Feb. 20, 2010, Prairie Grove claimed the 4A-1 District championship by knocking off defending state champion Shiloh Christian, 52-33, on the Lady Saints' home court at Springdale.

Both teams advanced to the 4A North Regional Tournament. Shiloh, which was led by Hannah Persing's 12 points, advanced as the 4A-1 No. 2 seed to face 4A-4 No. 3 Pottsville, while Prairie Grove took the No. 1 seed from the 4A-1 up against 4A-4 No. 4 Clarksville.

Prairie Grove jumped ahead 9-4 in the first quarter and led 26-10 at halftime. The Lady Tigers were led by seniors Elysia Clement with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 2 steals; along with Kendra Coyle chipping in 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Freshman Justyne Huber added 7 points, 5 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot.

Prairie Grove blocked 6 shots in all. Shiloh made a small dent in the deficit by outscoring the Lady Tigers 12-10 in the third, but Prairie Grove controlled the fourth and the outcome with a 16-11 scoring advantage in the final period.

In the semifinals Prairie Grove easily got past Gentry, 71-48. The Lady Tigers dominated virtually every quarter leading 13-6 after one and 29-15 at halftime. The disparity was 16 points after three quarters of play (47-31) and Gentry wouldn't get any closer with Prairie Grove erupting for 24 points in the fourth.

Ten Lady Tigers scored, topped by Coyle with 19 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals along with Clement with 15 points, 3 rebounds and an assist.

Brittany Green led Gentry (20-9) with 16 points, while Terra Jones added 11 for the Lady Pioneers, who took the No. 4 seed into the 4A North Regional tournament in Farmington.

4A-1 DISTRICT SEMIFINAL

Feb. 19, 2010

Prairie Grove 71, Gentry 48

Prairie Grove^13^16^18^24^--^71

Gentry^6^9^16^17^--^48

Gentry (20-9): Brittany Green 5-9 6-6 16, Terra Jones 2-4 7-7 11, Courtney Milsap 1-7 2-4 4, Tiauna Wilkins 1-1 1-2 4, Jessica Jech 2-4 0-0 4, Loren Cripps 1-2 0-0 3, Courtney Folker 1-3 1-2 3, Kelsea Whitten 1-2 0-0 2, Kendra Boyd 0-3 0-0 0, Josie Graves 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-36 17-21 48.

Prairie Grove (29-1): Kendra Coyle 7-12 4-5 19, Elysia Clement 6-10 2-2 15, Michelle Lumsargis 3-3 0-0 8, Tori Thorton 2-3 2-2 6, Alex Myers 3-4 0-2 6, Julie Rutherford 2-7 1-2 5, Morgan Abernathy 2-2 0-0 4, Justyne Huber 2-4 0-0 4, Courtney Galloway 1-4 0-0 3, Whitnee Fitts 0-0 1-2 2, Gely Vafakos 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 8-13 71.

3-Point Goals -- Gentry 2-9 (Cripps 1-1, Wilkins 1-1, Jones 0-1, Boyd 0-1, Millsap 0-5). Prairie Grove 7-12 (Lumsargis 2-2, Thorton 2-3, Clement 1-1, Coyle 1-2, Galloway 1-3, Rutherford 0-1).

Rebounds -- Gentry 18 (Cripps 4), Prairie Grove 25 (Huber 7, Myers 6). Assists -- Gentry 13 (Folker 4), Prairie Grove 22 (Abernathy 3, Coyle 3, Huber 3, Lumsargis 3, Rutherford 3). Steals -- Gentry 5 (Millsap 2), Prairie Grove 7 (Coyle 2, Abernathy 2, Rutherford 2). Blocks -- Gentry 2 (Cripps 2), Prairie Grove 2 (Myers, Rutherford). Turnovers -- Gentry 13, Prairie Grove 12.

4A-1 DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

At Springdale

Feb. 20, 2010

Prairie Grove 52, Shiloh Christian 33

Prairie Grove^9^17^10^16^--^52

Shiloh Christian^4^6^12^11^--^33

Shiloh Christian (19-9): Hannah Persing 12, Kami Garrison 5.

Prairie Grove (29-1): Elysia Clement 4-7 5-6 13, Kendra Coyle 4-11 4-4 12, Julie Rutherford 4-7 1-2 9, Justyne Huber 1-7 5-6 7, Alex Myers 3-5 0-0 6, Morgan Abernathy 2-4 0-0 5, Michelle Lumsargis 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Galloway 0-3 0-0 0, Tori Thorton 0-1 0-0 0, Gely Vafakos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 15-18 52.

3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 1-7 (Abernathy 1-1, Coyle 0-1, Huber 0-1, Thorton 0-1, Galloway 0-3).

Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 13 (Clement 5, Abernathy 4). Assists -- Prairie Grove 17 (Huber 5, Abernathy 4, Coyle 3). Steals -- Prairie Grove 9 (Coyle 2, Clement 2, Galloway 2, Rutherford 2). Blocks -- Prairie Grove 6 (Clement 5, Huber). Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 9.

Sports on 06/03/2020