PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove rode sophomore Abby Preston's first half shooting and made clutch plays down the stretch to hold off Shiloh Christian, 53-46, as the district tournament got underway.
The Monday, Feb. 17, win advanced the Lady Tigers to Tuesday's game against Pea Ridge in the District 4A-1 girls basketball tournament at Tiger Arena.
Preston recorded 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals, forcing Shiloh to account for her while teammates Trinity Dobbs (20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals) and Jasmine Wynos (10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) found openings.
Torie Price handled pressure and 6-0 sophomore center Olivia Kestner had 11 rebounds.
Early in the fourth quarter, Shiloh's Acie Thurlby made a 3-pointer followed by Rylie Russ' steal and layup. On the ensuing in-bounds play, the Lady Tigers beat Shiloh's full-court press with Kestner taking a long outlet to score.
Prairie Grove had trouble with the press. Shiloh's Lauren Wyand drove for a bucket in the paint and Russ hit another trey pushing Shiloh ahead 39-38.
Prairie Grove got a break when Shiloh traveled after making a steal. Dobbs' clutch free throws regained the lead for the Lady Tigers.
Shiloh twice more took the lead with a Russ trey making it, 44-43. Price dribbled through the full-court press and passed to Kestner for a layup. Rachel Cox gave Shiloh its last lead of 46-45. Price again answered by banking in a shot on the run and Prairie Grove took the lead, 47-46, with 1:57 to go.
"There in about the last two minutes of the ball game when they took the lead we were able to get some stops. They fouled us and we make some free throws and get the lead back," Froud said.
Kestner blocked a shot out-of-bounds, then the Lady Tigers foiled Shiloh twice on in-bounds plays underneath its own basket. Twice in the last 30 seconds Kestner rebounded airballs shot by Shiloh. Preston and Dobbs put the game away at the foul line.
"She (Kestner) did a good job of finally getting her hands up and making them have to shoot a contested shot over her," Froud said. "It's a team win. In the second half we did better of covering their ball screens. It's this time of year, you got to make plays throughout. Every possession's a battle whether it's the first quarter or the fourth quarter."
Prairie Grove 52, Shiloh Christian 46
Shiloh Christian^12^6^11^17^--^46
Prairie Grove^11^15^10^17^--^53
Prairie Grove (9-13, 3-6): Trinity Dobbs 4-21 11-16 20, Abby Preston 4-6 2-4 12, Jasmine Wynos 3-11 4-4 10, Olivia Kestner 3-9 0-0 6, Torie Price 2-8 0-0 5, Charity Stearman 0-1 0-0 0, Arianna Harrel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-57 17-24 53.
Shiloh Christian (8-17, 0-9): Rachel Cox 6 0-0 12, Ryli Russ 4 0-0 11, Acie Thurlby 3 4-6 11, Katie Thompson 2 1-2 6, Katelyn Simpson 1 2-4 4, Lauren Wyand 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-12 46.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 4-13 (Preston 2-3, Price 1-4, Dobbs 1-4, Wynos 0-1,Harrel 0-1), Shiloh Christian 5 (Russ 3, Thurlby, Thompson).
Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 29 (Kestner 11), Shiloh Christian 25 (Cox 7). Assists -- Prairie Grove 12 (Price 5), Shiloh Christian 11 (Thurlby 5, Simpson 3). Steals -- Prairie Grove 6 (Dobbs 3), Shiloh Christian 7 (Simpson 2, Thurlby 2). Blocks -- Prairie Grove 1 (Dobbs), Shiloh Christian 4 (Cox 3). Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 11.
Sports on 05/20/2020