PRAIRIE GROVE-- For a third consecutive game Prairie Grove suffered a heartbreaking narrow loss in 4A-1 girls basketball action by dropping a 53-47 loss to Gravette on Friday, Jan. 14.
Trinity Dobbs scored 21 points and the Lady Tigers out-performed Gravette in all shooting categories taking a 40-31 lead at the end of three quarters but couldn't come away with a victory leaving them 0-5 in the league. The Lady Lions outscored Prairie Grove 22-7 in the fourth quarter to pull away behind a dozen points from sophomore point-guard Brynn Romine in the final period. Reese Hamilton led Gravette with 15 points.
Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud, who was raised on a farm and still farms, used an agricultural analysis saying it's like spreading manure, which right now doesn't seem very good and stinks, but maybe in the weeks to come will cause something to grow and the team will find a groove.
"It's the same verse, the same story, we're ahead, we just give it away. We stopped making shots, we're not taking care of the ball and won't play defense in the fourth quarter. We don't stop the snowball when it gets rolling. I'm extremely frustrated right now. I didn't think we'd be 0-5 in the conference," Froud said.
The 21 turnovers against Gravette were the most during the recent stretch. Prairie Grove hadn't committed more than six in the three conference losses leading up to that. The Lady Tigers played without Ella Faulk, Abby Preston and Rayleigh Bartholomew on Friday.
Gravette 53, Prairie Grove 47
Gravette 9 10 12 22 -- 53
Prairie Grove 16 7 17 7 -- 47
Prairie Grove (8-7, 0-5): Trinity Dobbs 5-13 6-9 21, Lexi Henry 5-9 3-4 15, Torie Price 3-9 0-0 7, Zoe Hubbs 0-2 4-4 4, Charity Stearman 0-1 0-0 0, Kenleigh Elder 0-1 0-0 0, Camryn Cash 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 14-41 13-17 47.
Gravette (12-7, 3-1): Reese Hamilton 4 4-4 15, Brynn Romine 3 6-7 12, Parker 4 1-2 11, Holland 2 1-1 6, Elsea 0 5-8 5, Rachel Deihl 1 2-2 4, Wishon 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 19-24 53.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 6-18 (Dobbs 3-5, Henry 2-4, Price 1-4, Stearman 0-1, Cash 0-4). Gravette 5 (Hamilton 3, Parker 2, Holland).
Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 20 (Dobbs 7), Gravette 33. Assists -- Prairie Grove 5 (Price 3), Gravette 8. Steals -- Prairie Grove 5 (Henry 3), Gravette 13. Blocks -- Prairie Grove 3 (Dobbs 3), Gravette 2. Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 21.
Pea Ridge 49, Prairie Grove 48
Prairie Grove sustained a one point, 49-48, home court loss to Pea Ridge on Friday, Jan. 7, when they couldn't score in the last 12 seconds after Leah Telegemier made one of two free throws to push Pea Ridge into the lead.
For the Prairie Grove girls, missing a last-second shot felt like deja vu.
The back-to-back conference losses mirrored each other somewhat. Dobbs and Lexi Henry hit double figures in both games. Dobbs had 20 and Henry 13 against Pea Ridge. They scored 11 points apiece at Gentry.
There were also some distinct differences between the two games.
Prairie Grove fought back from a 29-16 halftime deficit at home in Tiger Arena against Pea Ridge. Prairie Grove outscored Pea Ridge 32-20 over the second half and the Lady Tigers clawed their way back into the contest, getting 11 points from Henry in the third. The score was 40-32 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter Prairie Grove orchestrated a 16-8 run to forge a 48-48 tie before Telegemier hit a free throw with 12 seconds showing. She missed the second free throw, but Pea Ridge held on as Prairie Grove missed a last-second shot.
Bella Cates led the Lady Blackhawks with 12 points.
Pea Ridge 49, Prairie Grove 48
Pea Ridge 10 19 11 9 -- 49
Prairie Grove 9 7 16 16 -- 48
Prairie Grove (8-6, 0-3): Trinity Dobbs 6-12 6-7 20, Lexi Henry 5-14 0-0 13, Ella Faulk 2-6 3-4 8, Rayleigh Bartholomew 1-3 2-2 4, Torie Price 1-9 0-1 2, Charity Stearman 0-3 1-3 1, Abby Preston 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 12-17 48.
Pea Ridge (16-1, 2-0): Individual scoring totals not available.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 6-25 (Henry 3-9, Dobbs 2-5, Faulk 1-2, Preston 0-1, Stearman 0-2, Bartholomew 0-1, Price 0-5). Pea Ridge x ().
Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 20 (Faulk 5). Assists -- Prairie Grove 6 (Price 3). Steals -- Prairie Grove 3 (Dobbs, Henry, Price). Blocks -- Prairie Grove 0. Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 5.
Gentry 38, Prairie Grove 37
On the road at Gentry on Tuesday, Jan. 11, Prairie Grove built a 24-18 lead late in the second quarter as Henry scored nine first-half points. The Lady Tigers were still in front, 31-24, after three quarters but a pair of coaches' daughters, Emma Tevebaugh and Reese Hester, provided the Lady Pioneers with a sparkplug off the bench.
Tevebaugh made six of eight free throws including a 4-of-6 performance in the fourth quarter while Hester, who was cold from long range, knocked down her only 3-pointer down the stretch which pushed Gentry in front 34-33. The Lady Pioneers rode a 14-3 surge to build a 38-34 lead.
Dobbs countered by nailing a clutch 3-pointer to pull Prairie Grove within 38-37 with the clock down to 25 seconds. The Lady Tigers then pressured the ball and Gentry turned it over on a travelling violation with 13.9 seconds left.
The late foul strategy worked for the Lady Pioneers, who weren't anywhere close to the bonus until purposely committing three successive fouls in the last 13.9 seconds. When Gentry didn't foul Dobbs scarcely had time to get off a shot on the last in-bounds play and the Lady Pioneers hung on to remain undefeated at 18-0.
According to Gentry coach Toby Tevebaugh, his team knows how to win and has built on the season's success thus far which helped them overcome doing some things wrong by making big plays triggered by an expectation to win.
McCarty scored the first 10 points for Gentry and led all scorers with 18.
Dobbs and Henry shared scoring honors for Prairie Grove with 11 points apiece.
Gentry 38, Prairie Grove 37
Prairie Grove 10 14 7 6 -- 37
Gentry 12 9 6 11 -- 38
Gentry (18-0, 4-0): Alyssa McCarty 6 3-7 18, Emma Tevebaugh 1 6-8 8, Shelby Still 2 2-5 7, Reese Hester 1 0-0 3, Brynn Cordeiro 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 11-20 38.
Prairie Grove (8-6, 0-4): Trinity Dobbs 4-10 2-4 11, Lexi Henry 4-15 2-4 11, Camryn Cash 2-9 1-2 5, Torie Price 1-9 4, Kenleigh Elder 1-5 2-2 4, Olivia Kestner 1-1 0-0 2, Zoe Hubbs 0-1 0-0 0. Charity Stearman 0-5 0-0 0, Abby Preston 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-56 8-14 37.
3-Point Goals -- Gentry 6 (McCarty 3, Still, Hester), Prairie Grove 3-21 (Dobbs 1-2, Henry 1-6, Price 1-6, Preston 0-1, Cash 0-3, Stearman 0-4).
Rebounds -- Prairie Grove 34 (Henry 10). Assists -- Prairie Grove 3 (Henry 2). Steals -- Prairie Grove 9 (Henry 4). Blocks -- Prairie Grove 0. Turnovers -- Prairie Grove 6.