GRAVETTE — There is a method to the frenzied Prairie Grove pressure defense, even if it looks out of control at times.
The Lady Tigers start their pressure in the backcourt, continue it once the ball crosses halfcourt and look to trap at every opportunity on both ends of the floor.
It’s a formula that has resulted in an undefeated start to the season for Prairie Grove and it worked once again in a 61-39 win over Gravette on Friday night.
“We’ve got all sorts of different presses for situations like that when they come out and try to hold it on us,” Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. “Any way we can speed the game up and get it going up-anddown is what we want.”
The Lady Tigers (9-0, 2-0 4A-1 Conference) led 15-9 after the first quarter. They extended that lead to 27-11behind a 12-2 run that was capped by a steal and layup by junior Kendra Coyle, who had a game-high 15 points.
The Gravette turnover was one of 15 Prairie Grove forced in the first half by the Lady Lions (5-4, 2-1), who had 20 turnovers through three quarters.
Prairie Grove built a 29-point lead midway through the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by Morgan Abernathy put the Lady Tigers up 56-27.
“They (press) well and they rebound well,”Gravette coach Duane Thomas said of Prairie Grove. “They do a lot of things well.”
“We just couldn’t stay with them.”
Morgan Bayley led Gravette with 14 points while Shelby Newell added 11 in the loss. Also scoring for the Lady Lions were Himsl with 6 and VanOtterloo and Nichols 4 each.
P. G. 59, Gravette 52
The Tigers put an end to their two-game losing streak, building a 14- point lead in the third quarter and holding on down the stretch for a win over the Lions.
Prairie Grove (5-2, 1-1) led 33-19 early in the third quarter but Gravette rallied behind Cody Montee’s second-half shooting to close the lead to as few as six in the fourth. Montee hit four 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 20 points, leading all scoring in the game as the Lions (1-8, 0-3) pulled to within 55-49 late after an inside basket by Nick Hendren, who finished with 18 points.
Adding to Montee’s 20 points were Hendren with 18, Daniels with 5, McGarrah 4, O’Brien 3 and Bilderback 2.
Next Games
The Greenland Pirates were scheduled for games in Gravette Monday of this week and Elkins is to invade Lion Gym this Friday.
Next action will be tournament games at Alma and the regular season resumes on January 5 when the Lions will host the Huntsville Eagles.
Pee Wee Roundball Teams Win Some And Lose Some Last WeekBy John Pollreis
Gravette Pee Wee roundball teams traveled to Pea Ridge Saturday.
The 4th Grade B girls fell to 0-2 on the year, losing 9-2 Saturday. The 4th Grade A girls moved to 2-0 after beating Pea Ridge 22-2. The 4th Grade boys B and A teams fell to 0-2 on the year, B losing 26-0 and the A team 20-17.
The 5th Grade girls won their games. B team movedto 2-0 after a 13-10 win. A team evened their record to 1-1 after winning Saturday 20-14. I got no results for 5th Grade boys.
The 6th Grade girls’ teams both evened their records to 1-1. B team won 4-2 and A 18-1. The 6th Grade boys both improved to 2-0 on the year. B team won 15-6 and the A team followed with a 25-11 victory.
This Saturday Gravette travels to Lincoln.
Sports, Pages 13 on 12/16/2009