GENTRY — Prairie Grove girls' basketball coach Kevin Froud acknowledged thoughts of his post-game speech with his team coming up on the short end were starting to form with the Lady Tigers trailing by five with a little more than 90 seconds left in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
And, it looked as though Froud's initial thoughts might come about as Gentry, which trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, held a 44-39 lead with 1 minute, 37 seconds left. But the Lady Tigers rallied. Hartin hit two free throws to pull Prairie Grove within three.
The Lady Tigers then forced a Gentry turnover and junior guard Camree Batholomew drained a 3-pointer from the wing for a 44-44 tie with a minute left. After another Lady Pioneers' miscue, Prairie Grove spread the floor until Lopez got the ball in the middle of the lane and scored for the eventual game-winner to lift the Lady Tigers to a 46-44 road win to stay on top in the 4A-1 conference with only 7.3 seconds left.
After multiple time outs, Gentry (11-4, 3-2 4A-1 Conference) took the ball the length of the floor in the final 5.7 seconds, but never got a shot off as time expired.
Gentry coach Toby Tevebaugh said the Lady Tigers took advantage of his team's late mistakes.
"I thought we were one play away from winning the ballgame," Tevebaugh said. "And they made the plays and we didn't. I will say I thought we made it easier on them to make those plays. But they hit a big three and hit some big free throws. They took advantage of our mistakes."
"We got down five with about two minutes left and I already had my after-the-game speech starting to roll around in my head," Froud said. "Then Taylor Hartin makes some free throws and Camree Bartholomew made a big three. Then we got some big turnovers.
"It was just a good game. It's just a battle in this conference. In the first half it was kinda drudge, battle and the girls kept doing it and we found a way to win."
Taylor Hartin led the Lady Tigers (12-4, 5-0 4A-1) with 17 points, while Mattie Hartin chipped in 11. Senior Haley James finished with a game-high 18 points, while Haley Hays added 10, including three 3-pointers for Gentry.
BOYS
Gentry 55, Prairie Grove 34
The Pioneers pulled away in the second half for the big win.
Wyatt Clark poured in a game-high 20 points to help the Pioneers improve to 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the 4A-1.
Gentry led 26-19 at halftime, but finished the third quarter with a flurry to push its lead to 13 entering the fourth quarter. The Pioneers hit the gas in the final quarter to go up by as many as 20 and cruised to the win.
Cole Cripps added 10 points and Jake Faulkenberry chipped in nine for Gentry.
Dylan Soehner, a 6-foot-7 senior, led Prairie Grove (2-13, 1-4) with 12 points.
Girls
Prairie Grove 46, Gentry 44
Prairie Grove 6 15 14 11 — 46
Gentry 4 11 18 11 — 44
Prairie Grove (12-5, 5-0):T. Hartin 17, M. Hartin 11, Lopez 8, Scott 5, Bartholomew 5.
Gentry (11-4, 3-2): James 18, Hays 10, Boss 6, Morris 5, Ward 5.
Boys
Gentry 55, Prairie Grove 34
Prairie Grove 10 9 7 8 — 34
Gentry 15 11 13 16 — 55
Prairie Grove (2-13, 1-4): Soehner 12, Disney 7, Heltemes 6, Strong 3, Ellis 3, Cooper 3.
Gentry (10-5, 3-2): Clark 20, Cripps 10, Faulkenberry 9, Juillerat 6, Hammond 4, Taylor 4, Folker 2.