BERRYVILLE -- With Gravette (19-9) leading, 36-35, the Lady Lions missed a shot and Prairie Grove (8-16) grabbed a defensive rebound but couldn't find an outlet.
There was a lot of contact on the play, and the ball was deflected off Prairie Grove and out of bounds. When Gravette inbounded, they got the ball to Tori Foster, whose driving bucket and free throw pushed the Lady Lion lead to 39-25 with 4:44 left.
The sequence marked a key turning point in the Lady Lions' 48-35 win, which eliminated Prairie Grove from the 4A-1 District girls' basketball tournament held at Bobcat Arena in Berryville on Feb. 15. The Lady Tigers would not find the hoop for the remainder of the game as Gravette pulled away.
Foster hit a pull-up, Stephanie Pinter scored in the post and Foster added two more free throws to stretch the lead out to 10 points, at 45-35. Prairie Grove missed a pair of free throws at the 2:03 mark and the ball just would not bounce their way.
"I feel bad for our seniors, this group deserved to go out better than what happened today -- for the effort they gave and how they helped other groups," said Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud. "It just didn't go our way today."
Gravette coach Will Pittman was pleased with how his girls responded to an early Prairie Grove lead. Parker Lopez scored twice on putbacks, notching 5 points in the first, and Larisha Crawford hit a 3-pointer, staking the Lady Tigers to a 10-7 first quarter lead. An 8-2 spurt over the first 2:44 of the second quarter extended Prairie Grove's advantage to 18-9. Emily Grant sank a 15-footer, Crawford scored off a steal and Lexie Madewell scored on the baseline.
Gravette responded with an 11-6 run, trimming the margin to 24-20 at halftime.
"It was just a battle out there," Pittman said. "Prairie Grove was ready, they came out hot. We didn't shoot it well early. In the second quarter we got it back down to four points before the half, that was big for us."
"Berenice Garcia was really steady for us all night. She hit a couple of big shots for us. When a lot of us were panicking, she never panicked."
Garcia came away with a steal downcourt with Prairie Grove leading, 18-11. When her teammates couldn't find the hoop, Pinter snagged an offensive rebound which Garcia transformed into three points with a trifecta. After that, Gravette settled down with Cally Kildow hitting an 18-footer and a driving basket.
Garcia hit another 3-pointer to start the third quarter, which featured two ties and three lead changes, ending with Gravette ahead, 34-33, on a pair of Foster foul shots. Gravette outscored the Lady Tigers, 28-11, in the second half.
The Lady Tigers went ice cold in the fourth, recording no field goals and only two free throws.
"We were right there and we can't score," Froud said. "That's been the synopsis of our whole year. The loss wasn't for lack of effort, it was a lack of mental execution here and there. Gravette, they're athletic, pretty tall, they hit some big shots. Tori Foster, she wanted to win the game. It just didn't work out for us."
Foster and Kildow led the Lady Lions with 11 points apiece, while Lopez led Prairie Grove with 11.
Gravette won, 48-35, to punch their ticket into the 4A North Regional this week at West Fork. They advanced to a Friday semifinal contest with second-seeded Berrville in the district tourney. Berryville defeated Gravette, 68-61, to send Gravette into a Saturday consolation game.
Prairie Grove vs. Gravette
Prairie Grove 10 14 9 2 -- 35
Gravette 7 13 14 14 -- 48
Prairie Grove (7-15, 6-11): Parker Lopez 11, Larisha Crawford 9, Emily Grant 7, Camree Bartholomew 4, Lexie Madewell 4. Totals 10-35 14-22 35.
Gravette (18-8, 14-3): Tori Foster 11, Cally Kildow 11, Stephanie Pinter 7, Bernice Garcia 7, Kirstyn Branscum 6, Teagan Dixon 4, Jessica Bookout 2. Totals 16 14-20 48.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 1 (Crawford), Gravette 2 (Garcia 2).
Berryville 68, Gravette 61
Gravette 14 17 18 12 -- 61
Berryville 14 18 17 19 -- 68
Sports on 02/22/2017