GRAVETTE — The Lady Lions overcame foul trouble to win their fourth straight game with a 57-45 victory against Prairie Grove on Tuesday. It also was their eighth win in the last nine games, with a 48-31 loss at Berryville on Jan. 10 serving as their lone loss.
"The girls weren't happy after that one," said Gravette coach Will Pittman. "We didn't play very well, but we've played a lot better since then."
Gravette (13-7 overall) led 17-9 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 25-12 when Berenice Garcia drained a 3-pointer and Teagan Dixon followed with a rebound putback with 5 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter. But Prairie Grove trimmed it to 30-22 by halftime thanks to a 6-2 run that was highlighted by a steal and layup by Camree Bartholomew, who led the Lady Tigers (6-12) with 15 points.
"They just kept scrapping," Pittman said. "Coach (Kevin) Froud does a great job. His teams always scrap and they always play very hard. We knew it would be a dogfight."
A traditional three-point play by Bartholomew trimmed the deficit to 30-25 before Kirstyn Branscum scored all six of her points during a 13-2 run. It was capped off by a 3-pointer by Jessica Bookout, which gave Gravette a 43-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The run came despite two key players — Stephanie Pinter and Cally Kildow — watching from the bench after picking up their fourth fouls early in the second half.
"We got into foul trouble and it was hard to get a flow," Pittman said. "But that's going to happen from time to time, but we found a way to fight through it and I was real pleased with how the girls fought through it.
Prairie Grove coughed up five turnovers during the run, with three coming against the Lady Lions' full-court press defense. It was Prairie Grove's fourth straight loss.
"It's a 1-3-1 trap and they've got good length," Froud said. "So when you make lazy passes, they're going to get on them. They can be off of you a little bit and still, with their arms, they can adjust and go get it.
"It's hard for us to adjust to that because we can't really simulate that in practice. We talked about it and we went over it, but it's a little different when you see it live."
Froud said Bartholomew "played her butt off" and she opened the fourth quarter with a pair of 3-pointers. The Lady Tigers even closed the margin to single digits (49-41) on a 3-pointer by Cassidi Sapp and a steal and layup by Larisha Crowford, but that was as close as it would get.
Gravette's Tori Foster, who led all scorers with 16 points, had a steal and layup and sank a pair of free throws to help secure the victory down the stretch.
"I told mine after the game that I feel good about where we are," Pittman said. "They play hard everyday and want to win every day and give themselves a chance to win. I love going into battle with them every night."
Boys
Gravette 64, Prairie Grove 47
With the help of a technical foul, the Lions jumped out to a 12-2 lead. But the Tigers rallied to cut it to 14-11 on Will Pridmore's 3-pointer before Gravette answered with a 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer and a steal and two-handed dunk by Kelton Trembly, who finished with a game-high 18 points. Andrew Miller and Dayten Wishon added 13 apiece for Gravette (15-4).
Prairie Grove (9-11) was led by Demarkus Cooper with 15 points. while Pridmore and Disney each chipped in 11.
Girls
Gravette 57, Prairie Grove 45
Prairie Grove 9 13 5 18 — 45
Gravette 17 13 13 14 — 57
Prairie Grove (6-12): Bartholomew 15, Grant 8, Lopez 6, Sapp 5, Crawford 4, Madewell 3, Hartgrave 2, Vinson 2.
Gravette (13-7): Foster 16, Dixon 12, Garcia 12, Bookout 7, Branscum 6, Kildow 2, Pinter 2.
Boys
Gravette 64, Prairie Grove 47
Prairie Grove 8 12 12 15 — 47
Gravette 14 15 17 18 — 64
Prairie Grove (9-11): Cooper 15, Disney 11, Pridmore 11, Cates 3, Simmons 3, Pohlman 2, Risner 2.
Gravette (15-4): Trembly 19, Miller 13, Wishon 13, Soule 7, Childress 4, Duke 4, Johnson 4.