PRAIRIE GROVE -- Cold for three quarters, Gentry trailed 33-11 and finally woke up its offense, scoring 19 points in the fourth but too late, and lost at Prairie Grove, 50-30, on Friday.
Gentry's fourth-quarter offense was spread among six different players.
Ariel Nix had all five of her points in the period, including a 3-pointer. Randi Jo Bolinger added an old fashioned 3-point play, and Alexis Fowler hit a trey. The balance of the Lady Pioneer points came on free throws. Gentry went 11-for-13 at the charity stripe in the fourth and 17-for-23 in the game, but only managed five field goals.
Prairie Grove scored 17 points in the fourth to keep Gentry at bay, led by Jasmine Wynos' 7-for-8 free throw performance. Senior Emily Grant led all scorers with 21, while freshman Trinity Dobbs added 10 for Prairie Grove.
The first half of Prairie Grove's 50-30 win over Gentry Friday mirrored the Lady Tigers' previous game at Gravette.
The Lady Tigers led Gentry, 20-5, at the half, nearly identical to their 20-6 halftime lead over Gravette on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Coach Kevin Froud is glad Friday's second half didn't replicate Prairie Grove's narrow 46-45 road victory over the Lady Lions. He praised the defensive effort.
"It's a testament to the girls who are out there, who are moving around quick, flying around, getting some deflections and making them have to shoot it from way out," Froud said. "That's some defense that we've played a lot here in the past and that's one thing that I'm very proud of the girls about."
The Lady Tigers smothered the basket, holding Gentry without a point for the first 4:23 when Bolinger made a 3-pointer. By that time they had built a 6-0 lead on 3-pointers by Dobbs and Grant.
Prairie Grove's stingy defense then kept Gentry off the scoreboard for the next 3:51 until Emily Toland's free throws drew Gentry within 8-5 with 7:25 remaining in the first half.
Prairie Grove closed out the quarter with 12 unanswered points, featuring 10 by Grant. She stole a long inbounds pass when the Lady Pioneers played the ball in underneath their own basket and turned that into a 3-point play. Gentry again had trouble inbounding under its goal with 3:04 left in the second and turned the ball over on a 5-second violation.
Grant made them pay by driving around a defender at the other end. Later Grant added a pair of free throws, then made the Lady Pioneers rue a turnover after they snared an offensive rebound by drilling a 3-pointer to give Prairie Grove a 15-point advantage at the half.
Bollinger had seven points to top Gentry.
The Lady Pioneers defeated Shiloh Christian, 33-26, Monday in the first round of the District 4A-1 girls basketball tournament at Harrison.
PRAIRIE GROVE 50
GENTRY 30
Gentry 3 2 6 19 -- 30
Prairie Grove 6 14 13 17 -- 50
Gentry (8-15, 1-11): Randi Jo Bolinger 2 2-3 7, Jaydon Jarnagan 1 3-5 5, Ariel Nix 1 2-2 5, Emily Toland 0 4-5 4, Alexis Fowler 1 0-0 3, Heidi Vinson 0 3-4 3, Jaiden Wilmouth 0 3-4 3,. Totals 5 17-23 30.
Prairie Grove (8-13, 3-9): Emily Grant 6 7-8 21, Trinity Dobbs 4 0-3 10, Jasmine Wynos 0 7-8 7, Logan Meadors 1 3-3 5, Olivia Kester 2 0-0 4, Lexie Madewell 0 2-2 2, Jordan Sugg 0 2-2 2, Gracie Foster 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 22-28 50.
3-Point Goals -- Gentry 3 (Bolinger, Fowler, Nix). Prairie Grove 4 (Grant 2, Dobbs 2).
Sports on 02/13/2019