Playing in the toughest basketball conference in all of 4A, the Lady ‘Hawks were host to the toughest of the tough, the topranked Prairie Grove Tigers in the Colors Day game last week.
The Tigers proved why they are ranked as the state’s top 4A team as they rattled off 11 straight unanswered points in the first half of the opening quarter. While senior Jordan Winn finally broke the ice for Pea Ridge with a basket and pair of free throws, the Tigers rammed through 7 more points to take a 18-4 lead at the first break.
The Tigers sank a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to offset a lone free throw by Audrey Gibson as the visitors shot further ahead 23-5 to start the second period.
Midway through the stanza, the ’Hawks finally began to ignite some offense with Savannah Cypert canning a 7-footer and 3 free throws, to go with a pair of charity tosses by Gibson. A 10-foot jumper by Winn nudged the ’Hawks to within 9, trailing 23-14 with two minutes left in the half.
The ’Hawks’ success re-ignited the Tigers offense as the guests exploded for three layups, a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to leave the ’Hawks far behind, trailing 33-14. Kayla Wright cut into that lead a bit as she scored the final points of the half on a layup, as Prairie Grove led 33-16 at the half.
Each team traded blows in the third quarter on a fairly even basis as the Tigers ended the quarter with the same lead that it entered with. Winn tossed in three field goals to go with a Wright layup as the ’Hawks trailed 41-24 heading into the final eight minutes.
Winn matched a 3-point effort by the Tigers with a trey of her own to start the final period. Cypert converted three free throws midway into the quarter while the Tigers dropped in two of their own along with a field goal to lead 48-30 with 4 minutes left.
Prairie Grove then exploded for a 3 pointer, layup and four free throws for a 9-0 run and 57-30 lead. Wright, Niven and Cypert all added solo field goals in the games waning moments as the buzzer sounded with the Tigers securing the victory by a 57-36 count.
Sports, Pages 7 on 02/01/2012