Prairie Grove rallies past Shiloh Christian

Lumsargis' last-second 3-pointer caps Lady Tigers' comeback

By Chip Souza

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:34 p.m.

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SPRINGDALE — Michelle Lumsargis admittedly was off her game Tuesday night.

The 5-foot-3 Prairie Grove senior guard struggled from the 3-point line for more than 31 minutes of the 4A-1 Conference game against Shiloh Christian.

But when the game was on the line, she drained the only 3-point shot she needed. Her 3-pointer from the right perimeter with 8.9 seconds left lifted the Lady Tigers to a 23-21 win on Champions Court and kept Prairie Grove unbeaten in league play.

Until Lumsargis’ big shot, the Lady Tigers (18-1, 9-0 4A-1) had made just 2-of-18 from the 3-point line. But Prairie Grove girls basketball coach Kevin Froud never hesitated putting the game in his senior’s hands.

“We were looking for her off the drive to the basket,” Froud said. “We didn’t figure they would come off Justyne (Huber) much, so we thought we had a chance with her coming around for the 3, and she made it.”

Lumsargis said her confidence never wavered despite the struggles, although earlier in the season she admitted doubts were starting to creep in.

“I was losing my confidence, but I had a game where I made some shots, and then this game tonight, so it’s swinging back,” she said.

Part of Prairie Grove’s offensive struggles were due to a defensive change by Shiloh Christian (12-7, 5-3) this week. Lady Saints coach Mat Stewart said the team switched from its normal man-to-man to a 1-3-1 zone, and the results were evident.

“We’ve been working on it the last couple of days and thought we’d try it out on a very good Prairie Grove team,” Stewart said. “I thought we played well.”

Shiloh Christian’s defense and Prairie Grove’s cold shooting were both factors in the Lady Tigers going 13 minutes, 58 seconds without a field goal. The drought started after Haylee Fitts hit a 3-point shot at 1:45 of the first quarter and the Lady Tigers did not score another field goal until Lacey Beeks scored off an offensive rebound with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

In between, Shiloh Christian turned a small deficit into a 10-point lead when Christian Reed hit a 3-pointer for a 17-7 lead with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Shiloh scored just one more field goal the rest of the way.

Prairie Grove slowly chipped away as Huber, who sat out a majority of the first half in foul trouble, took the game over. During a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, Huber scored seven straight points, and her drive from the left wing for a finger roll tied the score at 20-20.

PRAIRIE GROVE 23, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 21

Prairie Grove 5 1 6 11 — 23

Shiloh 7 7 3 4 — 21

Prairie Grove (18-1, 9-0): Huber 11, Lumsargis 5, Fitts 5, Beeks 2.

Shiloh (12-7, 5-3): Henley 8, Reed 6, Jones 3, Harris 2, Sears 2.

Boys

Prairie Grove 43, Shiloh Christian 39

Jordan Baumgardner hit two clutch free throws with 6 seconds left to help Prairie Grove knock Shiloh Christian from the unbeaten ranks.

The Tigers (10-8, 5-4) got clutch buckets down the stretch to hand the Saints (10-8, 7-1) their first league loss.

Ty Tice and Marcus Patterson scored 9 points each to lead Prairie Grove. Darian Harris scored 16 for Shiloh and Taylor Thompson added 10.

PRAIRIE GROVE 43, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 39

Prairie Grove 14 5 11 13 — 43

Shiloh 9 11 11 8 — 39

Prairie Grove (10-8, 5-4): Tice 9, Patterson 9, Daughty 8, Rhodes 8, Baumgarder 6, Hartin 3.

Shiloh (10-8, 7-1): Harris 16, Thompson 10, Pauling 4, Ryder 3, Chenier 2, Daniels 2, Veit 2.

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