Huber Reigns On, Off Court For Lady Tigers

— Justyne Huber was more than just Prairie Grove’s Colors Day queen.

Huber led the Lady Tigers with 19 points and Prairie Grove defeated Pea Ridge 63-34 in 4A-1 Conference play Friday.

PRAIRIE GROVE 63, PEA RIDGE 34

Pea Ridge 10 5 9 10 — 34

Prairie Grove 14 8 19 20 — 63

Pea Ridge: Savannah Cypert 9, Jerika Schooley 14, Michaela Tuszynski 3, Taylor Winn 2, Mikhaela Cochran 3

Prairie Grove: Abby Smith 6, Whitnee Fitts 13, Lacey Banks 9, Macie Kultgen 9, Justyne Huber 19

Boys: Pea Ridge 60, Prairie Grove 42

Jacob Hall scored 25 points and Pea Ridge used an early offensive run to roll past Prairie Grove.

The Blackhawks (17-5, 7-2) outscored the Tigers 17-3 in the first 5 minutes, 21 seconds of the game and the lead never changed hands.

Hall’s 25-point performance was his second in a row as he scored 25 points in Pea Ridge’s 68-32 victory over Gentry on Tuesday. Evan Tillman added 14 points in the win over Prairie Grove (4-14, 2-8).

Jacob Storlie scored 11 points off the bench for the Tigers.

PEA RIDGE 60, PRAIRIE GROVE 42

Pea Ridge 19 17 17 7 — 60

Prairie Grove 10 12 9 11 — 42

PEA RIDGE: Evan Tillman 14, Nick DeLeon 6, Zach Davis 5, Jacob Hall 25, Isaac Mangrum 3.

PRAIRIE GROVE: Cameron Doughty 2, Ty Tice 10, J.D. Speed 6, Cooper Winters 2, Landon Allen 4.

The senior forward scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half. She did so by pulling down six offensive rebounds in the final two periods, about three hours after her coronation as the 2013 Colors Day queen.

“We had a little talk at halftime that she wasn’t playing to her capability in the first half and wasn’t looking to be an offensive threat like we expect her to, but she did a better job in the second half,” Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. “Her ability to get second-chance points is great. She can play outside, inside or handle the ball. She can do it all.

“It just came down to her wanting to get rebounds, wanting to score and wanting to make her Colors Day special.”

Pea Ridge kept up with the up-tempo Lady Tigers in the first period, creating a 10-10 tie with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the first period, but Prairie Grove held the Lady Blackhawks to just one field goal in the next 9 1/2 minutes and took a 22-15 halftime lead.

Coming out of the break, the Lady Tigers used a 16-0 run to extend their lead to 38-15. Pea Ridge’s scoring drought for much of the third quarter meant it had made just one field goal in a 15-minute span of the two halves.

“They shot the ball well and they dribbled and penetrated well. They did a lot of good things tonight,” Pea Ridge coach Heather Wade said. “I thought we came out ready to go, but after halftime, we came out flat and didn’t hit key shots we needed to keep going.”

Jerika Schooley led the Lady Blackhawks (4-16, 1-9) with 14 points and fellow junior Savannah Cypert added nine points.

In the teams’ previous matchup, Prairie Grove (17-4, 10-0) needed overtime to defeat the Lady Blackhawks, but Froud said its defense stepped up in a big way this time around. Abby Smith, Whitney Fitts and Macie Kultgen all forced steals that led to easy layups. Fitts, a senior guard, was the Lady Tigers’ second-leading scorer with 13 points.

“We talked about our defense going into the second half,” Froud said. “We weren’t playing good defense at times, but when we were, we got some steals that turned into lay-ups, but we hadn’t been speeding the game up like we needed and hitting shots in the first half.

“We talked about some defensive adjustments at halftime and more intensity, not just going through the motions. The girls came out and gave us that in the second half and that’s what made the difference there.

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