HUNTSVILLE -- Huntsville was done in by Prairie Grove's sister act to start 4A-1 Conference play.
Mattie Hartin took a feed from her twin sister, Taylor Hartin, and scored on a driving layup with six seconds left to give Prairie Grove a 47-46 victory Tuesday at Charles Berry Gymnasium. Huntsville had one last possession but Miranda Campbell missed from the wing while being closely guarded.
How They Scored
Girls
Prairie Grove 47, Huntsville 46
Prairie Grove^10^8^15^14^—^47
Huntsville^9^15^10^12^—^46
Prairie Grove (3-8, 1-0): M. Hartin 18, Lopez 12, Doss 8, T. Hartin 7, Bartholomew 2.
Huntsville (7-4, 0-1): McCartney 20, Campbell 14, Creek 8, Sone 2, Jones 2.
Boys
Huntsville 42, Prairie Grove 38
Prairie Grove^6^8^12^12^—^38
Huntsville^9^15^4^14^—^42
Prairie Grove: Pursell 10, Hellemes 7, Strong 6, Soehner 6, Gallaghan 5, Smith 4.
Huntsville (10-1, 1-0): Gosvener 13, Aguillar 12, Kirk 10, Garrett 5, Caine 2.
Mattie Hartin finished with 18 points to lead Prairie Grove (3-8, 1-0), which entered the game with a losing record after playing a rugged non-conference schedule. But the Lady Tigers outscored Huntsville (7-4, 0-1) by seven in the second half to earn an important road win against the taller Lady Eagles.
"We set that last play up and it was just two sisters making a play," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "We're not very big, so we want to attack the basket and get to the rim. In our other games, we had trouble finishing but we made our shots tonight."
Huntsville held its last lead at 46-45 after Cierra Creek fed Shelbi McCartney for an inside basket. Following a timeout, the Hartin twins combed for the game-winner when Taylor saw Mattie cutting into the lane and fed her for a layup that gave Prairie Grove the victory.
"We work on that play about every practice and she just knew," Mattie said of the assist from her sister. "They were guarding me up top and I knew I had to cut and score to win the game."
McCartney scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half to lead Huntsville. Campbell finished with 14 points and Creek had eight.
"Give Prairie Grove credit," Huntsville coach Charles Berry. "We knew they were a good basketball team and they made the plays. We have to learn how to finish games."
Prairie Grove fell behind 24-18 after being badly outrebounded in the first half. But the Lady Tigers spread the floor and did a better job of penetrating in the second half behind Mattie Hartin and Parker Lopez, who scored 12 points.
Prairie Grove got off to good starts in both halves, leading 10-7 early after a 3-pointer by Taylor Doss and by going on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Lopez and Mattie Hartin combined on four consecutive free throws to end the third quarter.
Huntsville gained some distance late in the second quarter behind McCartney, a senior forward with an ability to shoot from outside. McCarthy factored in Huntsville's last seven points of the first half with a 3-point basketball, a layup, and an assist to Creek, who hit a short bank shot to put the Lady Eagles ahead 24-18 at halftime.
Boys
Huntsville 42, Prairie Grove 38
River Gosvener scored 13 points to lead Huntsville in its conference opener. Jose Aguillar added 12 points and Caleb Kirk 10 for the Eagles (10-1, 0-1).
Tanner Pursell scored 10 points to pace the Tigers, who rallied after trailing 24-14 at halftime. The Tigers pulled to within 40-38 after a 3-pointer from D.J. Strong. Prairie Grove then missed its last three 3-point attempts and the Eagles kept the lead after two free throws by Gosvener.
Sports on 12/17/2014