Prairie Grove Survives Upset Bid

 STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Macie Kultgen, right, Prairie Grove senior, knocks the ball away from Waldron junior Ashley Sims during the second half on Wednesday at the 4A Regional tournament at Lincoln.
STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Macie Kultgen, right, Prairie Grove senior, knocks the ball away from Waldron junior Ashley Sims during the second half on Wednesday at the 4A Regional tournament at Lincoln.

— Macie Kultgen saw the ball rolling toward the sideline after she poked it away from a Waldron player near midcourt.

Both players crawled frantically for the ball, but Kultgen got to it first. She scooped it up, drove to the basket and hit a layup that tied the game at 37-37 with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in Wednesday's opening round game of the 4A-North Regional Tournament.

4A-North Regional Tournament

At Lincoln

Girls

First Round

Wednesday’s Games

Prairie Grove (1st 1) 40, Waldron (4th 4) 39

Berryville (4th 1) 64, Pottsville (1st 4) 48

Today’s Games

Mena (2nd 4) vs. Ozark (3rd 1), 4 p.m.

Farmington (2nd 1) vs. Dover (3rd 4), 7 p.m.

Boys

First Round

Wednesday’s Games

Prairie Grove (1st 1) 65, Dardanelle (4th 4), 47

Maumelle (1st 4) 75, Gravette (4th 1) 54

Today’s Games

Subiaco Academy (2nd 4) vs. Lincoln (3rd 1), 5:30 p.m.

Farmington (2nd 1) vs. Pottsville (3rd 4), 8:30 p.m.

Girls

Prairie Grove 40, Waldron 39

Waldron^13^8^11^7^—^39

Prairie Grove^14^7^4^15^—^40

Waldron (11-13): Harrison 14, Black 7, Stamps 7, Sims 7, Wadkins 2, Salmon 2.

Prairie Grove (21-6): Beeks 14, Smith 7, Kultgen 7, T. Hartin 6, Robinson 2, M. Hartin 2, Lopez 2.

"I thought whatever you do, just pick it up before it rolls out of bounds," she said.

Kultgen's big play brought Prairie Grove back from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit, and teammate Lacy Beeks hit a free throw with 13 seconds left as the No. 1 seed Lady Tigers (21-6) survived what would have been a huge upset loss to No. 4 seed Waldron 40-39.

"We do a drill in practice where we go pick up the ball at half court and go one-on-one to the basket," Kultgen, a senior, said. "I just thought if I can get it, I have a chance to take it in."

It looked for most of the fourth quarter that Prairie Grove would not have a chance to advance past the pesky Lady Bulldogs (11-13).

The Lady Tigers fell into a hole in the third quarter that only got deeper as the fourth quarter started. Waldron took an 11-point lead on Nikki Harrison's 10-footer off the glass with 6:50 left, and led 37-27 when Emily Black hit a free throw with 4:55 left. Harrison led Waldron with 14 points.

But Prairie Grove went on a game-clinching 13-2 run as it turned up the defensive pressure and Waldron missed a pair of front-end chances at the free-throw line that proved big down the stretch.

"We were afraid of getting beat instead of going out there and playing," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "The pressure got to us and (Waldron) was playing loose."

The tide started turning Prairie Grove's way when Kultgen, who did not score in the first three quarters, drained a 3-pointer to pull the Lady Tigers within 37-30. Freshman Parker Lopez scored on a drive and Abby Smith added a pair of free throws, all before Kultgen's strip and layup tied the game. Smith also added a bucket to tie the game at 39-39 before Beeks, who led Prairie Grove with 14 points, hit and second of two free throws. Waldron missed a shot at the end.

"A lot of people didn't think we would be here," Waldron coach Chris Vigil said. "I thought we competed today. We gave ourselves a chance to win, we just fell short ... about three inches on the left side."

Froud said an old coaching legend, Huntsville coach Charles Berry, may have summed it up best when describing the pressure of the first game of a regional tournament.

"Coach Berry said it's the worst game he hates playing all year, this one," Froud said. "You lose and your season is done, you win and you play another week."

Thanks to some late game heroics, Prairie Grove's season will continue as Wednesday's win clinched a berth in next week's Class 4A state tournament in Lonoke.

Berryville 64, Pottsville 48

The No. 4 seed Lady Bobcats stunned 4A-4 champion Pottsville Britni Smith scored a game-high 27 points.

Berryville seized control of the game in the second half and clinched the win at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Aleksei Smith and Sara Johnson each scored 9 for the Lady Bobcats. Hannah Barnett led Pottsville with 20 points and Jenna Goodwin added 13.

Boys

Prairie Grove 65, Dardanelle 47

Parker Galligan scored 14 points and No. 1 seed Prairie Grove punched its ticket to the Class 4A state tourmanent with a big win.

The red-hot Tigers have won 9 of their past 10 games.

Ty Tice added 13 points for Prairie Grove and Dyan Soehner added 11. Will Lawrence scored 13 for the Sand Lizards and Austin Steen added 12.

Maumelle 75, Gravette 54

The Hornets rolled over the No. 4 seed Lions as Kendall Donnerson scored 22 points. Maumelle also got 12 points each from JB Minix and Kendall Staton.

Otto Troutner led Gravette with 27 points and Terence Pierce added 12.

Sports on 02/27/2014

Upcoming Events