Basketball: Hartin twins double-trouble for opponents

SPRINGDALE -- Kevin Froud had been looking deep inside his team for a sign of toughness.

The longtime Prairie Grove girls basketball coach doesn't handle his team with kid gloves. He expects -- demands -- a high level of toughness from his players.

Earlier this season, in the midst of playing perhaps the toughest nonconference schedule of his coaching tenure, the Lady Tigers had a 4-8 record. It didn't matter the schedule included Fort Smith Northside, Springdale Har-Ber or Farmington. Froud expects to win every game.

No players know this better than junior twin sisters Mattie and Taylor Hartin.

"After a game, I was getting on one of them pretty hard," Froud said. "I looked over at the other one, and she looked like she wanted to rip my head off. She wasn't doing it in a disrespectful way, but she let me know she had her sister's back.

"I knew then we had the right mentality."

It's taken every ounce of toughness for this year's team to overcome a number of challenges, including having no seniors on the roster and no true post player. The Lady Tigers (18-10) found a way to overcome those obstacles by playing aggressive defense, limiting turnovers, hitting free throws and leaving plenty of skin on the floor diving for every loose ball. It's that tenacity that has fueled an eight-game winning streak, a 4A-1 Conference district tournament title and a No. 1 seed in today's 4A-North Regional Tournament in Pottsville.

The Hartins have played key roles in this year's surprising run. Mattie is averaging 12 points per game, and Taylor is scoring at about a 10 points per game clip. They are the first twins Froud has coached.

"I had Brandon Cole's twin sister when I coached at Hector," Froud said of the former John Brown standout and current Bentonville assistant coach. "She was a better shooter than he was."

Mattie said she and Taylor got their start in Upward Basketball after their mother encouraged them to play.

"She thought it would be something we'd enjoy," Mattie said. "She was a basketball player."

Taylor said competition is something she and Mattie learned early.

"Competition comes naturally to us," Taylor said. "We come from a competitive family."

Froud said when the twins were younger they didn't always get along on the court. Over time as they have matured, they have created a tight bond, which was evident in the locker room that day.

The hundreds of games they have played together came in handy in the conference opener at Huntsville. In the waning seconds, Froud drew up a play designed to get an easy shot to win the game. When the play broke down, the twins instinctively looked for the other, and Taylor found Mattie wide open under the basket for the game-winning shot.

"It was just instinct," said Froud. "They did what they had to do to make a play."

Taylor is the team's point guard and admittedly is a better dribbler. Mattie is a little bigger and is more of a slasher. Each of their games complements the other.

"They can both do a lot of great things when they set their mind to it," Froud said. "The biggest thing has been their maturity. When they were younger, they didn't care much for each other or didn't act like it. This year I've really seen them grow closer."

The Lady Tigers could have made excuses this season when they were 4-8. Froud said that is what he is most proud of: the way the team bonded and fought through adversity. They have won 14 of their past 16 games.

"I just told them, 'Girls, we'll be fine. We just have to keep trusting each other. If you can play up to your potential and just do the things you can do, we'll be fine,'" Froud said.

Taylor agreed. "This season has been great. A lot of people didn't think we'd be very good. I'm proud of the way we stuck together."

Sports on 02/25/2015