PRAIRIE GROVE -- Shandon Goldman made a late 3-pointer, which is nothing unusual for Lincoln's high-scoring 6-foot-9 senior.
But instead of hitting a game-winner, Goldman's shot with 1 minute, 20 seconds left was the only basket he made during a 50-44 loss to Prairie Grove on Tuesday. Goldman was the focus of a Tiger defense that held the Wolves to less than 10 points in each of the first three quarters.
How They Scored
Boys
Prairie Grove 50, Lincoln 44
Lincoln^9^8^8^19^—^44
Prairie Grove^11^12^13^14^—^50
Lincoln (11-8, 3-4): Blankenship 18, McCaslin 13, Cataneda 4, Swayne 4, Goldman 3, Bynum 2.
Prairie Grove (9-9, 5-2): Galligan 21, Soehner 13, Pursell 10, Heltemes 3, Smith 2, Ellis 1.
Girls
Prairie Grove 48, Lincoln 27
Lincoln^6^2^7^12^—^27
Prairie Grove^13^9^13^13^—^48
Lincoln: Neeley 8, Lloyd 7, Rothrock 7, Nesmith 2, Cunningham 2, Rich 1.
Prairie Grove (10-10, 6-1): Cox 14, M. Hartin 10, T. Hartin 10, Lopez 7, Reynolds 4, Bartholomew 3.
"We were going to let their other personnel try and beat us," Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston said. "We weren't going to let him score 20, 25 points. Defensively, we did a great job of keeping him contained."
Offensively, Prairie Grove (9-9, 5-2) displayed balanced scoring and good ball movement, especially from Tanner Pursell, who guarded Goldman. Pursell finished with 10 points and had a handful of assists to Dylan Soehner, who scored 13 points, and Parker Galligan, who led the Tigers with 21.
"We bought into our game plan and did a good job of getting the ball inside to Parker and Dylan," Edmiston said.
Garrett Blankenship scored 18 points and Cord McCaslin had 13 for Lincoln (11-8, 3-4), which fell behind 36-25 after three quarters. The Wolves got to within 38-31 after a shot by Blankenship, but could get no closer.
"They played good defense, but we had more shots than them," Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. "We didn't put the ball in the basket enough."
Prairie Grove took a 23-17 halftime lead after Lincoln got to within 15-14 on a 3-pointer Dalton Barnum. Soehner led an 8-3 spurt with a three-point play and a leaner inside for a basket. Lincoln threw the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left and Gavin Heltemes countered with a bank shot off the fast break to put the Tigers ahead 23-17 after two quarters.
Prairie Grove increased its lead to 32-19 in the third quarter after another three-point play by Soehner, the Tigers' 6-foot-7 center.
GIRLS
Prairie Grove 48, Lincoln 27
Prairie Grove used runs of 13-0 and 7-0 in the first half to easily dispose of Lincoln.
The Lady Tigers scored the first 13 points of the game to take control from the outset. Ashely Cox scored eight of her 14 points in the first half to lead Prairie Grove.
Lincoln ended the first quarter with a 6-0 run after Courtney Lloyd scored the Lady Wolves first basket on a bank shot with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left in the first quarter. Prairie Grove (10-10, 6-1) regained control with a 7-0 run to start the second quarter. Cox scored inside and Mattie Hartin followed with a 3-pointer to put the Lady Tigers ahead 20-6.
Mattie Hartin finished with 10 points for Prairie Grove while Jaycie Neeley had eight to lead Lincoln.
Rick Fires can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @NWARick
Sports on 01/21/2015