PRAIRIE GROVE -- Miranda Campbell wanted the final shot. Her pull-up jumper with under 10 seconds left hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
Campbell hit a game-tying 3-pointer, then capped a dramatic comeback seconds later with the game-winner as Huntsville pulled off a 40-38 win over Prairie Grove in a 4A-1 Conference barn-burner Friday night.
Girls
Huntsville 40, Prairie Grove 38
Huntsville^15^9^5^7^—^38
Prairie Grove^22^3^6^11^—^40
Huntsville (14-4, 7-1): Campbell 16, McCartney 6, Phillips 5, Creek 5, Tipton 2.
Prairie Grove (10-10, 6-2): Bartholomew 17, M. Hartin 10, T. Hartin 7, Lopez 4.
Boys
Huntsville 45, Prairie Grove 39
Huntsville^10^8^8^19^—^45
Prairie Grove^8^9^11^11^—^39
Huntsville (20-2, 7-1): Gosvener 16, Kirk 12, Cain 5, Eaton 5, Aguilar 4, Garrett 3.
Prairie Grove (9-10, 5-3): Soehner 11, Pursell 9, Galligan 5, Smith 5, Heltemes 4, Ellis 3, Strong 2.
"I knew we had to score," Campbell, who scored a team-high 16 points, said. "I wanted the ball at the end and my teammates trust me."
With just under three minutes left, Prairie Grove (10-10, 6-2 4A-1 Conference) appeared on the verge of claiming a second win over the Lady Eagles. But the Lady Tigers left the door open with a missed free throw with under a minute left.
Huntsville (14-4, 7-1) rebounded Camree Bartholomew's miss trailing 38-35, and raced down the court. With 22 seconds left, Campbell found herself wide open in the right wing and drained a 3-pointer that tied the score at 38-38. It was her fourth 3-pointer of the game.
Prairie Grove attempted a shot with just over 10 seconds left that missed, and Campbell rebounded. Dribbling down the right side of the court, she pulled up 14 feet from the basket and launched a shot that hit nothing but net with 2.3 seconds left. The Lady Tigers tried a long shot at the buzzer that hit the rim.
"She played lights out," Huntsville coach Charles Berry said of Campbell.
In the first quarter Prairie Grove was primed to run Huntsville out of the gym, hitting four 3-pointers in five attempts to take a 22-15 lead. Bartholomew, who led all scorers with 17 points, hit two 3-pointers and Taylor and Mattie Hartin each hit a 3-pointer.
"Boy they were hot in the first quarter," Berry said. "They was as hot as a pistol. I told them if they shoot like that all night, we ain't got a prayer. But we just kept hanging in there."
Huntsville slowly trimmed the deficit down in the second quarter, closing the half on a 7-0 run to trail 25-24 at halftime.
The win broke a three-way tie atop the 4A-1 standings with Berryville as the second half of the conference race gets underway. Prairie Grove knocked off Huntsville when the two teams met earlier this season in the conference opener.
Boys
Huntsville 45, Prairie Grove 39
The Eagles dodged an upset by rallying late to keep a share of the 4A-1 Conference lead.
Huntsville sophomore Jack Eaton buried a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to give the Eagles (20-2, 7-1) a 41-39 lead. Prairie Grove (9-10, 5-3) had a chance after forcing a Huntsville turnover, but missed two shots. Eaton hit two late free throws to seal the game for Huntsville.
River Gosvener led Huntsville with 16 points and Caleb Kirk added 12. Dylan Soehner led Prairie Grove with 11 points.
Sports on 01/24/2015