Basketball: Hartin's 3-pointers lift Prairie Grove's girls

POTTSVILLE -- Prairie Grove had plenty of trouble with shots in the paint Wednesday because Caroline Hogue would swat them away.

Mattie Hartin, though, had more than one answer to that problem. In fact, she had six of them.

Class 4A North Region Tournament

Girls

Prairie Grove 43, Arkansas Baptist 27

Arkansas Baptist^9^9^2^7^—^27

Prairie Grove^17^11^8^7^—^43

Arkansas Baptist: Hogue 16, Key 5, Estes 4, Sims 2.

Prairie Grove (19-10): M. Hartin 24, T. Hartin 8, Bartholomew 7, Cox 2, Lopez 2.

Ozark 54, Gentry 24

Gentry^5^4^10^5^—^24

Ozark^9^17^16^12^—^54

Gentry (10-14): Borgeteien-James 9, Lawrence 7, Ellis 3, Little 2, Boss 2, Morris 1.

Ozark (25-3): K. Ladd 20, Melton 13, Ree 8, McClellan 6, H. Ladd 5, Heffington 2.

Class 4A North Region Tournament

at Pottsville

Girls

Wednesday’s Scores

Game 1: 1st-1 Prairie Grove 43, 4th-4 Arkansas Baptist 27

Game 2: 1st-4 Ozark 54, 4th-1 Gentry 24

Today’s Games

Game 3: 2nd-4 Pottsville vs. 3rd-1 Berryville, 4 p.m.

Game 4: 2nd-1 Huntsville vs. 3rd-1 Clinton, 7 p.m.

Friday’s Games

Game 5: Prairie Grove vs. Game 3 winner, 4 p.m.

Game 6: Ozark vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s Games

Game 7: Third-place game, noon

Game 8: Championship game, 6 p.m.

The junior guard matched a career-high with six 3-pointers and had 22 points in the first half to lead the Lady Tigers to a 43-27 first-round victory over Arkansas Baptist in the Class 4A North Region tournament in George S. Jones Gymnasium.

"They had such a big girl inside, so I knew I wasn't going to be able to drive as much without getting hacked," Hartin said. "I knew I had to hit 3s whenever I could. After I hit that first one, I knew I had to keep shooting."

Hartin hit two from beyond the arc before Arkansas Baptist had its first point, and her fourth 3-pointer gave Prairie Grove (19-10) its first double-digit lead, 17-6, with 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter. When Arkansas Baptist refused to get out of its zone defense, Hartin made the Lady Eagles pay with two more in the second quarter.

Her sixth 3-pointer came with just 4 seconds left, following seven straight Arkansas Baptist points, and gave the Lady Tigers, who have won nine consecutive games and 15 of their past 17, a 28-18 halftime lead. Prairie Grove's defense took care of the rest, holding the Lady Eagles to just nine points in the second half.

"It was good, and Mattie was feeling it," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "I thought our defensive intensity was good.

"A lot of teams have played us in a zone this year, hoping that we're not hitting. If we're hitting, then something like this happens. If we're not hitting, then we'll have trouble scoring. Luckily, we were hitting."

Hartin finished with 24 for Prairie Grove, who advanced to a 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday and earned its 10th consecutive state tournament appearance. Hogue led Arkansas Baptist with 16.

Ozark 54, Gentry 24

Kylie Ladd had 20 points and Ozark bounced back from a sluggish start in order to roll past Ozark in Wednesday's second girls game.

The Lady Hillbillies (29-3) outscored Gentry (10-14) by a 17-4 margin in the second quarter and turned a four-point lead into a comfortable 26-9 halftime cushion.

Olivia Melton added 13 points for Ozark, which advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal game. Haley Borgeteien-James had nine points to lead Gentry, which entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed from the 4A-1 Conference.

Henry Apple can be reached by email at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry

Sports on 02/26/2015

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