Prairie Grove drops two games at Shiloh
Posted on Wednesday, January 7, 2009
MICHAEL WOODS Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Prarie Grove's Victoria Thornton, right, and Shiloh Christian's Megan Herbert go after a loose ball Tuesday in Springdale. Prairie Grove lost 66-49.
SPRINGDALE - A pesky Prairie Grove team kept pace with Shiloh Christian early Tuesday, but once Megan Herbert took over, the Lady Saints followed suit.
Herbert, a 5-11 senior forward who signed with Central Arkansas, racked up her usual 23 points and 16 rebounds as the Lady Saints earned a 66-49 victory over Prairie Grove at the Court of Champions.
Shiloh Christian (13-1, 1-0 1-4A) led by four early in the third quarter before scoring 11 consecutive points over the next 3:25 to take a 41-26 lead. Included during that stretch were nine points by Herbert, who scored and rebounded with ease to wear down the Lady Tigers' frontcourt.
"She finds ways to score points," Shiloh Christian coach Vic Rimmer said. "There wasn't a whole lot we could do to get her the ball. We finally decided to put Megan in position just to get rebounds. I felt like she had a strength advantage.
"That's not great coaching. That's just smart."
Herbert, who went 5 for 5 from the free-throw line Tuesday, came in averaging 26.2 points and 12.1 rebounds a game.
"I complain sometimes about blocking out, but it's tough against her," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "She's a lot bigger and stronger than us, and it put us at a disadvantage. That's why she's going to UCA."
Three-pointers from Kendra Coyle and Heather Smith started an early 8-0 run by Prairie Grove (8-2, 2-1), and Julie Rutherford's layup gave the Lady Tigers a 13-8 lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter. However, two runs of 11-0 over the next two periods gave Shiloh Christian a 15-point advantage midway through the third quarter, and the Lady Saints led by eight points the rest of the way.
Sophomore guard Jesse Parks added 13 points off the bench for Shiloh Christian, which also received scoring help from sophomore reserves Lindsey Roe and Dia Thomas.
"She can hit that jump shot " Rimmer said of Parks. "She's tough to defend. I'm really pleased that as young as they are, they can play minutes like that."
Coyle and Elysia Clement scored 13 points each to lead Prairie Grove.
" We grew up a lot tonight," Froud said. "We showed we could play with a lot of the better teams. We're young, but we took a lot of steps forward. We had opportunities and Shiloh shut the door on us, but we're learning.
"I told the girls if they give me this same effort every night and correct a few things, we'll win a few games."
The Lady Saints won 3 of 4 games against Class 7A teams over the first two months of the season. Rimmer compared Prairie Grove to Shiloh Christian's nonconference competition.
"Prairie Grove is the toughest team to guard off the dribble than anyone we've seen this year," Rimmer said. "That's how they're going to win games."
Shiloh Christian 48
Prairie Grove 47 (sr. boys)
David Eichler scored 23 points, Joel Lookadoo added 16 and Derek Dellinger hit the second of his two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to give Shiloh Christian a victory in its conference opener.
Dellinger took a pass from Tyler Cole as the clock wound down and was fouled by Robert Higginbotham under the basket as he went in for a layup. The Saints (4-7, 1-0) called a timeout after Dellinger missed the first free throw, and his second attempt circled the rim before falling in.
Prairie Grove (8-4, 2-1), which was led by Higginbotham's 16 points, heaved a pass downcourt but missed as the horn sounded.
"I wasn't shooting well, but my teammates still gave me the ball," Dellinger said. "If they had confidence in me, I was confident I'd make it."
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