PRAIRIE GROVE -- Someone asked Prairie Grove senior Isaac Disney, "which was sweeter, 42-21, (football victory over Pea Ridge) or 59-56?" after the Tigers knocked off conference-leader Pea Ridge Feb. 7.
Disney wasn't sure trying to put into context what he and his teammates had just accomplished.
"They were both sweet," he said.
Disney was one of several Tigers consistently making plays that won't show up in the statistics, yet vital to the hard-fought victory. Offensive execution was a key to their success.
"Pea Ridge, we know what kind of a team they are," said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston. "Defensively, we did a decent job challenging (shots). Offensively, the key for us was patience. Not necessarily slowing the game down or stalling, just being patient."
Pea Ridge sank 3-pointers by Britton Caudill and Joey Hall to start the game. They contested every in-bounds play, having throttled Prairie Grove off numerous turnovers on in-bounds play in a 74-43 rout Jan. 10. Not this time.
Senior Zeke Laird took an in-bounds pass and determinedly drove the length of the court, finishing with a layup to get the Tigers on the board. On the next possession, Laird stood on the wing and fed Taylor Moore in the low-post. Moore turned into his man and scored easily, drawing the Tigers to within 6-4. Prairie Grove nearly-matched Pea Ridge point-for-point in the first. Moore dove on the floor to avoid a turnover, tying up the ball which Prairie Grove in-bounded under their own bucket and setting up Will Pridmore's second trifecta of the period off Moore's screen. Despite hitting four treys, the Blackhawks only led 19-17.
With Edmiston called for the Tigers to reset their offense on the opening possession of the second. They paid heed and Demarkus Cooper's old-fashioned 3-point play pushed Prairie Grove into the lead, at 20-19. Their 10-0 run included Moore's turnaround shot off-the-glass and Pridmore's third trey on a pass from Cooper to extend Prairie Grove's lead to 25-19.
Pea Ridge used a 10-5 run over the last 2:11 of the second to trim Prairie Grove's lead to 30-29 at halftime. Cole Wright had a 3-pointer and Westin Church added a layup. Wright gave the Blackhawks a brief lead of 31-30 with a steal and layin to start the third, but Pridmore set up Laird for a 3-pointer and Prairie Grove recaptured the lead.
"We just kept our heads up this time, we played a lot smarter," Pridmore said, explaining the Tigers made sure their passes were going to go into the hands of teammates before releasing the ball.
Prairie Grove increased the margin to 12. Disney scored at the basket after taking a cross-court pass from Cooper, who made a steal and dribbled up-court. Hall answered with a 3-point play for Pea Ridge, but Cooper's offensive rebound created a second chance and Pridmore made the most of the opportunity by hitting a 3-pointer on Cooper's pass. Cameron Simmons found Cooper going to the bucket on a press-breaker and the Tigers were ahead, 44-34. Disney took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for a layup giving the Tigers their biggest lead of 46-34.
Kobe Rose hit a 3-pointer to narrow the gap to 46-37 going into the fourth. In the final frame, Cooper's driving layup kept the difference of 10 points at 50-40 at the 5:52 mark. Pea Ridge than began a furious rally started by Matt Thomas' free throws and Hall's third 3-pointer. The Blackhawks made the contest a one-possession game on a Thomas free throw with 3:11 to go, then tied the game on Church's 3-point shot.
The Blackhawks pounded the offensive glass and missed three free throws that would have given them the lead. Cooper finally cleared a defensive board leading to Laird's 3-pointer and the Tigers led, 54-51, with 1:43 left. Caudill's free throws reduced the margin to 54-53, but the Tigers beat full-court pressure with Laird passing to Cooper, who went in for a layup and a 56-53 Tiger edge.
"We were just trying to finish them off," Cooper said. "They are a big team, you've got to go hard."
Pea Ridge in-bounded under their own bucket after a rebound went out off the Tigers only to have Pridmore steal the ball. He was fouled and sank both shots of the double bonus. Prairie Grove came away empty on their next trip to the foul line and Thomas cranked up a trey pulling the Blackhawks within, 58-56, with 12 seconds remaining. Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd stopped the clock by calling time-out saving 11.6 seconds. Prairie Grove was able to burn seven seconds before Disney was fouled. He made 1 of 2 leaving the Blackhawks 4.4 seconds to work with.
Hall got off a 3-point attempt that bounced off the rim as the horn sounded and Prairie Grove won, 59-56.
Pea Ridge^19^10^8^19--^56
Prairie Grove^17^13^16^13--^59
Pea Ridge (23-2, 16-1): Joey Hall 4 3-3 14, Matt Thomas 3 7-12 14, Kobe Rose 3 0-0 9, Britton Caudill 2 2-6 7, Cole Wright 2 0-0 5, Westin Church 2 0-0 5, Hayden Holtgrewe 0 2-4 2. Totals 16 14-25 56.
Prairie Grove (11-13, 10-7): Will Pridmore 6 6-6 22, Demarkus Cooper 5 1-1 11, Zeke Laird 4 0-1 11, Isaac Disney 3 1-4 7, Taylor Moore 2 1-2 5, D.J. Pearson 1 0-0 2, Cameron Simmons 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 10-16 59.
3-Point Goals -- Pea Ridge 10 (Hall 3, Rose 3, Caudill, Church, Thomas, Wright), Prairie Grove 7 (Pridmore 4, Laird 3)
Sports on 02/15/2017