PRAIRIE GROVE -- An ice cold fourth quarter in which the Tigers produced only two points doomed Prairie Grove boys basketball team in a nonconference, 43-29, home loss on Tuesday, Nov. 20.
After the game Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston did his best to encourage the team which blew a double digit third quarter lead against Siloam Springs.
"We don't have a lot of experience, we're learning," Steve Edmiston said. "Hopefully, we learn from this one and we move forward and get better from it."
Other than a pair of James Millwood free throws, Prairie Grove was nil for every shot taken during the final eight minutes against Siloam Springs, which outscored the Tigers 14-2 in the final period.
"We were trying to hold the lead right there and I think we got away from continuing to try to score, which I think we should have continued to try to do, but I wanted to be patient with it," Steve Edmiston said. "We had some opportunities with free throws. If we had just been a little more patient on offense I think it would have broke eventually. These are experiences. We got to learn from them."
Murphy Perkins scored 6 of his 9 points in the fourth for the Panthers, who were led by Evan Sauer with 13 points. Landon Ward added 8, Jake Wakefield, 7; and Karson Clement, 6; with balanced scoring for Siloam Springs. Clement hit both of his 3-pointers in the second half, the first cutting Prairie Grove's largest lead of the game, 32-21, achieved on Alex Edmiston's layup on the run to eight.
Edmiston posted up and banked in a nice turnaround shot, but the Tigers gave up a layup to Wakefield at the other end. Nick Pohlman gave the Tigers their last 10-point lead by scoring with 40 seconds to play in the third. That would be the last basket for Prairie Grove, which led 36-29 going into the fourth.
"This is not our first game of this situation," Steve Edmiston said. "We've had leads late and we've got to find ways to execute what we're trying to do and to kind of put the pressure back on them (opponents)."
Steve Edmiston wants the team to run the offense, avoid trying to thread the needle by forcing passes into the post, several of which were intercepted by Siloam Springs as the game turned in the Panthers' favor.
"We had some pretty crucial turnovers at times, we got to make better decisions," Steve Edmiston said. "We've got to learn how to put games like that away."
Siloam Springs 43, Prairie Grove 38
Siloam Springs^11^10^8^14 -- 43
Prairie Grove^11^14^11^2 -- 38
Siloam Springs (3-0): Evan Sauer 5 2-4 13, Murphy Perkins 2 4-6 9, Landon Ward 2 4-4 8, Jake Wakefield 3 1-1 7, Karson Clement 2 0-0 6. Totals 14 11-15 43.
Prairie Grove (1-2): Riley Rhodes 3 2-2 11, Cole Vertz 3 0-0 8, Alex Edmiston 2 1-2 5, John Mayers 2 0-0 5, Nick Pohlman 2 0-1 4, James Millwood 0 2-6 2, Jake Webb 1 0-0 2, Braden Risner 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 6-13 38.
3-point goals -- Siloam Springs 4 (Clement 2, Perkins, Sauer). Prairie Grove 6 (Rhodes 3, Vertz 2, Mayers).
Fouls -- Siloam Springs 19, Prairie Grove 16.
Prairie Grove 44, Greenland 40
In the spring, two-year starter Will Pridmore transferred to Farmington. For the past two seasons, Prairie Grove funnelled its offense through him, who, as a 6-feet-3 guard could drive to the basket or shoot 3-pointers. With Pridmore gone, opportunities opened up for other players; but Prairie Grove no longer has a guy capable of putting up 25 points on any given night.
"We've had ample time to kind of figure out things," Steve Edmiston said. "Defensively, we're solid right now. We're going to be one of those teams that we've got to have a lot of balance, which is not a bad thing but we got to have balanced-scoring from a lot of different parts. If we get that, we're OK."
On Monday, Nov. 19, Prairie Grove jumped out to a 15-7 first quarter lead on the road at Greenland. In a game that mirrored what transpired against Siloam Springs 24 hours later, the Tigers held off Greenland's fourth-quarter comeback when the Pirates outscored the Tigers 12-7.
Rhodes scored 23 points and Millwood added 10 against his old team. Prairie Grove led 37-28 after three quarters surviving the fourth with quality play on the defensive end of the court.
Carter Gobel had 13 to lead Greenland while Caleb White added 10.
I feel good about us, where we're at right now," Steve Edmiston said. "We've got to learn from situations and scenarios like this and we got to get better in the future."
Prairie Grove 44, Greenland 40
Prairie Grove^15^12^10^7 -- 44
Greenland^7^12^9^12 -- 40
Sports on 11/28/2018