PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove played tenancious man-to-man defense blanking Greenland in the second and fourth quarters en route to a 59-23 victory on Monday, Nov. 25.
The nonconference boys basketball contest stayed competitive for one quarter before the Tigers' tenacity took Greenland out of its offense. The Pirates didn't score in the second quarter while Prairie Grove enjoyed a second consecutive 20-point period and increased its lead to 41-14 at the half.
"We kind of preach to our kids defense should never take a night off," said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston. "Shooting, sometimes you're not going to be real good or crisp offensively, but as long as you bring that defense every night cause it's positioning and work. If you do that I feel like eventually we're going to be there. We did a great job on the team defense and helping each other be in the right spot, be in the right place and so it worked well for us."
Sage Austin hit four 3-pointers and led Greenland with 15 points. He scored 8 points in the first four minutes keeping the Pirates within a deuce at 12-10, but Prairie Grove closed out the quarter by scoring the next 11 points. Jake Webb's old-fashioned 3-point play started the spree. Carl Von Bergen took a steal hard to the goal. He couldn't score but John Mayers grabbed the rebound and deftly put the ball in the hoop with a nifty reverse lay-up.
Von Bergen was fouled in the act of shooting a three and made 2-of-3 charity shots. Mayers sank two more from the foul line with 5.6 seconds to go, but Von Bergen was whistled for contesting Kadden Partain's half-court shot at the buzzer. Partain made all three free throws during the quarter break but Greenland was behind, 21-14, and wouldn't score again in the first half.
Webb had a pair of stickbacks to start the second and Prairie Grove made 7-of-9 free throws during the quarter. Mayers scored twice on fast-break opportunities. The Pirates in-bounded underneath their own goal with 8.4 seconds remaining in the second but were stripped of the ball as time expired.
Greenland went 13:16 between field goals. By the time Austin connected on his third trey at the 4:42 mark of the third, the Pirates were behind 49-18. He would get another off a steal 1:07 later and Jack Quinn finished a fast-break by scoring on the run. Greenland, however, wouldn't find the hoop again and never got into the penalty, which was a testament to Prairie Grove's relentless defensive effort. The Pirates were scoreless for the final ten minutes.
Alex Edmiston showcased his shooting touch with 18 points to lead all scorers. He made two 3-pointers. Mayers added 15 and made another spectacular reverse lay-in on a back door cut late in the third. Von Bergen and Webb had seven apiece as nine players scored in the contest for Prairie Grove.
Prairie Grove was coming off a 59-38 loss to Waldron when they gave up 36 points to talented scorer Payton Brown and Edmiston told his boys they could and should play better.
"(We were) looking for that response, seeing how we would come back after a loss like that early in the season," Steve Edmiston said. "I thought we responded really well and so I was proud of our intensity and our ability to shoot the ball. That's more like what I think we're capable of and I was glad to see us have that short memory and come back with confidence. I thought we shot and played with confidence tonight."
Prairie Grove 59, Greenland 23
Greenland^14^0^9^0^--^23
Prairie Grove^21^20^16^2^--^59
Prairie Grove (3-1): Alex Edmiston 7 2-2 18, John Mayers 5 5-7 15, Carl Von Bergen 2 2-3 7, Jake Webb 3 1-1 7, Blake Gardner 2 0-1 4, Ethan Gross o 2-2 2, Noah Ceniceros 1 0-0 2, Cole Vertz 1 0-0 2, Cal Robinson 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 12-16 59.
Greenland (0-1): Sage Austin 5 1-2 15, Kadden Partain 0 4-4 4, Jack Quinn 1 0-0 2, Carter Gobel 1 0-0 2, Gabe Wilson 0 0-2 0. Totals 7 5-8 23.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 3 (Edmiston 2, Von Bergen). Greenland 4 (Austin 4).
Sports on 12/04/2019