SPORTS EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of an on-going series highlighting top sports stories for the 2010-2019 decade at Prairie Grove High School and its alumni.
PRAIRIE GROVE -- The legacy of Jarren Sorters, whose death 3.5 years ago a month before his 16th birthday, shaped a culture of compassion -- remains alive and celebrated in the 4A-1 Conference.
Play4Jarren Mission Statement
Play4Jarren is a Christian-based non-profit 501 (c.)(3) organization established by Joey and Donna Sorters, of Prairie Grove, parents of the late Jarren Sorters (Sept. 11, 2000-Aug. 11, 2016), who would have graduated in 2019. The foundation seeks to preserve and honor Jarren’s legacy.
Jarren’s favorite quote states, “I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, “because of you, I didn’t give up.”
The foundation serves to provide community outreach and support for youth who face physical and medical adversities. Play4Jarren has two specific areas of focus: Childhood Cancer awareness and research, plus youth development through athletics.
Play4Jarren also serves as the organizational structure for the Jarren Sorters Memorial Scholarship Program. Through this program, Play4Jarren, strives to support the educational endeavors of young people. The foundation seeks to award college scholarships in memory of Jarren to individuals who demonstrate characteristics of compassion, determination, perseverance, and love for life. More information can be found at play4jarren.org.
The former Prairie Grove student continues to inspire although he never got opportunity to compete during his high school career, cut short by childhood cancer. Jarren Sorters (Sept. 11, 2000 - Aug. 11, 2016) underwent a leg amputation in an effort to keep the disease from spreading to the rest of his body. He spent hours in grueling chemotherapy and learned to walk again with the aid of crutches and a leg brace.
Championing The Underdog
Even when facing death, Jarren displayed fearlessness and tenacity. He never expressed bitterness or complained.
The words coined in his personal motto, "Never give up, never give in, never quit," display the fighting spirit of a young man, whose life centered around sports, especially baseball and basketball.
Those words greet players, coaches, cheerleaders, band members, spirit squads, managers, referees, scorekeepers, parents and basketball fans seated around the court or on the hardwood throughout Prairie Grove's Tiger Arena. Protective mats hang at each end of the gym underneath the basket to protect players from injury should they crash headlong into the wall while relentlessly pursuing possession of the basketball in the style of Jarren. Above the mats those hallowed words are displayed, "Never give up, never give in, never quit."
In the span of a week two special needs players, Breyden Clark, of the hometown Prairie Grove Tigers; and Jon Childress, of Gravette; made personal highlights to punctuate their high school basketball careers as history repeated itself against this backdrop.
More and more frequently 4A-1 coaches and teams choose to champion the underdog.
McKay Gregson
A notable incident that established a precedent in sportsmanship occurred on Valentine's Day, 2014, in the old Prairie Grove gym involving a Tiger cheerleader, Marie Gregson; her brother, McKay Gregson; Prairie Grove boys basketball coach Steve Edmiston; Tiger star point-guard Ty Tice, now enjoying a career as a minor league pitcher; Farmington coach Beau Thompson; and Farmington player Jeremy Mueller, who was then a high school junior.
McKay's basketball career was challenged by the 22-Q-11 Deletion Syndrome, a deficiency in the 22nd chromosome that can present a wide variety of health issues and complicate learning and social interaction for those affected.
In the midst of a heated rivalry, Farmington got ahead by nine points with 6.7 seconds to play. Coaching to the end, Edmiston stopped the clock with a time-out and almost forgot about subbing in McKay Gregson, a senior manager dressed out for the game and entered in the scorebook.
Marie Gregson made certain Edmiston didn't forget.
She ran up to the Tiger coach yelling, "Hey, sub my brother in."
Instantly, the pre-formulated plan Edmiston had drawn up for that very situation was implemented. McKay Gregson checked in at the scorer's table and went out onto the court. Tice directed him to set up at his proficient shooting spot on the right wing.
Thompson told his players to play a shrunken zone guarding only the box and leaving the perimeter open. The Cardinals allowed the Tigers to roll the ball down the floor and into the front-court preserving as much time as possible.
In the flash of a second, Tice picked the ball up and passed to McKay Gregson, who fired up a 3-point attempt. The shot was no good and the rebound landed in Mueller's hands. He immediately threw the ball back out to McKay Gregson, who had backed up into NBA 3-point range after releasing the basketball.
McKay Gregson squared up and nailed his second-chance 3-pointer just before the buzzer as the crowd went wild.
"I didn't have to tell him (Mueller) to throw it back to him," Thompson said, explaining the response is true to Mueller's nature.
Jon Childress
Berryville coach Brent Compton said the same thing while describing his players' response to Gravette's Childress setting up in the left corner on an in-bounds play with 15.6 seconds to go during a first-round District 4A-1 tournament game at Prairie Grove's Tiger Arena Tuesday, Feb. 17, won by the Bobcats, 44-28.
"Our kids already knew. Honestly, I didn't have to tell them," Compton said.
Childress fired up a sequence of shots as teammates coaxed him down the baseline. At one point Berryville sophomore Leo Portolan handed a rebound back to Childress, whose layup went in just before the final buzzer.
"We've got a great group of coaches, great group of communities that come together and we've got a special league," Compton said.
Breyden Clark
Spontaneous dancing almost broke out throughout Tiger Arena when Breyden nailed a 3-pointer on his first try, giving Prairie Grove a 3-2 lead over Gravette on Feb. 11.
Breyden's family, coaches, teammates and the Prairie Grove student body rejoiced. Breyden, 18, son of Justin and Kristal Clark, of Prairie Grove, has dealt with cerebral palsy, a heart condition, and effects of a stroke that left him with partial paralysis.
Multiple generations of his family witnessed his shining moment including his parents, younger brother Beau, 14; paternal grandfather, Raymond Clark, of Prairie Grove; paternal grandmother, Debbie Abbott, of Centerton; and maternal grandparents, Tracy and Shirley Rieff, of Prairie Grove.
Prairie Grove girls basketball coach Kevin Froud is among those Breyden engages in sports dialogue during lunch hour at the high school cafeteria.
"He's a good kid. He loves sports. He's been a Prairie Grove kid. He always knows what goes on at Prairie Grove and he loves the Razorbacks, loves WWE and all of that," Froud said. "So for him to hit a three in front of everybody that will be a lifelong memory of him and he'll love it. I'm sure we'll hear about it tomorrow."
Lingering Presence
Jarren Sorters was healthy as far as anyone knew when McKay Gregson made his 3-point basket on Feb. 14, 2014. The spirited teenager didn't live to see Breyden Clark or Jon Childress score in varsity games on the Tigers' home court, yet his spirit lives on. One glance around Tiger Arena and it's evident his presence lingers, influencing Prairie Grove sports and athletics in the 4A-1 Conference.
"Never give up, never give in, never quit."
Sports on 04/01/2020