PRAIRIE GROVE -- Tournament host Prairie Grove sent East No. 1 seed Shiloh Christian to 0-2 in postseason by beating the Saints handily, 59-32, Saturday in the 4A-1 boys basketball consolation game.
The Saints received a bye into the semifinals by virtue of their regular season finish, but went 0-2 in the district tournament with losses to Berryville Thursday and Prairie Grove. Prairie Grove defeated Harrison, 54-48, on Tuesday, Feb. 18; then got past Huntsville, 44-32, on Wednesday, Feb. 19 before losing 40-28 to Pea Ridge in the district semifinal on Thursday, Feb. 20. The Tigers finished third in the tournament with their win over Shiloh Christian.
Noah Ceniceros scored 22 points to lead the Tigers, who consistently got high-percentage shots while clamping down with strong defense at the other end.
"Offensively, we executed well. Noah Ceniceros had a great night. When we're balanced offensively we're good," said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston.
Prairie Grove executed well against Shiloh Christian's half-court trap in the first quarter. The Tigers took a 17-7 lead on back-to-back turnaround jumpers by Alex Edmiston and Ceniceros's 3-point play set up by Landon Semrad's steal and attack in transtion.
The Tigers led 17-7 after one quarter and reeled off 15 straight points before Seth Rosenfeld's 15-footer made it 21-9. The Saints backed out of their trap for awhile then resumed trapping again in the second quarter. Prairie Grove beat the pressure with John Mayers passing to Jake Webb on the low block for two layups. Ceniceros scored 4 points in the period including a give-and-go with Alex Edmiston that put the Tigers up, 33-12, at the half.
John Mayers stripped Rosenfeld of the ball which started a Tiger fast break in the third. Ceniceros tipped in Alex Edmiston's miss as Prairie Grove opened up a 37-12 lead at the 6:15 mark. Mayers continued to find teammates for layups. He fed Ceniceros inside for a 45-19 Tiger lead.
Rosenfeld had 9 points through three quarters including a 3-pointer in the last minute of the third. The Saints were whistled for a technical foul and Ceniceros added two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to push the Tiger lead to 49-24 at the end of the third.
The Tigers made 8-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter and activated a running clock by establishing a 30-point lead on Blake Gardner's 3-point play. Prairie Grove held Shiloh scoring sensation Rosenfeld to 11 points with the last two coming in garbage time versus reserves.
"Defensively, we knew we had to focus on No. 13 (Rosenfeld). We did a good job on that as well," Steve Edmiston said. "We picked up some momentum going into next week."
The Tigers take on No. 2 seed, Pottsville, out of the 4A-4, Thursday at 8:30 p.m. to begin 4A North Regional play at Berryville's Bobcat Arena.
Prairie Grove 59, Shiloh Christian 32
Shiloh Christian^7^5^12^8 -- 32
Prairie Grove^17^16^16^10 -- 59
Prairie Grove (15-12, 7-5): Noah Ceniceros 8 6-7 22, Jake Webb 5 1-1 11, John Mayers 3 3-4 9, Alex Edmiston 4 0-0 8, Carl Von Bergen 1 2-2 5, Blake Gardner 1 1-1 3, Landon Semrad 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 14-17 59.
Shiloh Christian (15-10, 8-3): Seth Rosenfeld 5 0-0 11, Eli Wisdom 2 3-3 8, Cole Oswald 1 2-2 5, Stewart Bivens 1 2-2 4, Luke Hutchinson 1 0-0 2, Wessels 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 7-7 32.
3-Point Goals -- Prairie Grove 1 (Von Bergon), Shiloh Christian 3 (Rosenfeld, Oswald, Wisdom).
Sports on 02/26/2020