Berryville Outlasts Tigers In Triple Overtime

MARK HUMPHREY  ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove senior Knox Laird yanks down an offensive rebound and resets the offense during the Tigers' 45-43 barn-burner victory over Huntsville in 4A-1 Conference boys basketball play on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove senior Knox Laird yanks down an offensive rebound and resets the offense during the Tigers' 45-43 barn-burner victory over Huntsville in 4A-1 Conference boys basketball play on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- Berryville (15-3, 5-1) outscored Prairie Grove 14-8 in the third overtime period dealing the Tigers (8-7, 5-2) a 62-56 loss in 4A-1 Conference action at Bobcat Arena on Jan. 22.

The Bobcats won the triple overtime thriller at the free-throw-line making a whopping 26-of-37 foul shots including 9-of-11 in the decisive third bonus session. Jake Wilson scored 20 points to lead a trio of Bobcats in double figures, followed by Weston Teague with 18 and Nate Allen with 13.

The game got off to a fast start as Berryville hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter. Wilson, JD Smith, and Jack Dignan combined for 9 points from long-range. Dignan's trey just beat the first quarter buzzer with Berryville taking a 13-9 lead.

Prairie Grove's ability to defend the 3-point line beyond the first quarter when Berryville made half of its total of six treys kept the Tigers in the contest. In many games this season the Bobcats have made a decent living by shooting 3-pointers, but Prairie Grove made them look elsewhere to get their points.

Prairie Grove fought back to tie the game in the second quarter getting six points from Sloan Smith before Nate Allen's trey gave the Bobcats a 17-14 lead midway through the period. The Tigers kept the score close going into intermission trailing by two points, 21-19.

Berryville led 33-30 after three quarters, but Prairie Grove evened the score at 37-all at the end of regulation. The score remained deadlocked at 45 after the first overtime and was 48-48 after the second overtime.

Smith scored a game-high 25 points coming through for the Tigers in crunch time. Smith scored 15 of his points in the three overtimes including a 3-for-3 performance at the free-throw line in the third overtime.

Neither team shot well from the field. Prairie Grove made 40 percent while Berryville shot 36 percent from the floor. The Bobcats were more accurate behind the 3-point line shooting 40 percent while the Tigers shot 28 percent. Berryville hit 70 percent at the free-throw-line while Prairie Grove was at 46 percent.

Berryville 62, Prairie Grove 56 (Triple Overtime)

Prairie Grove^9^10^11^7^8^3^8--^56

Berryville^13^8^12^4^8^3^14^--^62

Berryville (15-3, 5-1): Jake Wilson 3 13-17 20, Weston Teague 6 6-8 18, Nate Allen 3 4-6 13, JD Smith 1 2-2 5, Landon Chester 1 1-2 4, Jack Dignan 1 0-0 3, Kennon Helmlinger 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 26-37 62.

Prairie Grove (8-7, 5-2): Sloan Smith 8 4-4 25, Knox Laird 3 0-2 8, Ethan Gross 3 2-2 8, Blake Gardner 3 0-2 6, Marco Martinez 2 0-2 5, Landon Semrad 2 0-0 4, Brendan Bristow 0 0-2 0. Totals 21 6-14 56.

3-Point Goals -- Berryville 6 (Allen 3, Wilson, Smith, Dignan), Prairie Grove 8 (Smith 5, Laird 2, Martinez).

Rebounds -- Berryville 29, Prairie Grove 34. Assists -- Berryville 11, Prairie Grove 14. Steals -- Berryville 7, Prairie Grove 6. Blocks -- Berryville 4, Prairie Grove 3.