Tough competition pays off

Playing a brutal nonconference schedule is paying off for Prairie Grove (8-6, 5-1), which has won seven of its past eight games.

“We were like everybody else in looking for games early,” Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston said. “We played teams like Fayetteville, Siloam Springs, and Dardanelle, and we got beat pretty good in some games. But we wanted to test ourselves to get ready for conference and it’s paid off so far. We’re on a good run, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Prairie Grove will have to be at its best to survive a rugged three-game stretch that begins tonight at Berryville, which leads the East Division of the 4A-1 Conference. The Tigers will play at Shiloh Christian on Tuesday before returning home next Friday to face Farmington, which owns the tie-breaker with Prairie Grove atop the 4A-1 West Division.

Prairie Grove beat Huntsville 45-43 on Tuesday when senior point guard Sloan Smith made four clutch free throws down the stretch. The Tigers rely heavily on Smith, an experience player who broke into the starting lineup last year as a junior.

“Sloan is about 6-foot3 or 6-4, so he’s not your prototypical point guard,” Edmiston said. “But he’s doing the things we need from him. Sloan didn’t have a really good game, offensively against Huntsville, but he made those four at the end to help us win the game.”

Prairie Grove has been helped by the addition of five players from its football team, including Knox Laird and Landon Semrad, who’ve earned starting positions. Laird is a senior and former quarterback while Semrad is a junior and a wide receiver for the Tigers.

“Knox, he can play about anywhere and he’s a leader,” Edmiston said. “Landon brings a lot of athleticism to the team. We’re trying to make the most of that potential.”