Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Place Fourth At Holiday Tourney
LINCOLN — Hendrix College at Conway is interested in Lincoln senior Harrison Swayne and he is thinking of his future.
“They actually want me to play either defense like a cornerback or a receiver,” he said.
Coming into the season, Lincoln head football coach Don Harrison said Swayne was the Wolves’ best cornerback with the athletic ability and game-smarts to match up 1-on-1.
“Any time you get out there and you’ve got a 6-2 corner that frees us up to do some things when we’re not worried about getting beat deep,” Harrison said. “We think he can be OK on an island.”
In college, Swayne would like to major in business with career plans to do either something in agriculture or sports management and maybe eventually coach.
Harrison said Swayne is a good candidate for a college football program and not only because of his athleticism, but also due to personal attributes from his upbringing.
“He’s got some people looking at him,” Harrison said. “He’s real smart, gets good grades. He doesn’t have any discipline issues or character issues where a school might not look at him, so that’s a big plus for him.”
Swayne might play a receiver position in college. His background as a high school quarterback is an advantage in knowing the game from a passer’s perspective.
“It would be easier for me to connect to a quarterback, whoever is quarterback on the team,” Swayne said. “I think it would be very productive. A lot of high school quarterbacks turn out to be skill players.”
Swayne (6-2, 210) diligently hit the weight-room during the off-season, beefing up several pounds after playing at 180 pounds as a junior. He nods to Lincoln strength and conditioning coach Stan Karber for helping tool him physically.
“He’s always mentored me,” Swayne said. “I call him ‘Coach.’ He’s a teacher.” It was in seventh-grade Social Studies that I first met him. His One Day Fitness place, I still go there. He really helped me, showing me how to work out. I gained nearly 20 pounds this year. I think he’s a big reason for that.”
“I want to thank Coach Harrison, Coach ( Stan) Karber and my parents. My step-dad (Parker Russell) and my mom (Lori Russell) really helped me and pushed me to do the best that I could.”
Quite a turnaround for a gifted athlete, who wasn’t going to play football after a frustrating, disappointing sophomore season in 2014. Instead of thinking what might have been, Lincoln fans will rehash Swayne’s exploits on the gridiron over and over. Swayne wanted to send greetings to his best friends and many others, “All my seniors who stuck with me through all the years in sports and all the others.”
His gifts — lasting memories that gave Wolves’ fans plenty to cheer about.
PRAIRIE GROVE — Competing between Christmas and New Year’s day, the Prairie Grove boys basketball team placed fourth at the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.
The Tigers lost to a Tulsa, Okla. school, by 20 points in the consolation game with Holland Hall defeating Prairie Grove, 54-34, Dec. 30.
Facing 7A Rogers in the semifinal, Prairie Grove played tough on the heels of a first-round, 54-52, win over tournament host, Siloam Springs.
The Tigers were within three points after the first quarter and played the Mounties even in the first half by outscoring Rogers 9-6 in the second for a 22-22 halftime tie. Rogers used a 19-9 scoring differential in the third to pull away for a 58-44 win, sending the Tigers to the consolation game.
Holland Hall (Okla.) 54, Prairie Grove 34
C. J. Thompson scored a game-high 26 points for Holland Hall as the Dutch took a 19-7 lead after one quarter. The Tigers tried to rally, outscoring Holland Hall, 11-10, in the second; but a 17-8 third-quarter run pushed Holland Hall ahead by 20 after three quarters of play and they held the margin through the fourth. Demarkus Cooper and Zeke Laird shared team- high honors with seven points apiece for the Tigers. advanced to play Claremore (Okla.) in the finals.
Prairie Grove erased a Rogers, 16-13, after the first quarter, rallying to tie the game at 22- all at intermission. The Mounties outscored the Tigers 36-22 in the second half.
A- Ron Jones added 13 points for Rogers, while Garrett Dake had 11 for the Mounties. Rogers senior guard Andrew Greear hit four big free throws in the fourth quarter. Rogers came into the tournament with a win over Greenwood prior to the Christmas break, then used a fourth quarter rally to defeat Coweta (Okla.) 49-48 in the opening round.
Taylor Moore led Prairie Grove with 14 points, while Zeke Laird had eight.
The Tigers outscored the Panthers by a 2-to-1 margin in the fourth quarter (14-7) and held on in the final seconds aided by Siloam Springs’ inability to make free throws to beat the tournament host on Dec. 28. Senior Cameron Simmons gave Prairie Grove a 48-47 lead and the Tigers stayed ahead. Will Pridmore and Taylor Moore had big buckets for the Tigers down the stretch. Siloam Springs hurt themselves by making just 3- of-7 free throws in crunch time.
Taylor Moore led Prairie Grove (5-5) with 13 points, while Simmons finished with 11 points. Harrison Kretzer had 17 points to lead Siloam Springs (4- 8) while Noah Karp had 16 and Josh Hunt 11.