Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Contain Greenland Guards
PRAIRIE GROVE — The offense came in spurts, but the defense was solid allowing only one double-digit quarter as Prairie Grove beat Greenland, 42-30, on Dec. 17.
Tiger junior Will Pridmore scored 8 of his game-high 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the first period. His running-mate at guard, senior DJ Pearson, had half of his dozen points in the first helping the Tigers claim a 14-10 lead.
“We want him to attack the basket. That’s expanding your game. We need him to be a 17-24 points-pergame scorer for the offense to click like I want,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston, who watched Pridmore struggle the previous week in a loss at Gravette.
“Every shooter is going to have those kind of nights when the shot is off. Thirty-two minutes a night is too much. I’ve got to find ways to get him breathers and keep his legs fresh, take him out at the end of quarters. We’ll be doing that as we work through the season. He’s going to be the horse that carries us.”
Greenland’s leading scorer Boone Tincher had just two points beyond the opening period and never did get going. He hit a pair of free throws early and sank a leaner in the key, then went 17:15 without a point. Tincher’s second field goal of the contest capped a 6-0 Pirate run narrowing Prairie Grove’s lead to 35-26 with 5:51 left in the game.
“Defensively, it was our best outing of the year,” Edmiston said. “We picked up our defensive intensity. We did a good job of containing their two guards. Between (Tincher and Cutter Watkins), them, those guys are athletic, long and good-looking basketball players. We knew those were going to be the two to try to contain because they work well off each other. If we can contain them we’ll stay out of that scorefest.”
Prairie Grove forged a 7-1 run to close the door. Demarkus Cooper fed Pearson cutting for a layup, then Pearson and Pridmore combined to sink 5-of-6 free throws giving Prairie Grove its largest lead of 15 points. Carter Gobel hit a trey in the final minute, but that wasn’t enough for Greenland. Prairie Grove won 42-30.
“I was thrilled with our defense. I challenged them a little bit to work on containing the basketball, applying more pressure and doing it without fouling,” Edmiston said. “It kind of got them out of what they like to do — the dribble drive. When they execute it it’s tough, and we’re not a switching team.”
“Defense is one of those things it’s totally up to you,” Edmiston said. “If we play with intensity it will take care of a lot of little things.”
“We’ve got 10 days off until the Siloam Springs tournament. We’ve got some time to iron things out.