Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Turn Up Defensive Intensity
PRAIRIE GROVE — Great players know when to take over a game and Prairie Grove junior Will Pridmore accomplished a key conference win over Pea Ridge by scoring 13 points in the fourth.
Pridmore had a game-high 20 points. The 6-3 pointguard was the man of the moment finding ways to exert his personal impact on the outcome after Pea Ridge rode a 10-2 surge to take an eight-point lead in the fourth. Pridmore showcased his talent and his teammates bore down on defense as momentum shifted. Prairie Grove finished with a 14-3 flourish to win Jan. 9.
The Tigers staked out a 43-40 home-court win in dramatic fashion, but Pea Ridge appeared to have the upper hand late in the third. Junior Mikey Mahoney’s free throws knotted the score at 27-27 and started a 9-0 Blackhawk run over the last 1:54 of the third. Hayden Holtgrewe sank three free throws and the third ended with Pea Ridge ahead, 34-27.
Pea Ridge’s Kobe Rose sank his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Blackhawks a 37-29 lead 1:29 into the fourth, then the pendulum swung back in Prairie Grove’s favor.
After going scoreless for more than four minutes, Prairie Grove posted up Pridmore and he drew a foul in the paint. His free throws with 5:50 remaining in the contest began the Tigers’ comeback. A basket by Anthony Johnson was disallowed, but the Tigers worked the ball to Pridmore coming off a screen and the junior delivered a clutch 3-pointer at the top-of-the key.
The Tigers were contesting every Pea Ridge pass and John David Elder deflected the ball in the post. D.J. Pearson got his hands on the ball and Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston called timeout securing possession for the Tigers in the back-court.
“We made a decision we’re going to hunker down and play defense,” Edmiston said. “We found a way to win. We make the turn (midway through conference play) at 6-3. We started out the year a little rough, but our effort tonight was great.”
The change of possession played a critical role in the Tiger rally. Prairie Grove went to Pridmore and he drove the lane making a layup as a Blackhawk defender flopped. The officials weren’t buying the flop and the bucket counted drawing Prairie Grove within, 37-36, with 4:19 showing.
Mahoney broke a 9-0 Tiger run with a layup pushing the Blackhawk lead back to three at 39-36, but that was Pea Ridge’s only field goal down the stretch. Johnson overplayed the passing lane making a steal on the wing and drove the length of the court. He missed a layup in traffic, but Pridmore followed with a tip-in. The next Blackhawk possession ended with Demarkus Cooper’s steal on the wing. He also took the ball to the goal at the far end and was fouled making 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 39-all.
Pridmore rebounded a missed Blackhawk 3-point shot, then banked in a shot in the key at the other end to put Prairie Grove in front, 41-39. Pea Ridge junior Nick Coble snared an offensive rebound and was fouled. He sank 1-of-2 charity shots making the score, 41-40. Pea Ridge had an opportunity when Prairie Grove missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but may have waited a little too long to get a shot up which missed.
Johnson rebounded for Prairie Grove and was fouled with 4.8 seconds left. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but the Blackhawks failed to box out the shooter and Johnson was able to dive on the loose ball in the lane securing the rebound. Edmiston was again quick to call time-out with the clock down to 2.8 seconds.
Prairie Grove in-bounded underneath its own basket and got the ball to Pridmore, who sank both for a 43-40 Tiger lead with 1.2 seconds to play. Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd burned his final time-out and the Blackhawks tried to set up a “Hail-Mary” pass with nobody in the back-court. The ball was deflected by Cooper and stolen by Pridmore as time expired.
“That was a big one for us,” Edmiston said. “We’ve been playing much better as of late. I like our tenacity. Defensively, we’ve been playing as well as we possibly can. Hopefully, the offense will come.”
Mahoney, Rose, and Holtgrewe had 10 points apiece for Pea Ridge which lost its first conference game.
“We made a good run in the third quarter to get up seven, then push it to eight,” Lloyd said. “To be honest, we fell apart a little bit. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers. Credit to Prairie Grove, they played with fire and intensity. We’ll recover and we’ll bounce back.”
PRAIRIE GROVE 43, PEA RIDGE 40
Prairie Grove 13 10 4 16 — 43 PeaRidge 6 13 15 6—40 Prairie Grove (8-9, 6-3): Will Pridmore 7 5-6 20, D.J. Pearson 3 4-4 12, Demarkus Cooper 2 1-3 5, John David Elder 2 0-0 4, Nick Pohlman 0 2-2 2, Anthony Johnson 0 0-1 0. Totals 14 12-16 43.
Pea Ridge (13-4, 7-1): Kobe Rose 4 0-0 10, Hayden Holtgrewe 3 4-6 10, Mikey Mahoney 3 3-4 10, Nick Coble 3 1-2 8, Carson Rhine 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 8-12 40.
3-Point goals — Pea Ridge 4 (Rose 2, Coble, Mahoney). Prairie Grove 3 (Pearson 2, Pridmore).