Fans Deprived Of Fantastic Finish

A peculiar foul in a critical situation erased a Prairie Grove basket and changed the complexion of an otherwise highly, competitive contest as the Tigers were eliminated 65-56 Feb. 14.

Shiloh Christian prevailed 65-56 in a winner-take-all, loser-leave-tournament scenario at the District 4A-1 boys basketball tournament held at Lincoln last week.

Basketball fans eagerly anticipating one-more downto-the-wire contest between the schools, in addition to regular season meetings (Jan. 2 won by Prairie Grove, 64-61, and Jan. 30 won by Shiloh, 68-65, in overtime) were deprived of witnessing another such occurrence.

Talented Prairie Grove junior guard Will Pridmore excels at driving to the basket and is adept at finishing with either hand. The left-handed Pridmore executed his trademark play without initiating contact against Shiloh Christian defenders backpedaling but unable to prevent Pridmore from getting to the basket.

From a spectator’s perspective Pridmore’s right-handed lay-up in traffic appeared sensational. When a whistle blew fans were breathless — expecting Pridmore to step to the free throw line with an opportunity for a 3-point play with the Tigers trailing Shiloh, 55-47, with 2:21 remaining.

There was little doubt Pridmore was bumped as a defender rotated over on the play, but inexplicably a charging foul was what took his basket away. Overlooked was the fact that his No. 32 jersey was so bloody that he had to switch to No. 5 at halftime. For all of his labor and contact absorbed Pridmore was only awarded a single free throw for the duration of the game.

The situation quickly escalated.

Not only was Prairie Grove deprived of a potential three points that would have narrowed Shiloh’s lead to 55-50, but the Saints were awarded four free throws with technical fouls assessed against both Pridmore and Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston.

Shiloh’s Seth Rosenfeld made 3-of-4 technical foul free throws extending the Saints’ lead to 58-47, and for all practical purposes the game was over. Prairie Grove never recovered from the six-point swing, and more fouls hampered them from mounting some kind of comeback — Pridmore was whistled for his fifth foul 22 seconds later.

Irregardless of that game-changing moment, Prairie Grove seniors gave a good account of themselves playing in what turned out to be their last high school game.

Senior guard D.J. Pearson led the Tigers with 21 points. His deep 3-ball from way out busted a tie and put Prairie Grove ahead, 24-21, at the half. Pearson’s trifecta in the third helped fuel a 10-2 Tiger run that put Prairie Grove in front, 34-26. In the closing seconds of the fourth he was undercut taking a 3-pointer and converted all three free throws.

Forward Demarkus Cooper (6-1) scored 14 points all in the paint despite giving up 6 inches against Shiloh’s 6-7 shot-blocker Gregory Bryant. Cooper played aggressive offensively consistently driving to the basket or putting in misses by his teammates. Cooper started strong by dribbling in for the first bucket of the game after taking Pridmore’s outlet in transition. His highlight reel showcased a double fake using his pivot foot to get Bryant in the air. Cooper missed, but calmly put the rebound back in.

Guard Anthony Johnson’s relentless defense and physical play limited Shiloh’s leading scorer Jackson Hutchinson to seven points, no 3-pointers and a dismal 3-of-10 free throw shooting. Johnson had a pair of assists earned the hard way. He drove hard to the goal drawing a Shiloh reaction, then fed Cooper for a layup and did likewise to free up classmate John David Elder for a score at point-blank range. Johnson knocked down two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth. After the second another peculiar foul sent him to the bench with his fifth personal even though he wasn’t even close to the man who was fouled.

One telling statistic is the Saints (30 charity shots) made as many free throws as Prairie Grove attempted (13).

Shiloh got in position to win with Reagan Neal making four of his five 3-pointers in the second half on the way to 17 points. Rosenfeld added 13 making 5 of 8 fourth-quarter free throws. The big losers on Valentine’s night were the fans, some of whom wondered aloud if this contest might go into overtime before the technicals were called.