Prairie Grove Loses To Gravette

PRAIRIE GROVE — The Gravette boys basketball team developed an early double-digit lead, but had to hold on for a 59-57 win on Jan. 23 at Prairie Grove.

“It was good to see us get over the hump,” said Gravette coach Matt Busch, adding, “We’ve had some heartbreakers lately.”

Bush was referring to a game which ended in an identical score with Gravette losing, 59-57, in three overtimes four nights earlier on Jan. 19. He applauded the play of seniors, Chris Childress and Kelton Trembly, who combined for three early 3-pointers to help the Lions get out to a 17-4 lead at Prairie Grove. Later the Lions had a 9-0 run and a pair of baskets in the final 46 seconds of the first half. Kelton Trembly’s 3-pointer pushed Gravette’s lead to 34-20 at the half. They continued to lead by 10 at the end of the third quarter after Prairie Grove junior Will Pridmore, who led all scorers with 31 points, hit a trifecta to make the score, 47-37.

The Lions were still comfortably in front, leading 54-44 as the two minute mark approached after Bailey Soulé’s steal and layup. A minute later the lead was down to 54-51 following missed free throws by Gravette. Meanwhile Pridmore sank four straight foul shots for Prairie Grove, then knocked down a 3-pointer, the first of seven points scored in 11 seconds.

Kelton Trembly made both shots as Gravette finally reached the double bonus, then Pridmore drove the length of the court for a layup. Soulé connected on 3-of-4 free throws giving the Lions a 59-53 cushion, but the Tigers showed no quit. D.J. Pearson’s 3-pointer pulled Prairie Grove within 59-56 and the Tigers called time-out with 15.6 seconds to go.

Kelton Trembly misfired on a pair of free throws which left the door open and Prairie Grove nearly took advantage. Pearson rebounded a missed 3-pointer and squared himself to shoot when he was fouled hard by Kelton Trembly with a mere threetenths of a second left.

Pearson missed the first of three free throws, then made the second, prompting Busch to take time-out knowing Prairie Grove would deliberately miss the third free throw and hope to tip the ball in.

Dayten Wishon hauled down the rebound as time expired with the Lions winning, 59-57.

“We rallied, we just dug the hole so deep that it was hard to come back from that,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston. “If you don’t do it relatively quickly, then you run out of time. That’s what happened to us. They (Gravette) shot it well early. Before you know it, we’re chasing. In the second half we did a much better job of getting shots and being patient. We’re going to pull out of this what we can, the positives. I think we can use it to get over the hurdle. We’ve got to be ready to go on Friday.”

Kelton Trembly led Gravette with 17 points, while Wishon added 13 and Childress 12.

GRAVETTE 59, PRAIRIE GROVE 57

Gravette 18 16 13 12 — 59 Prairie Grove 8 12 17 20 — 57 Gravette (9-11, 4-9): Kelton Trembly 5 5-9 17, Dayten Wishon 6 0-1 13, Chris Childress 5 0-0 12, Bailey Soulé 2 3-4 7, Chace Austin 1 0-0 3, Colby McCarthey 1 1-2 3, Josh Dodge 1 0-0 2, Brayden Trembly 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 11-18 59. Prairie Grove (11-9, 8-3): Will Pridmore 9 8-9 31, D.J. Pearson 3 1-3 9, John David Elder 3 1-2 7, James Millwood 2 0-0 4, Riley Rhodes 1 0-0 3, Demarkus Cooper 1 0-2 2, Anthony Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 11-22 57.

3-Point Goals — Prairie Grove 8 (Pridmore 5, Pearson 2, Rhodes). Gravette 6 (Kelton Trembly 2, Childress 2, Austin, Wishon).