Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Tigers Lose District Semifinal To Pea Ridge
CONFERENCE TOURNEY BOYS SEMIFINAL
PRAIRIE GROVE — Pea Ridge heated up from 3-point range hitting eight 3- point shots on the way to beating Prairie Grove, 40-28, Thursday, Feb. 27, in a District 4A-1 semifinal.
Playing for the third straight night in the tournament took its toll. Turnovers hurt the Tigers in the opening quarter. After taking a 4-0 lead, on baskets by Noah Ceniceros and John Mayers, Prairie Grove allowed Pea Ridge to score the next 7 points all by Noah Peterson including a 3-pointer that put the Blackhawks ahead, 7-4, after the first.
“Defensively, I thought we played well, but offensively just struggled again. We have those nights and sometimes defense will not overcome your offensive deficiencies,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston. “Tonight, we just didn’t shoot well. Pea Ridge goes a good job. They were long on the inside, good guard play.”
The Blackhawks made a trio of treys in a 1:45 span of the second quarter to gain separation in a low- scoring game. The Blackhawks added three more trifectas in the third period to open up a 27-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Prairie Grove fought back reducing a 32-19 deficit to 36-25 at the 3:48 mark following consecutive buckets by Alex Edmiston. Pea Ridge ran the clock down to inside two minutes and Prairie Grove was a long way from the penalty having only three team fouls when Pea Ridge extended the lead to 38-25 on Noah Peterson’s hoop.
Alex Edmiston, John Mayers, and Noah Ceniceros scored six points apiece for Prairie Grove. The loss sent the Tigers into the District 4A-1 consolation game Saturday versus Shiloh Christian, which entered the tournament seeded No. 1 in the East Division, but was upset by Berryville, 64-46, in the other semifinal.
Peterson topped the Blackhawks with 16 points, which represented the lone double figure scorer for the game. Pea Ridge advanced into the district championship against Berryville.
All four schools qualify for this week’s 4A North Regional hosted by Berryville.
“Defensively, I was pleased. Offensively, we just had one of those nights where we didn’t shoot it well, couldn’t score it and basically took a loss. You give up 40 points, you hope that’s enough, but tonight it wasn’t,” Steve Edmiston said. “We still got plenty of opportunity, got at least two more (games). We’re in the Regional so just got to come back Saturday. We got to understand that’s an important game for us. We got to get ready to play next Wednesday or Thursday.”
PEA RIDGE 40, PRAIRIE GROVE 28
Prairie Grove 4 6 7 11 — 28 Pea Ridge 7 9 11 13 — 40 Prairie Grove (15-12, 7-5): Alex Edmiston 2 2-2 6, John Mayers 3 0-0 6, Noah Ceniceros 3 0-0 6, Sloan Smith 2 0-0 4, Carl Von Bergen 1 0-0 3, Blake Gardner 1 0-0 3, Totals 12 2-2 28. Pea Ridge (21-4, 12-0): Noah Peterson 7 0-0 16, Brandon Whatley 3 0-0 7, Jared Brewer 2 0-0 6, Greydon Edwards 2 0-0 6, Hunter Rains 1 0-0 3, Wes Wales 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 0-0 40. 3-Point Goals — Pea Ridge 8 (Edwards 2, Peterson 2, Brewer 2, Rains, Whatley), Prairie Grove 2 (Von Bergen, Gardner).