Prairie Grove Boys Win Opener Against Elkins

GROVE – Prairie Grove won its seasonopener on the road in boys basketball by posting a 46-35 nonconference win at Elkins on Nov. 17.

Elkins led 12-11 after the first quarter, but in the second quarter Sloan Smith anticipated a pass, broke on the ball and found himself in the open court with nobody to guard the rim for Elkins so he dunked.

“I just got the fast break and then I saw the defender on my right side so I figured I couldn’t go up with my right. Then I just came with my momentum and went up with my left hand,” Smith said. “I usually don’t dunk with my left hand. I get more momentum going up on my left. I get higher with my left hand so I figured that was my best chance of dunking it.”

The right-handed Smith gathered himself and threw down a left-handed power jam, the highlight of his 19 points for the Tigers in leading Prairie Grove to a nonconference, 46-35, road win to start the season Tuesday, Nov. 17.

“It got the momentum going before the half ended,” Smith said.

His teammates fed off that energy. The Tigers outscored the home team 11-4 in the second quarter to take a 22-16 halftime lead.

“We were all jumping. We were ready to go. It made us [excited]. We were here and then we went up,” said Ethan Gross. “He’d be practicing and we’re like, “Man, you’re throwing it down with your left and with your right. That’s crazy, dude.’ It was great to see him get up there. It hypes us up so much.”

Blake Gardner added a pair of early 3-pointers and chipped in 16 points for the Tigers, who outscored the Elks 13-6 in the third. Gross also drained a trey.

“We were feeling the rhythm, we were jelling up together, we came out. Blake his his three and I hit my three and we were just doing it,” Gross said. “It felt OK and we just felt really good about it.”

Elkins challenged the Tigers late, outscoring Prairie Grove 13-11 in the fourth, but the Tigers regrouped and held off the Elks.

“We had a decent lead, but then they started coming back in the fourth quarter, but we put it away after that,” Smith said.