Gravette thwarts Prairie Grove
GRAVETTE — A technical foul compounded a disastrous Tiger first quarter in which Gravette built an 18-5 lead en route to a 54-40 victory over Prairie Grove on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Kelton Trembly’s reputation as a slam-dunker may have stimulated Prairie Grove athletes to showcase their slam capabilities during pre-game warm-ups which netted them a technical foul. Trembly dunked six times at Lincoln the previous week and, although the 6-3 senior never got that opportunity against Prairie Grove, he did cash in by making 2-of-2 technical foul shots, then stroked a 3-pointer after the Lions inbounded the ball to start the game.
Kelton Trembly says he has no favorite dunk.
“It doesn’t really matter to me as long as it goes in,” Kelton Trembly said while trying to describe the feeling.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a huge adrenalin rush. It gets everybody going.”
Gravette coach Matt Busch downplays the significance, yet admits, “I like it when he does it, but I also like it when he puts the ball in the hole in other ways, too. A dunk is only worth two points, threes are more.”
Two quick baskets by Bailey Soule and a pull-up by Chace Austin opened up an 11-0 lead for the Lions. D.J. Pearson broke the run with a 3-pointer for Prairie Grove, 5:18 into the first quarter, but Austin answered with a trey for Gravette. He then hit a free-throw line jumper. Pearson got a second basket for Prairie Grove when J.D. Elder stole a Lion outlet pass. Kelton Trembly elevated and stuck an 18-foot baseline jumper to give the Lions a 13-point lead going into the second quarter.
“It was a bad start for us to start the game like that,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston. “We talk about paying attention to the referees. They get free throws, then inbound the basketball. It hurt spotting them five points right off the bat. If you look at it from the second quarter on, it was a pretty even game.”
From that juncture on, Gravette held a slim 3635 edge in points with a 2-point advantage in the fourth. The Lions hit 8-of10 free throws in the final period. The Tigers weren’t getting to the rack. Anthony Johnson, Will Pridmore and Demarkus Cooper sank 3-pointers, but Prairie Grove had no buckets in the paint down the stretch.
“Our guys did a good job on defense,” Busch said. “We focused on a lot of things on Prairie Grove and their players. Outside of three possessions when we failed, we did a really good job of guarding them.”
Gravette began the quarter with Dayten Wishon’s 3-pointer. The 6-4 senior used a behind-the-back dribble to slip down the lane for a layup. Brayden Trembly had 4 points in the last 2:57, including a slashing finish while driving from the corner. Wishon led a balanced Lion offense with 17 points. Kelton Trembly added 11.
“We kind of predicate our offense on spacing and ball movement,” Busch said. “We did a good job of driving and making the right pass.”
Edmiston said the Lions are too talented at all positions to give that many points early, while the Tigers are still showing flashes of potential — Pridmore (14 points) and Pearson (13) combined for six 3-pointers.
“There’s still time, but the clock is always ticking,” Edmiston said. “I don’t think there’s any quit in this bunch. We’re going to stick with it.”
Gravette 54, Prairie Grove 40
In other action last week, the Gravette Lions defeated Crane, Mo., in tournament play on Saturday by a score of 7859. On Friday, the Lions traveled to Elkins and defeated the Elkins Elks in conference play, 6257. Game stats for those games were not available at press deadlines on Monday.