With late basket, Tigers edge Lions at home, 52-50
GRAVETTE — Prairie Grove sophomore Jace Edwards beat his man, faked to draw Gravette’s Kais Patton off his feet, and laid the ball in for the winning basket in the Tigers’ 52-50 win Friday.
“The thing I liked was once he got to the basket, his composure kind of kicked in. He let that big boy elevate, let him come down, and then got the easy pick. That’s something that’s hard to coach. You just have it, it’s ingrained in you, and so just for him to be able to make that play for us was huge,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston.
Edwards then successfully defended a last-second 3-point attempt by Gravette’s Gunnar Woolard. The Lions called time-out with 4.2 seconds to go and in-bounded at the far end. Woolard raced into the front court, guarded by Edwards. The sophomore didn’t foul, yet got a hand in Woolard’s face to contest the desperation shot that was off the mark as the final horn sounded on a Tiger spoiler, knocking off Gravette on its home court.
Gravette coach Matt Busch wouldn’t say whether or not the Lions expected Edwards to be the “go-to” option for the Tigers but complimented the Prairie Grove sophomore on his execution in crunch time.
“Edwards did a great job,” Busch said.
The bucket spoiled a 31-point outing by Gravette sharpshooter Woolard.
“We love Gunnar, we’re glad he’s on our team,” Busch said. “It’s not a lack of playing hard. We just didn’t execute tonight, and our rust was just a little rustier than it looked like theirs was,” Busch said. “Just a lot of rust. We both did, but our rust showed a little more than theirs did.”
Edwards played one of the best games of his varsity career. He scored the Tigers’ first basket on a 3-pointer nearly two-anda-half minutes into the contest that broke an 8-0 Lion run. Edwards’ trifecta kick-started a 14-5 Tiger run that erased a 13-12 deficit at the end of the first quarter 12 seconds into the second period.
Twice in the first quarter, Prairie Grove’s leading scorer, Eric Henderson, was called for charging fouls. He had buckets taken away by both calls, prompting Tiger coach Steve Edmiston to initiate a dialogue with the referees during the quarter break. There were two ties and four lead changes in the second quarter as the teams battled. Woolard’s trey gave the Lions a 19-16 lead.
Henderson called for a screen and successfully drove the lane to make it a one-point game. Ben Munoz pivoted to get a Lion bucket in the paint, but another Tiger sophomore, Alex Abshier, nailed a trifecta with no hesitation, evening the score at 21-21. Gravette again fashioned a 3-point lead, but Edwards took a handoff and scored in the lane for the Tigers. Sam Kidd took a steal to the hoop. His layup clanged off, but Cole Edmiston cleaned up the miss to push Prairie Grove ahead, 25-24.
Woolard, who had 18 points in the first half, slashed to the hoop, and Gravette owned a 26-25 advantage. Tate Benoit countered by getting a step on his man and drawing a foul. He made both free throws to lift Prairie Grove to a 2726 lead at intermission.
Woolard’s acrobatic reverse lay-in moving right to left across the baseline was disallowed because of a violation at the 5:41 mark of the third.
“It’s unfortunate that it got taken away. Gunnar’s special, he’s got a chance to be the guy every night,” Busch said.
Woolard replicated the move after snagging an offensive rebound in the right corner 2:36 later. This time it counted, and Will Betz followed with a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 Lion mini-run.
Cole Edmiston interrupted the Lion spree by busting a triple for the Tigers. Woolard recorded the last five points of the period, using a lateral dribble to free himself up for an 18-footer and sank a three to provide Gravette a 44-38 cushion going into the fourth quarter.
Prairie Grove cinched up its defense, holding Gravette to six points in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Lions hung onto the lead for most of the quarter.
Edwards began a series of heroic shots by the Tigers. He tracked down his own missed three from the corner and laid the rebound in. Woolard put the Lions back up by six, at 48-42, but Prairie Grove wouldn’t go away.
Kidd drew the defense, then passed off to Cole Edmiston for a layup. Gravette’s last bucket came from Patton in the paint at the 2:58 mark. In a span of 44 seconds, Henderson drilled a pair of 3-pointers to knot the score at 50-50 with 1:44 remaining.
The Lions missed a layup while inbounding under their own basket, and Cole Edmiston cleared a big defensive rebound for the Tigers with a minute-and-ahalf left. His father, Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston, took a time-out with 1:06 on the clock. Henderson got off another three, but it rimmed out.
Gravette tried to retake the lead, with Patton claiming two offensive rebounds. None of the Lions’ shots would fall, and the rebound eventually was lost out of bounds to Prairie Grove. The Tigers weren’t settled, and Steve Edmiston again called time to set up a play.
“He’s a sophomore, I tell him earlier in the game, he’s just got to play with a little more confidence. He was a little tentative on a couple of those other opportunities he had, but when it came down to it, he knew ‘I need to make a play right here,’ and he just got downhill,” Steve Edmiston said.
With the Lions concentrating on Henderson, Cole Edmiston set a screen up high for Edwards, who drove the lane. Patton came out to challenge him, but Edwards got him to leave his feet with a pump fake, then laid the ball in with 5.2 seconds remaining.
Prairie Grove fans went delirious, celebrating the clutch field goal that gave the Tigers a 52-50 lead.
Busch got a time-out, preserving 4.2 seconds, but Woolard’s 3-point attempt was no good at the buzzer, and the Tigers stole a road victory.