Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Player’s Wish Comes True On Valentine’s Day
GREGSON NAILS SHOT AFTER FARMINGTON GIVES HIM SECOND CHANCE
PRAIRIE GROVE — McKay Gregson has always dreamed of hitting a 3-point shot at the buzzer and in the midst of a heated basketball rivalry his wish came true on Valentine’s Day
McKay, a Prairie Grove senior with special needs, maximized his opportunity.
Inserted by Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston with 6.7 seconds to go and trailing arch-rival Farmington by nine points, the last shot was his to take but his 3-pointer from the right wing bounced out. The rebound landed in the hands of 6-foot-3 Farmington junior Jeremy Mueller, who, without hesitation, threw a pass back to McKay and the Tigers’ basketball manager fired again. This time the 3-point shot went in as the final horn sounded and McKay was swarmed by players from both teams and fans.
“I was thrilled for him and the reaction of our student body, they loved it, too,” Edmiston said. “There’s not a bigger fan of Prairie Grove basketball than McKay is. I want to thank Farmington and their players. Some things in life are more important than wins and losses.”
“It’s just a very special moment,” said McKay’s father, Lynn Gregson. “These two communities have a great rivalry but they have a lot of respect for each other. Even the kids from Farmington I could hear them cheering, ‘Put McKay in, put McKay in.’”
Farmington coach Beau Thompson described Mueller as a true point guard and a true ball distributor running the Cardinal offense and he had no objections to the assist dished out to an opponent on Valentine’s Day.
“We’ve had some great kids at Farmington and Jeremy Mueller ranks right up there as one of the best,” Thompson said. “There are no character flaws in that kid. I tell you, I didn’t have to tell him to do that.”
In a game where hard fouls were common and tumbles to the hardwood plentiful, Mueller made the play of the game with an outright act of sportsmanship involving the entire Farmington team and a showcase of precise execution by Prairie Grove.
“I just decided to do it. I thought it would be awesome for the guy,” Mueller said. “I wanted to make it happen for this guy. I wanted him to have the best senior night he could ever have.”
McKay checked in at the scorer’s table and after receiving congratulations from Derek Arguello, whom he replaced in the lineup, and Prairie Grove point guard Ty Tice; started towards the time-line on the left side. Tice quickly redirected McKay into the front court; where, with help from Edmiston, who was standing just a few feet away on the Prairie Grove bench, went to his spot near the top-of-thekey on the right wing.
All five Cardinal defenders, Mueller, Blaise Albright, Skyler Barnes, Mac Spears and Matt Thomas, camped in the key and made no effort to guard McKay on the perimeter nor pressure the ball as Tice carefully watched over the in-bounds pass from Parker Galligan at the far end rolling across the time line and into the front court preserving precious seconds.
In fact, Galligan rolled the ball with such purpose that racing up-court to get in on the play he easily crossed half-court at the same time as the ball.
Then, in a flash, Tice scooped up the ball and deftly fed McKay where he was set up. McKay took two steps backwards after his first 3- point attempt so he was actually in NBA 3-point range when Mueller’s pass came back to him. With the game clock rapidly expiring, McKay squared up and launched a perfect rainbow that swished the net to the delight of the capacity crowd.
Prairie Grove junior Tanner Pursell, who transferred from Farmington after his freshman year and remains close friends with Mueller, had high praises for Mueller’s consideration.
“I think it’s awesome that he did that. Even though the game is super intense, it just shows that everyone has love for each other. We’re all from the same community and we’ve always got each other’s backs.”
Galligan thinks despite the loss to the Cardinals in the regular season finale, momentum from McKay’s shot may carry over into the district tournament to be played at Farmington this week.
“He wants it more than anyone else on the team. It was the most special thing I’ve ever seen.”
McKay also thinks his 3-point field goal will have a lasting effect, saying he was surprised when Mueller passed the ball back to him.
“I will never forget the shot. Even though we lost, it’s OK. We’re still a great team and we can pull it off in the district tournament.”
The final score of Farmington 64, Prairie Grove 58 was almost irrelevant when compared to the moment at hand.
“That’s something you see on ESPN that they talk about,” said Prairie Grove girls basketball coach Kevin Froud. “It’s just sportsmanship. It was a big classy play on the Farmington player’s part to throw the ball back to him. McKay, he shoots all the time so his form is pretty much perfect. It puts the score and games and everything in perspective.”