Prairie Grove Downs Pea Ridge En Route To District Title

FARMINGTON — On their way to winning the district boys basketball tournament, Prairie Grove held off Pea Ridge, 44-41, in a down-to-the-wire second-round at Farmington on Feb. 20.

Logan Rose’s 3- pointer tied the game at 41-41 with 2: 17 to go but Pea Ridge missed a pair of 3- pointers that would have forced overtime in the waning seconds after Prairie Grove took a 3-point lead.

Ty Tice hit a free-throw to break the tie and then grabbed the rebound after the Tigers’ big man, 6-foot7, Dylan Soehner, blocked a Pea Ridge shot. Tice pushed the ball up the floor quickly and found Leighton Smith going in for a bucket to give Prairie Grove a 44-41 advantage with 45 seconds to go.

The Blackhawks could not come up with a bucket and were eliminated.

First year Pea Ridge coach Trent Lloyd was disappointed with the outcome but not with the effort of his team.

“They did that all year. They competed their hearts out. This group right here has laid the foundation for years to come. They showed how to defend and how to run an offense. They left it all out there,” Lloyd said. “They defended their tails off. I couldn’t be more proud of this group of boys.”

“This is a tough league. It’s an honor to be a part of this league and coach in this league.”

Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston was catching his breath after the nail-biting game.

“This is the third one of those we’ve had. The first time we beat them by five in overtime and the second time Pea Ridge beat us by two. It’s kind of a weird matchup. They have their guards and we kind of have the size advantage.”

Pea Ridge built a fivepoint lead in the third quarter, going up, 26-21, on a Davis 3-pointer and score coming across the lane but Prairie Grove notched the final five points of the period to forge a 26- 26 deadlock going into the fourth.

From there on the game was close all the way. Soehner scored on a lob for Prairie Grove while Wyatt Holtgrewe hit a trey and added a putback giving Pea Ridge a 31- 28 lead but Smith’s trifecta tied the game. He hit another 3- pointer at the 3: 15 mark but Holtgrewe got to the hoop and tied the game at 38-all.

Soehner’s 3- point play inside gave Prairie Grove back the lead before Rose’s game- tying trey set the stage for the climatic final two minutes.

With the loss Pea Ridge was eliminated while Prairie Grove advanced to a semifinal meeting with top-seed Lincoln.

DISTRICT FIRST-ROUND BOYS – PRAIRIE GROVE 44, PEA RIDGE 41

Pea Ridge 5 9 12 15 — 41 Prairie Grove 8 7 11 18 — 44 Pea Ridge (14-13) Zach Davis 5 2-2 15, Wyatt Holtgrewe 3 0-0 7, Gage Kelso 3 0-0 7, Logan Rose 2 0-0 5, Tristan Trundle 2 0-0 4, Blake Sheppard 1 0-1 3. Totals 16 2-5 41. Prairie Grove (44) Leighton Smith 6 0-1 16, Dylan Soehner 6 1-1 13, Jacob Storlie 0 5-5 5, Parker Galligan 2 1-2 5, Ty Tice 1 1-2 3, Tanner Pursell 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-11 44.

Three-point goals — Pea Ridge 7 (Davis 3, Kelso, Rose, Holtgrewe, Sheppard). Prairie Grove – 4 (Smith 4).

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Ty Tice explodes to the basket using his quickness to score against Pea Ridge. Tice scored 3 points during Prairie Grove’s 44-41 first-round win over Pea Ridge en route to winning the District tournament held at Farmington in February.