Preserving The Atmosphere

TIGER HOOPS COACHES EAGER TO BREAK IN NEW GYM

PRAIRIE GROVE — Tiger basketball will have a new home for the 2014-2015 school year with the completion of Prairie Grove’s new competitive arena.

Head boys basketball coach Steve Edmiston could scarcely contain his enthusiasm as both he and girls coach Kevin Froud look forward to breaking in the facility.

“We’ll still have some cosmetic things to take care of but we should be in there by the time the school year starts,” Edmiston said. “We have dual projects going on with the elementary school. They have got to get those teachers in there by the time school starts but I think we’re on schedule. Everything is looking really, really good.”

“Kevin and I are excited about it. It’s going to be everything we wanted it to be. Of course we wanted to have a modern facility but we wanted to keep the atmosphere.”

Froud agrees with Edmiston’s evaluation of the ongoing construc- tion progress.

“I think it will preserve the atmosphere. Personally, I think it will be one of the best places around the state to watch a game. It has a home feel to it. There is a gigantic student section. It’s going to be a great facility to watch a high school basketball game.”

For Edmiston the other thing to keep in mind is Prairie Grove basketball is going to utilize the new gym for a long time, noting the old gym has played host for basketball competition over 40 years.

“The way they built it will allow that [longevity],” Edmiston said.

“Just like any team, we’ll have to do a lot of shooting in the facility because we have one goal out there without any back depth to it,” Froud said.

That is a factor which affects some teams during postseason when they play in a bigger arena and the depth perception is different for 3- point shooters accustomed to having a wall behind the goal. Yet, true shooters adapt and can fill up the hoop once they get their hand-eye coordination oriented. This has been a big part of Prairie Grove’s game for both the boys and girls.

Edmiston has a factor on his team which he freely admits can’t be coached — size, in the form of 6-feet-7, 265 pound center Dylan Soehner. As a sophomore Soehner was named MVP by the Enterprise-Leader of the 4A-1 District tournament won by Prairie Grove two years ago at Farmington’s Meryl Massie Gynmasium. Since then Farmington has a new Cardinal Arena that was not ready in time for the nonconference rivalry games against Prairie Grove last season. This coming school year, the rivalry will take on a whole new look with both schools sporting new gyms. Soehner will be a senior this fall and looking to leave his stamp on the rivalry.

“I know he’s not a full- time basketball player but I’m glad that he comes out for basketball,” Edmiston said. “I think there are some things that he can do in

basketball. I think that it’s going to help him maybe not directly but at least indirectly in his football career.”

Last season Prairie Grove was supposed to host the District 4A-1 basketball tournament but according to Edmiston changed up the rotation with Shiloh Christian hosting the tournament because the Tigers were looking to the future.

“We knew were getting a new gym. Now, this year being the first year in this gym we’ll go ahead and host it,” Edmiston said.

Froud sees playing in the new gym as a motivating factor.

“The girls have a mindset they can accomplish a lot of things in this facility, that’s kind of their driving motivation,” Froud said. “Then we have seniors wanting to leave their legacy. They saw what they were able to accomplish last year. This year there is going to be more expected of them and with our summer camps they are starting to realize that.”