Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Breaks Down West Fork Defense
WEST FORK — Prairie Grove built a 16-point lead after three quarters and staved off West Fork’s full-court press to record a 4A/3A District-1, 60-50, win Dec. 6.
Both teams experienced starters getting into foul trouble, but West Fork (6-2) isn’t as deep as Prairie Grove (2-2) and didn’t play as effectively without Dalton Hays, who led West Fork to a Decatur Invitational tournament title over Mountainburg, 61-47, Dec. 3 with 19 points and 12 rebounds. At home Dec. 6, Hays committed two fouls in the first two minutes, then checked back in at the quarter break with Prairie Grove ahead, 12-8, and committed his third foul after a West Fork turnover. Prairie Grove’s Will Pridmore converted a layup and added a free throw on the play to push the visitors to a 22-10 lead capping a 10-2 run over the first 2:03 of the second quarter.
West Fork responded with a 9-1 run of their own without Hays, trimming Prairie Grove’s lead to 23-19 when Brenon Burks stole an outlet pass and found Justin Bivens for a layup. Prairie Grove rallied with a 10-2 spurt to finish out the first half. Pridmore had a bucket erased, but converted both shots of a 1-and-1. Taylor Moore saw an opening and drove for an easy score. Nick Pohlman hit a 15-feet jumper. Pridmore scored again, then fans began screaming after a Prairie Grove blocked-shot turned into another possession capitalized on with Pohlman pulling up to knock down another shot.
Prairie Grove held a 33-21 halftime advantage and they upped the margin in the third. Cameron Simmons hit a floater in the paint set up by Pridmore’s drive and Moore cut for a layup on a feed by D.J. Pearson prompting West Fork coach Cody Vaught to take time-out after Burks hit another 3-pointer narrowing Prairie Grove’s lead to 37-29 with five-and-a-half minutes to go in the third.
“Don’t let him catch the ball,” Vaught said, urging his players to contest an entry pass into the post.
Despite Vaught’s strategy, Prairie Grove finished the quarter on a 13-5 run. Simmons passed out of a trap in the left corner, then hustled to put in a miss. West Fork’s Jeff Treat hooked his man and turned inside for a layup. Pohlman scored on a second-chance opportunity and Pridmore drained a trifecta. With the intensity of the game picking up and more energy from the fans, Prairie Grove extended and held onto the lead even when Simmons went to the bench with his fourth foul and starting forward Braden Risner limped off with an injury.
Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston said Risner was examined by the trainer and may only have a severe case of shin splints.
“He did a good job for me,” Edmiston said. “We’re playing a lot of young, inexperienced guys. Our football guys started practicing yesterday.”
Isaac Disney, DeMarkus Cooper, J.D. Elder, Anthony Johnson and Zeke Laird will add more firepower and depth to a varsity basketball squad that is already deep.
Pearson’s defensive rebound started a fast-break with him clearing the ball to Pohlman near midcourt, who found Pridmore running the floor for a layup. The play epitomized Prairie Grove’s ability to execute in a fullcourt game and allowed Edmiston to substitute liberally with a 56-39 lead with 5:44 remaining.
“We did a pretty good job of handling their pressure,” Edmiston said while noting Prairie Grove hasn’t competed in the West Fork gym in quite awhile due to West Fork being in 3A until this school year.
“We haven’t been here much the last five or six years,” Edmiston said. “Overall, we did a good job of handling their pressure.”