Regional Exit Overshadows Tiger Defense

PRAIRIE GROVE BOYS FINISH 10-3 SINCE MID-JANUARY

PRAIRIE GROVE — Pottsville got the lucky break it needed to shake Prairie Grove, 40-36, in Thursday’s 4A North Regional boys basketball at Berryville with time rapidly running down near the last minute in overtime.

Teammates, Elijah Bradley and Trey Thurman, combined for 4 points in 4 seconds breaking Pottsville away from a tie and giving the Apaches a 38-34 lead with 1:17 remaining in overtime.

The play before that was wrapped in controversy.

Prairie Grove’s Sloan Smith drew his fifth foul trying to guard Thurman. Thurman was allowed to attempt the first free throw which was good with Smith still on the court — then the horn sounded and officials ushered Smith off.

Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston protested but the free throw stood and Thurman made the second giving the Apaches a one-point edge, 34-33. Senior Blake Gardner knotted the score at 34-all with a free throw marking the fifth tie in a game which also featured 12 lead changes.

Bradley’s driving bucket with 1:21 left drew another Tiger foul, but his free throw was no good. Thurman came up with the offensive rebound and put back the miss for a 38-34 Apache lead.

The Apaches made just 5-of-11 free throws in overtime and that almost cost them. After an 0-2 trip to the foul line, Pottsville blocked a Tiger jump-shot, but Prairie Grove pulled down the rebound and Noah Ceniceros’ bank in traffic scoring on a hotly-contested shot drew the Tigers within 38-36 with 19.3 seconds to go.

Kade Mainhart sank two free throws with 16.4 seconds left giving the Apaches a four-point cushion. Prairie Grove suffered a crucial turnover but the Apaches couldn’t put the game away — missing another pair of free throws with 7.4 seconds showing, but time finally ran out on the Tigers’ season, one win short of qualifying for this week’s State 4A tournament at Farmington.

Pottsville jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but John Mayers knocked down a deep triple to make the score, 8-6, after one period of play. The spectacular 3-point field goal became part of a 13-2 Tiger run over a 6:26 span and pushed Prairie Grove ahead, 15-10.

Mayers took a steal hard to the basket and slipped in between two retreating defenders. Jake Webb scored on the baseline with a power move. Smith added a 3-pointer and Webb fought hard to get his own miss and put the ball back in the hoop.

Pottsville answered with a 7-0 mini run to regain the lead, 17-15, at halftime, but had to withstand two Prairie Grove shots in the closing 2.7 seconds of the first half when the Tigers in-bounded underneath their own basket.

Overshadowed in the loss was a marvelous Prairie Grove defensive effort. Steve Edmiston acknowledged a superb performance in guarding Pottsville’s two threats. The Apaches made only a single 3-pointer.

“Our backbone this year was defense. Kade Mainhart (4 field

goals, 13 points) and Matthew Moore (1 field goal, 2 points) are two of the best shooters we’re ever going to play,” Steve Edmiston said.

In the final analysis, turnovers doomed the Tigers with Pottsville getting just enough layups off steals to eke out a four-point win.

“We didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball. We just saw a 1-3-1 (trapping defense),” Steve Edmiston said, referring to the Tigers’ rout of Shiloh Christian in the District 4A-1 consolation game the previous week.

“That ( 1- 3- 1) was not as good as theirs,” Steve Edmiston said. “I can’t fault their effort to get where we were from a month-and-ahalf ago. It will take a little while, but we will look back and see what we accomplished this season.”

Ten of the Tigers’ 16 wins occurred since Jan. 14 with only three losses in that time frame. Alex Edmiston and John Mayers scored 8 points apiece to lead the Tigers with Webb adding 7 and Smith, 5. The loss meant no team representing the 4A-1 Conference qualified for state.

POTTSVILLE 40, PRAIRIE GROVE 36 (OT)

Prairie Grove 6 9 5 11 5— 36 Pottsville 8 9 2 12 9— 40 Prairie Grove (16-13): Alex Edmiston 3 1-2 8, John Mayers 3 1-2 8, Jake Webb 3 1-3 7, Sloan Smith 1 2-2 5, Noah Ceniceros 2 2-2 6, Carl Von Bergon 0 1-2 1, Blake Gardner 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 9-15 36. Pottsville: (9-12): Kade Mainhart 4 5-6 13, Trey Thurman 2 6-10 10, Quinn Lee 2 2-2 6, Elijah Bradley 2 0-1 4, Zachary Byrum 1 0-0 3, Matthew Moore 1 0-2 2, Cache Linker 0 2-2 2. Totals 12 15-23 40. 3-Point Goals — Pottsville 1 (Byrum). Prairie Grove 3 (Alex Edmiston, Mayers, Smith).

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove boys basketball coach Steve Edmiston coached his son, Alex (No. 33), a senior, for the final time during Alex’s high school career Thursday at Berryville’s Bobcat Arena. The Tigers lost a heartbreaker, 40-36, in overtime to Pottsville which eliminated them from postseason play.