Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Pea Ridge closes out Tiger boys
PRAIRIE GROVE —Bric Cates sank a pair of free throws, then stole the ball and took it in for a layup to seal Pea Ridge’s 54-44 win at Prairie Grove in 4A-1 boys basketball action Friday at Tiger Arena.
Cates finished with 17 points to lead all scorers while Zion Whitmore and Josh Turner tossed in 12 apiece for the Blackhawks.
Both coaches attributed the outcome to Pea Ridge’s efforts on defense, and ability to maintain just enough of a cushion that Prairie Grove couldn’t overtake at the end.
The Blackhawks stayed between their man and the basket, disrupting the Tigers’ half-court sets, forcing Prairie Grove to deep into the shot clock and at one point causing a shot clock violation with a blocked 3-point attempt.
“We did a good job defensively for the most part all game. We’ve got to tighten some stuff up. This time of year is when you’re really trying to fine tune the details. I’m just proud of the way our guys found a way to win down the stretch, made some plays offensively to kind of keep them at arm’s length away,” Loyd said.
Prairie Grove junior Eric Henderson’s trey pulled the Tigers within 46-40 at the 3:43 mark of the fourth and the Tigers had a chance to get closer when Whitmore turned the ball over on a charging foul. Sam Kidd got an offensive rebound, but the Tigers couldn’t make the front end of a 1-and-1.
Whitmore attoned for the miscue with a big bucket going left-handed down the lane to push the lead back to eight. Henderson cut it to 48-42 by finishing a drive left and switching to his right hand to score.
The teams traded baskets again with Turner getting to the hoop before Cole Edmiston scored off a back cut for the Tigers, slicing the lead to 50-44 with 1:54 remaining.
Prairie Grove wouldn’t find the basket again and Cates scored the last four points of the game for Pea Ridge
“They [Pea Ridge] defended really well. The big thing I think was the free throw shooting. If we can keep that game closer, we pretty much spent the whole night we were down three or four scores, where I think if we can get that thing to one or two scores they tighten up a little bit and maybe it makes a difference, but we’ve got to execute from the free-throwline,” said Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston.
The Tigers finished 4-for10 at the charity stripe while Pea Ridge was 6-for-11.
“I thought we had some really good looks inside and out that I think if we knock those down [we’re in the game]. But that’s the name of the game, you get those open looks, you got to knock those down and get points and we didn’t,” Steve Edmiston said.
Pea Ridge led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. Prairie Grove lowered that to 27-23 at the half.
One play Tiger fans can celebrate came with the first half winding down. Austin Henry got a 3-point shot up in the corner. It didn’t fall, but sophomore Alex Abshier put the rebound in the basket at the buzzer.
“Plays like that are huge when you can get them at the end of quarters or the end of halves where you try to carry that momentum into that next quarter or that next half and so that was big for us. It’s just a matter of not giving up on the play and fighting until you do hear that horn. That was huge for us, we just got to have more of those,” Steve Edmiston said.
Pea Ridge got the margin back to six, leading 40-34 at the end of the third quarter.
The teams could have a rematch Wednesday, Feb. 15 in the second-round of the 4A-1 District tournament at Berryville if Prairie Grove beats Shiloh Christian on Tuesday. Pea Ridge took the No. 3 seed for the boys. The Blackhawks play at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“Defensively, we broke down a little bit. They’re real good as far as getting to the basket. Zion Whitmore and Bric Cates, they’re quick and they get to the hole really well but I thought that overall defensively we did well. We kind of compare the first go-around to this one. It’s a better game this time. I felt like we were in it much more so than last time so right now we’re just trying to create some confidence and momentum going into next week in the tournament,” Steve Edmiston said.