PRAIRIE GROVE -- John Mayers stood near midcourt and dribbled out the final seconds for Prairie Grove before letting out a sigh of relief at the final horn.
Then the celebration began.
Prairie Grove is headed to regionals after beating Huntsville 44-32 in an elimination game Wednesday at the 4A-1 Conference Tournament at Tiger Arena. Sloan Smith scored 14 points for Prairie Grove, which roared ahead 17-2 early in the second quarter.
Huntsville got to within five points in the second quarter before Prairie Grove took control again to win the game and qualify for next week's 4A North Regional at Berryville. It will be the first appearance in a regional tournament in five years for Prairie Grove, which rallied to beat Harrison on Tuesday before taking down Huntsville on Wednesday.
"A month ago, we were sitting at 6 and 11," Prairie Grove coach Steve Edmiston said. "We hit a little run and, at this point, I think we've won nine of our last 11. It's just a matter of playing with confidence and catching momentum at the right time. Everybody wants to be playing their best at this time of year, and I think that's where we're at."
In girls action Wednesday, Pea Ridge beat Berryville 52-51 in overtime and Gravette downed Huntsville 44-39 to each secure regional berths. Semifinal action begins today with Pea Ridge playing Farmington in a girls' game at 4 p.m. The Pea Ridge boys will face Prairie Grove at 5:30, followed by a girls game between Harrison and Gravette at 7 p.m. A boys game between Shiloh Christian and the winner of the late Wednesday game between Farmington and Berryville is set for 8:30 p.m.
Prairie Grove's game with Huntsville (17-10) was a rematch from Valentines' Day when the Eagles edged the Tigers 53-51 at home. But the stakes were much higher Wednesday and Prairie Grove got off to a fast start with a 17-2 lead after Noah Ceniceros scored early in the second quarter.
All five starters contributed baskets in the first half for the Tigers, led by Carl Von Bergen with seven points.
"This year, we've been notoriously slow starters and we've worked our way from behind," Edmiston said. "It was so imperative we get off to a fast start. I thought we clicked from the word go, defensively, and, offensively, we got a little loose. We knew Huntsville would come back, and they did. But we were able to hang on for the next three quarters."
Huntsville finally showed some life in the second quarter after making only one basket in the first quarter. The spurt was led by Kent Mayes, who drove the baseline for two points then connected on a 3-pointer to pull Huntsville to within 21-16.
Prairie Grove (15-11) answered with five straight points to take a 26-16 lead at the half and the Tigers maintained an 8-10-point lead for most of the second half.
"Tonight wasn't a great offensive night," Edmiston said. "But pairing our defense with our offense, I thought we were pretty solid."
Huntsville 2 14 9 7 -- 32
Prairie Grove 15 11 9 9 -- 44
Huntsville (17-10): Davidson 11, Mayes 8, Dotson 7, Sisk 3, Reynolds 2, McDaniel 1.
Prairie Grove (15-11): Smith 14, Edmiston 10, Ceniceros 8, Von Bergen 7, Webb 3, Mayers 2.
Preps Sports on 02/20/2020