SPRINGDALE -- After surviving with a 59-48 win over Gentry on Thursday, Prairie Grove boys head coach Steve Edmiston could relax a little and breath a sigh of relief.
The No. 3 seed Tigers clinched the coveted trip to regionals with the win over the No. 6 seed Pioneers at the 4A-1 District Tournament and moved on to the semifinals against Pea Ridge on Friday at Shiloh Christian.
"Gentry was a very dangerous opponent," Edmiston said. "They have some good shooters and some good athletes and came into the tournament playing a lot better than they were earlier in the year. That's a good win for us."
Prairie Grove controlled a 21-14 lead at the half, but that went up in smoke as a hot-shooting Gentry team tied the game at 30-30 midway through the third quarter.
From there, Prairie Grove woke up with a 10-0 run and held off another late Gentry charge as the Pioneers got within five points several times.
"We felt pretty good about things at halftime, like we had control of the game," Edmiston said. "And here they come out of the break and they were taking it to us. The big thing is that we responded once they tied it up and were able to retake control of the game with our defensive intensity."
Tanner Pursell had 19 for Prairie Grove (14-12). Six-foot-7 Dylan Soehner scored 13 and Gavin Heltemes had 12, all in the second half.
Soehner was strong on the second half, twice going inside for three-point plays.
"We tried to take advantage of our size advantage," Edmiston said. "Dylan was able to get inside and get to the rim a couple of times and made some big plays."
Boys
Prairie Grove 59
Gentry 48
Gentry 9 5 19 15 -- 48
Pr. Grove 9 12 19 19 -- 59
Gentry (14-15): Cripps 13, Juillerat 11, Barker 9, Faulkenberry 6, Dane 6, Boys 3,
Prairie Grove (14-12): Pursell 19, Soehner 13, Heltemes 12, Galligan 7, Ellis 5, Strong 3.
Girls
Gentry 65, Gravette 60
Gravette, which started play as the No. 8 seed, was within striking distance of pulling off its second upset in as many nights, but Gentry held on to win.
Haley Borgentein-James led Gentry with 25 points, and Mallory Morris added 22 for the Pioneers.
Sports on 02/25/2015