Northside’s Prince serving to Grizzlies win convention video games

Northside High School’s boys basketball workforce has discovered a knack for locating methods to win, particularly since 6A-West Conference play commenced. A senior who has been a part of the Grizzlies’ success is in his first season with this system.

Lee Prince III, a degree guard, transferred to Fort Smith Northside from crosstown rival Southside within the offseason and is doing his greatest to slot in along with his new membership.

“I would say my season has been going pretty well,” Prince mentioned. “I would like to have scored more points in some of our previous games, but that’s just how it goes. As long as we win, how much I score doesn’t matter at the end of the day.”

Prince did have a hand within the Grizzlies’ 6A-West highway win at Rogers Heritage on Jan. 22. He scored 12 factors in a 61-48 victory which moved to Northside to 4-3 within the convention and 11-10 general. Two nights earlier, towards his former workforce in Southside, Prince scored 11 factors, together with making three free throws and developing with a key steal inside the ultimate minute to assist the Grizzlies seal a 66-60 win.

Following the win towards Rogers Heritage, Prince was averaging 8.5 factors, 3.2 assists and three rebounds per recreation.

Northside’s first two convention wins got here in dramatic vogue, rallying late to edge defending 6A runner-up Springdale, 62-61, on Jan. 3 after which beating a 6A contender in Bentonville, 73-72, on Jan. 16, which got here on a put-back shot by Jayvyn Bullock off a missed free throw with time operating out.

Prince has appreciated how the Grizzlies have been capable of keep composed and discover methods to drag off wins. He’s finished his half as nicely. Prince additionally provides credit score to his coach, Cody Wilmath, for his position to get the Grizzlies in place to prevail.

“I would say it’s us just following through what Coach has planned for us and executing what he draws up for us in the situation, and also trusting each other on the court is a big key to winning games,” Prince mentioned. “We put in the work during practice, so just keeping that consistent mindset to work harder than our opponent is how we are able to win competitive games.”

Not solely was Prince going to a brand new program, he additionally was coming off an injury-prone junior season. He was restricted to 3 video games as a junior at Southside on account of a shoulder damage.

“I trained day and night as much as I could to be prepared for this season – by staying in the weight room, putting up a lot of shots and most importantly, building a stronger relationship with Christ,” Prince mentioned.

Basketball is the one sport Prince performs at Northside. He grew up with a lifelong love of basketball, however he discovered a aggressive avenue exterior of enjoying in gyms or out of doors courts.

“My brother and I grew up playing each other in 2K (the NBA 2K video game series), talking smack, and it has always been my dream to take basketball as far as God will allow it to take me,” Prince mentioned.

Prince is an A and B scholar, with a grade-point common of at the very least 3.0. He mentioned he has but to obtain any provides to play basketball in school, however needs to get one by the point he graduates from Northside.

“I don’t have any offers or anything yet, but if the door is open then I will play at the next level,” he mentioned. “If not, I will go to college for electrical engineering.”

Prince’s precedence proper now’s to proceed to mix in along with his new workforce and maintain getting the Grizzlies in place for an opportunity on the convention title and a excessive seed on the state event.

“I love how passionate and devoted our coaches are to see us succeed on and off the court,” Prince mentioned. “For the guys, I love the bond we have outside of basketball; we are a close bunch which allows us to trust each other more on the court.”

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