Plenty at stake for Saints

The Shiloh Christian Saints have bounced back from a tough season a year ago, but they have a big game coming up for their program.

The Saints host Berryville in a nearly mustwin situation in order for them to remain in Class 4A because of the competitive equity factor put in place by the Arkansas Activities Association for private schools.

If Shiloh Christian finishes with a .500 conference record or worse, it would drop to Class 3A next season. Teams accumulate points based on their level of success. If they get so many points they can be moved up in classification, but in this case the opposite is true.

In order for the Saints to remain in 4A, they must either finish with a winning conference record or win a game in the state tournament. Shiloh is currently 12-13 overall, but 7-6 in the 4A-1 Conference after its loss to league-leading Farmington on Tuesday. Saints Coach Chuck Davis said he began to get wind of his team’s situation a couple of weeks ago.

The Saints close out their regular season tonight against Berryville, a team they defeated 50-38 in Bobcat Arena in December.

Davis said the team’s youth contributed to struggles a year ago and a 4-24 finish. But the experience some of those same players got has paid off this season.

Sophomore Duke Bowman was the team’s top player a year ago as a freshman and is playing well this season, averaging around 17 points per game. But he has missed several games because of an ankle injury. In addition, senior Chase Blessing has also been a strong force as a leader for the Saints, Davis said.

Davis said his group many times is at a disadvantage as far as size and athleticism is concerned, which forces them to rely on the threepoint shot quite a bit.

“If we hit about 9 threes a game, our defense will carry us with a chance to win,” Davis said. “If our shots aren’t dropping then it can be tough.”