Fourth time not the charm
Greenwood ends Panthers’ season short of state tournament.
Siloam Springs beat Greenwood three times during the regular season, but the Panthers couldn’t do it a fourth time Tuesday night in the game that mattered the most.
Zane Harmon scored 26 of his game-high 35 points in the second half and the Bulldogs clinched a berth in this week’s Class 6A state tournament with a 63-52 victory over Siloam Springs in a 6A-West Conference Tournament elimination game at the Panther Activity Center.
The loss ends the Panthers’ season at 10-19 overall. Three of the Panthers’ wins this season came at Greenwood’s expense, including a 40-39 win at Greenwood on Feb. 14 when Noah Karp banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The other two wins came in Siloam Springs with the Panthers winning 61-47 in the seventh-place game of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic on Dec. 30 and 57-48 on Jan. 20.
“It’s hard to play a team four times, but that’s not an excuse,” Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart said. “(Greenwood) played really well tonight.”
Greenwood coach Greg Nichols, a longtime coaching veteran in Oklahoma and now in his second season at Greenwood, said the previous matchups might have been a motivation for his kids.
“But to me the motivation was getting this team to the state tournament, and that’s what we were able to do tonight,” Nichols said.
“We just came out tonight with more confidence. We’ve been lacking confidence in some of our games lately. We came out tonight with a lot of confidence and were able to do some things I knew we were capable of doing.”
Greenwood (7-21) came out the aggressors and turned a 1313 tie in the second quarter into a 22-15 lead at halftime.
Harmon converted a pair of three-point plays to open the third quarter and finished with 11 in the period as the Bulldogs opened up a 17-point lead.
Siloam Springs cut it to 40-27 entering the fourth but couldn’t get any closer than 11.
Harmon scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, meanwhile the Panthers went 4 of 21 from behind the 3-point line on the night.
“They had a little better energy than we did, and we missed some shots that we’ve been able to make this year,” Stewart said. “It was kind of the perfect storm to start the game and give Greenwood credit. Coach (Nichols) had a good game plan. They hit free throws and made shots and we just couldn’t ever get over the hump. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. Our kids gave great effort. At the end of the day, their game plan worked perfect when we weren’t able to hit the shots that we normally do. Give a lot of credit to Greenwood.”
Jordan Sheppard added 10 points for Greenwood, which advanced to Saturday’s fifth-place game of the conference tournament against Sheridan, which beat Russellville 57-42 in another elimination game on Tuesday. The winner of Saturday’s game will be the fifth seed from the 6AWest, while the loser will be the sixth seed.
Charlie Jones led the Panthers with 16 points, while Noah Karp had 11 and Harrison Kretzer 10, Josh Hunt nine, Aaron Garst three, Spencer Lashley two and Murphy Perkins one.
About the only bright spot of the night for the Panthers was when Garst, a senior reserve player who hasn’t seen much playing time, banked in a 3-pointer at the end of the game as time expired.
The Panthers’ other seniors are Jones, Karp, Kretzer, Hunt and
I t’s hard to play a team four times, but that’s not an excuse. (Greenwood) played really well tonight. Tim Stewart Siloam Springs boys basketball coach
Josh Heinrichs, who all played their final game.
“It’s disheartening because this senior group is such an amazing group,” Stewart said. “Great character kids, been good leaders and have worked hard throughout the season. We hate to see them go and go out. It’s not the way we wanted them to go out. Can’t say enough positives about them. This senior group will be successful in whatever they put their minds to. It’s a great group of young men.”
I t’s disheartening because this senior group is such an amazing group. Great character kids, been good leaders and have worked hard throughout the season. We hate to see them go and go out. It’s not the way we wanted them to go out. Can’t say enough positives about them. Tim Stewart Siloam Springs boys basketball coach