Panthers edged in tourney
Lashley leads charge for SSHS
INOLA, Okla. — The looks on the faces of the Siloam Springs’ boys basketball team told the story.
There were no smiles. None of the laughing that is typically seen from high school kids, regardless of the circumstances. Players were clearly disappointed and believed they had a legitimate chance at winning their first game of the season.
The long faces were the result of a 50-42 loss against Tulsa Victory Christian in the opening round of the annual Jerry Oquin Basketball Tournament. The Panthers led for most of three and a half quarters before the Conquerors finished the game with a 12-3 run and outscored Siloam Springs 21-7 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
“They’re upset and we’ve had no issues with attitude, effort or their fight,” said Panthers coach Tim Stewart. “Unfortunately, we just were not able to hit shots down the stretch. But this is an improvement for us. This is the closest we’ve came to playing a complete game with four competitive quarters. We have been playing hard for just one or two quarters, so this was good to see.”
The turning point came in the fourth quarter when Siloam Springs missed back-to-back 3-pointers and Pryor responded on the other end by hitting backto-back 3-pointers, the second of which gave Victory Christian a 41-39 lead with 4 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Conquerors never trailed again.
“We had four or five open looks in the fourth quarter. We just didn’t knock them down,” Stewart said. “We missed our shots down the stretch and they hit them. That was the story of the game.”
Victory Christian led 10-4 in the early going before the Panthers finished off the first quarter with an 8-0 run, including 3-pointers by Spencer Lashley and Jordan Stewart, to take a 12-10 lead. A second 3-pointer by Lashley fueled a 9-4 scoring advantage in the second quarter and led to a 21-16 halftime lead.
Lashley swished another 3-pointer from the top of the key to open the second half and then later completed a traditional 3-point play to help the Panthers push the lead to 28-23 midday through the third quarter.
A 3-pointer by Pettit and a bucket by Murphy Perkins on a nice pass from Stewart on a backdoor cut helped the Panthers score the final five points of the third quarter to take a 35-29 lead into the fourth. They led 39-33 on a bucket by Pettit with 6:13 remaining before the Conquerors took command down the stretch.
“Really proud of them,” Stewart said. “They’re working hard and
we’re getting better. We’re putting some things together and getting a rotation in place, so we feel pretty positive about it.
“We’re just going to keep fighting to find a way to get that first ‘W.’”
Siloam Springs returns to action in the tournament on Friday against the loser of Tuesday’s game between Verdigris and Coweta.
Tulsa Victory Chr. 50, Siloam Springs 42
Siloam Springs 12 9 14 7 — 42 Victory Christian 10 6 13 21 — 50 Siloam Springs (0-7): Lashley 13, Sorrells 6, Wakefield 6, Pettit 5, Stewart 5, Perkins 4, Flores 3. Victory Christian (2-1): Wakley 16, Holmes 9, Bradley 6, Turk 6, Hicks 4, Lindskox 3, Moss 2, Pittman 2, Williams 2.
Belton, Mo. 76, Siloam Springs 59
REPUBLIC, Mo. — Belton, Mo., exploded in the second half for a 76-59 victory over Siloam Springs on Saturday in the seventh-place game of the 53rd annual Republic (Mo.) Boys Basketball Tournament.
The Panthers led 20-15 after the first quarter and 34-30 at halftime. Belton outscored the Panthers 21-13 in the third quarter to take a 51-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Spencer Lashley led the Panthers with 19 points, while Murphy Perkins had nine, Karson Clement, Drew Vachon and Diego Flores each with six, Tyler Pettit five, Jacob Wakefield four and Marquan Sorrells and Coleman Honea each with two.