Panthers miss final chance against Wildcats
■ Har-Ber escapes Siloam Springs with a 50-48 victory Tuesday.
Siloam Springs had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds Tuesday against Springdale Har-Ber.
The Panthers were unable to get off a shot attempt before time expired, and the Wildcats escaped Panther Activity Center with a 50-48 victory.
With 9.3 seconds left, Har-Ber’s Cameron Mains went to the freethrow line for a one-and-one and Har-Ber leading 50-48.
Mains missed the front end, though, and Siloam Springs rebounded. Instead of calling timeout, the Panthers opted to play out the final seconds. HarBer defended the final sequence now as the Panthers couldn’t get a good look, and the final seconds ticked off.
“That last possession, I rolled the dice, and in my mind, we were either going to get a great look, or we’re going to get to the free-throw line because we were down two and we’re thinking be aggressive and not let them get set on defense,” said Panthers coach Tim Stewart. “It didn’t work out this time.”
The Panthers led 36-35 entering the fourth quarter and went up 37-35 after Nate Vachon hit a free throw to open the quarter.
Mains canned a 3-pointer to put Har-Ber up 38-37, kickstarting
a 10-0 Har-Ber run that saw the Wildcats go up 45-37.
Mack Wright had a basket in transition and a 3-pointer in that run, while Miles Rolfe also had a bucket.
With the game slipping away,
Vachon came up big for the Panthers.
Vachon hit a 3-pointer on the wing and was fouled for a rare four-point play to bring the Panthers back within 45-41. After a defensive stop, Vachon hit a 3-pointer on the other wing as Siloam Springs pulled within 45-44.
But Mains hit another 3-pointer to answer as Har-Ber went up 48-44. Vachon missed a pair of threes on the Panthers’ next possession, but Carter Winesburg hit one of two free throws to pull Siloam Springs within 48-45.
With 49 seconds left, Wright hit a pair of free throws to put Har-Ber up 50-45. The Wildcats had a chance to go up seven, but Mains missed the front end of a one-and-one and Josh Stewart came back on the other end for a 3-pointer to bring the Panthers within 50-48, setting up the final few seconds.
“The best thing that we did was finding a way to win at the end,” said Har-Ber coach Tommy Deffebaugh.
Siloam Springs opened the game to a hot start with a 20-13 lead in the first quarter. Josh Stewart scored 13 of his 16 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers.
But Har-Ber clamped down defensively on Josh Stewart the rest of the night, and the Siloam Springs senior got in foul trouble, sending him to the bench.
Har-Ber closed the first half on a 9-0 run on three 3-pointers from Wright, including a deep trey at the buzzer to take a 31-29 lead at halftime.
“Mack, I just put him in the starting rotation for the first time tonight,” Deffebaugh said. “I thought he did a really good job of making shots.”
Wright led the Wildcats (3-0) with 19 points, while Mains had nine and Jermaine Tilford and Rolfe each with eight.
Josh Stewart and Vachon each had 16 points to lead Siloam Springs, while Dalton Newman had nine, Carter Winesburg three and Brendan Lashley and Jedi Hunter each with two.
“The kids’ effort was great,” Tim Stewart said. “They’re learning. We’ve got a long ways to go. It’s good to see them battle through those things.”
Deffebaugh was impressed with the Panthers.
“I love Siloam,” he said. “Coach Stewart does a great job. His son is a heck of a player.”
Deffebaugh said a point of emphasis was trying to limit Josh Stewart on the offensive end, which the Wildcats didn’t do a
good job of early.
“The thing I got on Miles (Rolfe) about at half is you allowed him (Josh Stewart) to establish good tempo for his team,” Deffebaugh said. “We’ve got to do a lot better job on him in the second half and I thought Miles did that. He came out, played a little tougher, got into him. We did some switching, changed some defenses up.
“Siloam’s going to have a good year. Coach Stewart’s a good coach. They play hard. That 3-2 defense is always tough and always gets you slowing down. You’ve got to think, what are you going to run against it? They’re going to be all right.”
Tim Stewart said the Panthers have to cut down on the turnovers. They’ll get another chance this Tuesday at home against Rogers Heritage.
“Lot of good things still happening in a tough loss,” Tim Stewart said. “I think we should take care of the ball. I think we had way too many turnovers. I think we’re better than that. We’ve got enough savvy players not to turn the ball over against pressure. … We’re not there yet. But it’s early, and I think we’re going to be all right.”
Springdale Har-Ber 50, Siloam Springs 48
Springdale Har-Ber 13 19 4 15 50 Siloam Springs 20 9 7 12 48
Springdale Har-Ber (3-0): Wright 19, Mains 9, Tilford 8, Rolfe 8, Fotenopulos 6.
Siloam Springs (0-2): Stewart 16, Vachon 16, Newman 9, Winesburg 3, Lashley 2, Hunter 2.