Panthers shrug off Bobcats to open season
Siloam Springs’ boys wrapped up their first game of the 2022-23 season with a victory and plenty to work on.
Dalton Newman scored a career-high 29 points as the Panthers held off a scrappy Berryville team 53-44 inside Panther Activity Center on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
“It was a really good first game,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Stewart. “It showed us a lot of things that we need to do better.”
Nate Vachon added 11 points for Siloam Springs (1-0), while Jaxson Spence chipped in nine and Nathan Hawbaker and Cam Blackfox each scored two.
Berryville’s D.J. Colbert hit five 3-pointers and led the Bobcats with 24 points, while Jake Wilson had 10 and Nate Allen nine.
Newman scored the Panthers’ first eight points, but the Panthers found themselves trailing 11-8 after Berryville’s Wilson hit a 3-pointer, the Bobcats’ third trey of the quarter.
Blackfox scored on a putback to bring the Panthers’ within 1110 and Spence converted a threepoint play to give Siloam Springs a 13-11 lead after the first quarter.
“(Spence) was really active,” Stewart said. “His movement on offense led to some layups and some timely baskets. That was good to see.”
Vachon drained his first 3-pointer of the year to put Siloam Springs ahead 16-11 at the start of the second quarter, but Berryville answered with its long range shooting.
Colbert knocked down a pair of threes to bring the Bobcats within 20-19.
“They were able to manipulate the zone and get some easy threes,” Stewart said of Berryville. “And they hit some deep threes. Our rebounding wasn’t where it needed to be.”