Siloam Springs has enjoyed a good bit of success against Rogers Heritage in boys basketball over the last several years, but on Monday the War Eagles were the ones getting the taste of victory.
Heritage went on a 17-1 run in the fourth quarter to blow open the game and roll to a 50-34 victory over Siloam Springs inside Panther Activity Center.
Heritage 6-foot-5 junior forward Seth Stanley scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and the War Eagles led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.
"We're a team that's trying to figure it out," said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart. "Their defensive scheme gave us fits tonight, and we weren't able to put the kids in spots where they're comfortable. We're going to have to go back to the drawing board and work on it and the kids know that."
Heritage (1-0) pulled ahead for good in the second quarter and led 19-14 at halftime and 31-24 going into the fourth quarter.
Stanley opened the fourth quarter with a basket inside and Will Moss converted a three-point play to give the War Eagles a 36-24 lead.
Noah Karp split a pair of free throws to inch the Panthers (1-2) closer at 36-25, but Stanley answered with another three-point play and he then scored back-to-back buckets inside as Heritage pulled ahead 43-25.
Ty Olsen hit one of his three 3-pointers in the corner to make it 46-25, and Heritage took its biggest lead of the game, 48-25, on a basket inside by Moss.
"We got in a little bit of a rhythm offensively," said Heritage coach Tom Olsen. "We made some shots in the second half, and then that started to put a little pressure on Siloam. They're falling behind a little bit. It puts a little pressure on them. Their shots don't fall, ours go in, that makes for a win."
Two free throws from Harrison Kretzer -- who was the only Panther in double figures with 10 points -- stopped the bleeding for Siloam Springs -- but the damage had already been done.
Stewart credited Heritage's defense for giving the Panthers trouble moving the ball offensively.
"They run a little matchup zone, and the rotation is hard," Stewart said. "It's not like a normal zone, kind of like how our zone has weird tendencies. We weren't able to make quality passes on time to give our guys comfortable shots. At the end of the day, we need to be a better passing team than we showed tonight.
"A lot of credit to (Heritage). They're good defensively, and we think we are, too," Stewart said. We just weren't able to get that momentum going and turn the pressure."
After combining for 40 points in a 63-43 win at Mountain Home in Siloam Springs' game on Nov. 18, seniors Charlie Jones and Josh Hunt only scored a combined five points against Heritage.
"Different schemes and different nights," Stewart said. "That's part of that going through the fire that we're going to have to help these guys learn and figure their way out. Tonight we didn't do a very good job of it."
Jones, who had 25 against the Bombers, was in early foul trouble, and the War Eagles did a good job of using big bodies on the 6-foot-5 Hunt, Siloam Springs' tallest player.
"I saw them play against Mountain Home," Olsen said. "I got the video and I thought we gained an advantage with Jones in foul trouble. I thought he's a really nice player. I thought we did a good job on No. 5, Hunt, and really limited his opportunities. When you take a couple of scorers out of the mix it's hard for anybody."
Noah Karp finished with seven points for the Panthers, while senior Josh Heinrichs and junior Spencer Lashley each had six.
Stanley's big night provided a boost for the War Eagles. He hit a 3 from the top of the key as time expired to give Heritage a 9-5 lead after the first quarter. He also scored off of his own miss to help the War Eagles stay in front of the Panthers in the second quarter.
"(Stanley) gives us an opportunity to score inside and out," Olsen said. "He can make some 3-point shots and get to the rim. He played real under control tonight and made some shots for us. I was really proud of him."
It was the seventh time Siloam Springs and Heritage have met on the basketball court since 2012, with Siloam Springs now leading the series 5-2.
The Panthers will now turn their attention to the 52nd annual Republic (Mo.) Boys Basketball Tournament, which begins Monday at Republic High School.
It's Siloam Springs' second straight year to play in the tournament and third time in the last four years.
The Panthers will play Ozark, Mo., in the opening round at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday , then will play its second and third games of the tournament on Friday and Saturday.
"We're going to play a really good Ozark team in the first round," Stewart said. "That's one of those tournaments where we're not going over there to play duff, we're going to go play some scorpions and that's why we go. This team needs it."
The Panthers will play Friday against the winner/loser of the other Tuesday game between Rogers Heritage and Logan-Rogersville (Mo.).
"There's a chance we may see Heritage in the second round again and we kind of pump our kids up for that," Stewart said. "I think that would be a fun rematch. I think we can do a little better. Republic is a good tournament for us. We're going to learn a lot."
Other teams in the tournament include host Republic, and Missouri schools Rolla, Belton and Oak Park.
Rogers Heritage 50, Siloam Springs 34
Rogers Heritage^9^10^12^19^--^50
Siloam Springs^5^9^7^13^--^34
Rogers Heritage (1-0): Stanley 25, Moss 11, Olsen 9, Kenny 3, Breedlove 2.
Siloam Springs (1-2): Kretzer 10, Karp 7, Lashley 6, Heinrichs 6, Jones 3, Hunt 2.
Sports on 11/27/2016