'Valpo' a game-winner for Karp, Panthers

n Siloam Springs beats Greenwood 40-39 Tuesday on a buzzer-beater.

The Siloam Springs boys basketball team has been on the losing side of a pair of buzzer-beaters this season, but one finally went the Panthers' way on Tuesday night.

Noah Karp caught a cross-court inbound pass from Josh Hunt with one second left and hit a leaning 3-pointer with no time remaining as Siloam Springs beat Greenwood 40-39 in their final game of the regular season at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena in Greenwood.

6A-West Conference Tournament

Feb. 18, 21, 25

BOYS

February 18

Game 1: El Dorado (1) vs. Russellville (8), (n)

Game 2: Lake Hamilton (4) vs. Sheridan (5), (n)

Game 3: Texarkana (2) vs. Greenwood (7), (n)

Game 4: Benton (3) vs. Siloam Springs (6), (n)

February 21

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

February 25

Fifth place: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6

Third place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8

Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8

GIRLS

February 18

Game 1: Lake Hamilton (1) vs. Texarkana (8), (n)

Game 2: Russellville (4) vs. Greenwood (5), (n)

Game 3: Sheridan (2) vs. Siloam Springs (7), (n)

Game 4: El Dorado (3) vs. Benton (6), (n)

February 21

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

February 25

Fifth place: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6

Third place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8

Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8

NOTES: Teams must win of first two games to advance to 6A State Tournament on March 1-4 in Lake Hamilton. All games played at highest seed school

5A/6A District 1 final basketball standings

Girls^Overall^Conf.

Team^W-L^W-L

Harrison^18-6^10-1

Farmington^20-5^9-2

Russellville^14-12^7-5

Clarksville^16-10^5-6

Alma^10-14^4-7

Greenwood^13-14^5-7

Siloam Springs^5-22^0-12

Last week

February 14

Greenwood 46, Siloam Springs 44 (OT)

Harrison 58, Alma 50

Farmington 49, Russellville 37

Clarksville 61, Providence Academy 49

February 16

Greenwood 47, Russellville 45

February 17

Alma at Clarksville

Farmington at Harrison

Boys^Overall^Conf.

Team^W-L^W-L

Harrison^20-4^11-0

Farmington^20-6^8-3

Alma^13-8^6-5

Clarksville^13-14^5-6

Siloam Springs^10-17^5-7

Greenwood^6-20^3-9

Russellville^4-18^2-10

Last week

February 14

Siloam Springs 40, Greenwood 39

Harrison 67, Alma 58

Farmington 56, Russellville 47

Clarksville 68, Providence Academy 65

February 16

Russellville 55, Greenwood 51

February 17

Alma at Clarksville

Farmington at Harrison

The Panthers led the Bulldogs by as many as 11 points earlier in the fourth quarter, but Greenwood went on a big run and pulled ahead 38-37 in the final seconds when Jordan Sheppard scored in the lane.

Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart was able to call timeout with 1 second remaining, but the Panthers still had to go the length of the floor to try and get a shot to tie.

In the huddle during the timeout, Stewart called for the Panthers to run the play "Valpo," which is a nod to NCAA Division I school Valparaiso and former star shooter Bryce Drew, who hit a game-winning shot against No. 4 seed Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

In the Siloam Springs play "Valpo," Karp is intended to catch the inbounds and tip the ball to senior guard Charlie Jones for a 3-pointer, but it didn't work out like that Tuesday night.

Karp said he had to improvise.

"In practice, I'd say we make it about 40 percent of the time," Karp said. "We don't usually practice where the tip guy shoots it. I just didn't see where (Jones) was (Tuesday night) so I launched it."

Karp caught the pass from Hunt on the left wing in front of the Siloam Springs bench and launched the shot before time ran out. The ball banked off the glass through the net for the game-winning points.

"With all the adversity of the last two and a half minutes our guys showed tremendous toughness being able to execute the last play of the game," Stewart said. "The seniors have worked on that play for four years now and finally got the chance to run it. Josh made a fantastic throw with a savvy ball fake to get the defender out of the way, and Noah did the rest with his best Laettner impression."

Stewart was referencing former Duke standout Christian Laettner's game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament.

For the Panthers, the play was a bit of redemption after losing buzzer-beaters to Beggs, Okla., in the Jerry Oquin Invitational in December as well as a 54-52 heartbreaker against Alma on Jan. 13 on a near halfcourt shot from Nathan Corder.

The Panthers got off to a hot start against Greenwood, scoring the first six points of the game, but the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter with an 11-8 lead.

Greenwood remained ahead 17-15 at halftime, but Siloam Springs outscored the Bulldogs 14-6 in the third quarter to take a 29-23 lead. Karp scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers as the Panthers pulled ahead.

Spencer Lashley hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth and Charlie Jones had a basket as the Panthers held a 34-25 lead. Hunt's basket in transition made it 36-25, the Panthers' largest lead of the game.

Greenwood stormed back, led by Sheppard, who scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Sheppard tied the game at 37 with a 3-pointer with 54.7 seconds left and then scored to give the Bulldogs the lead to set up Karp's heroics.

Hunt added eight points for Siloam Springs (10-17, 5-7 5A/6A District 1) while Jones had seven, Harrison Kretzer four, Lashley three and Josh Heinrichs two.

It was Siloam Springs' third win in three games against Greenwood this season. The Panthers beat Greenwood 61-47 in the seventh-place game of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic on Dec. 30. The Panthers then beat Greenwood again 57-48 on Jan. 20.

On Wednesday, the seedings for the 6A-West Conference Tournament were announced, and the Panthers received the No. 6 seed.

El Dorado was the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Texarkana, No. 3 Benton, No. 4 Lake Hamilton, No. 5 Sheridan, No. 6 Siloam Springs, No. 7 Greenwood and No. 8 Russellville.

Siloam Springs played at Benton on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the conference tournament. Results were not available at presstime. Teams must win one of their first two games of the conference tournament to advance to the Class 6A State Tournament in Lake Hamilton on March 1-4.

The second round will be played on Tuesday with the final round on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The winner/loser of the Siloam Springs-Benton game was matched up with the winner/loser of Texarkana-Greenwood.

Girls

Greenwood 46, Siloam Springs 44 (OT)

Siloam Springs came within an eyelash of getting its first 5A/6A District 1 win Tuesday night, but unfortunately the end result was familiar for the Lady Panthers as Greenwood pulled out the overtime win.

The loss clinched an 0-12 season for Siloam Springs in the 5A/6A District 1 and a 5-22 regular season with 13 losses coming by 10 points or less.

Sophomore Kyiah Julian scored with 58 seconds left to give Greenwood a 45-44 lead, and the Lady Bulldogs forced two Siloam Springs turnovers in the last minute.

Kaila Cartwright hit a free-throw with 2.2 seconds left to set the final score. Siloam Springs called timeout with 1.5 seconds left but Chloe Price's 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

The game was tied at 39 after four quarters.

Price hit two free throws with 2:31 left in overtime to tie the game at 41, and her 3-pointer with 1:24 left gave the Lady Panthers a 44-43 lead.

Price and Hadlee Hollenback each scored 11 points to lead Siloam Springs, while Morgan Vaughn scored nine, Sidney Henry eight, Brooklyn Buckminster three and Alexis Roach two.

Jalein Glass led Greenwood with 13 points, while Sara Reeves had 11 and Cartwright nine.

The Lady Panthers were named the No. 7 seed in the 6A-West Conference Tournament and played at No. 2 Sheridan on Saturday afternoon. Results were not available at presstime.

Other seeds were No. 1 Lake Hamilton, No. 3 El Dorado, No. 4 Russellville, No. 5 Greenwood, No. 6 Benton and No. 8 Texarkana.

Teams must win one of their first two games of the conference tournament to advance to the Class 6A State Tournament in Lake Hamilton on March 1-4.

The second round will be played on Tuesday with the final round on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The winner/loser of the Siloam Springs-Sheridan game was matched up with the winner/loser of El Dorado-Benton.

Sports on 02/19/2017