Basketball tournaments have not been kind to the Siloam Springs boys basketball team so far this season, but the Panthers finished their own home tournament on a winning note.
The Panthers built up a 21-point lead on Greenwood on Friday in the seventh-place game of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic, watched the lead shrink to four in the fourth quarter and stretch it back out in the end for a 61-47 win at Panther Activity Center.
The Panthers (5-9) finished the tournament with a 1-2 record, the worst mark they've had in their home tournament since its inception in the 2010-11 season.
Siloam Springs lost its first two games -- a 54-52 upset against Prairie Grove in the first round on Wednesday and a disappointing 55-46 loss to Coweta (Okla.) on Thursday -- before pulling out Friday's win.
The Panthers came out hot against 5A/6A District 1 rival Greenwood, racing out to a 36-15 halftime lead, only to see that shrink down to 48-44 with a little more than three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers closed the game on a 13-3 run to finish off the Bulldogs (3-11).
"We were encouraged by how we responded from a tough loss (Thursday) to begin this game," said Panthers head coach Tim Stewart. "It was maybe the best first half of the season for us as far as everything fitting together and shooting the ball well. We've had troubles with offensive rebounds, and the kids rebounded really well."
But for a while in the second half, the Panthers resembled the bunch that took the floor the previous two nights.
"Came out in the second half and we kind of hesitated a little bit, and give Greenwood a lot of credit," Stewart said. "They turned the heat up and hit shots and hit free throws. It's not what we wanted to do. Our kids didn't play with the confidence we think they should have. But they showed great character and toughness in kind of gapping out there at the end, so we're proud of that. It's a roller coaster ride and we're still learning."
The Panthers hit six 3-pointers in the first half to help put some distance between it and Greenwood. Josh Hunt and Spencer Lashley hit 3s in the first quarter as Siloam Springs led 14-6. Hunt, Charlie Jones, Harrison Kretzer and Josh Heinrichs all hit treys in the second quarter.
"No one wants to be playing this early game, but I told the boys it's the position we're in," Stewart said. "Can we go out and play with a little more energy and effort than Greenwood and start fresh and go from here and keep working?"
Greenwood outscored the Panthers 18-8 in the third quarter to pull within 44-33, and the Bulldogs opened the fourth on an 11-4 run to get within 48-44.
Noah Karp got the lead back up to 50-44 with a basket, and the Panthers hit 9 of 14 free throws to put the game away.
Kretzer led Siloam Springs with 15 points, while Karp had 11, Hunt and Jones each with 10, Lashley eight, Heinrichs five and Murphy Perkins with two.
Jordan Sheppard led Greenwood with 16 points, while Alec Armstrong had nine.
The Panthers and Bulldogs will meet again in Siloam Springs on Jan. 20 and at Greenwood on Feb. 14.
Siloam Springs 61, Greenwood 47
Greenwood^6^9^18^14^--^47
Siloam Springs^14^22^8^17^--^61
Greenwood (3-11): Sheppard 16, Armstrong 9, Holt 7, Harmon 5, Barrett 4, Hughes 3, Gilbert 3.
Siloam Springs (5-9): Kretzer 15, Karp 11, Hunt 10, Jones 10, Lashley 8, Heinrichs 5, Perkins 2.
Coweta (Okla.) 55, Siloam Springs 46
The Panthers went cold in the third quarter and Coweta (Okla.) took advantage in a second round victory over Siloam Springs.
Coweta went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter and took a double digit lead entering the fourth. The Tigers led by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Siloam Springs led 22-20 at halftime and opened up a 28-22 lead in the third quarter after a Josh Hunt bucket and a 3-pointer from Charlie Jones.
Gavin Underwood knocked down a 3-pointer to bring Coweta within 28-25, and Noah Karp responded on the other end by splitting a pair of free throws to make it 29-25. Karp's free throw would be the last points the Panthers would get for a while.
The Tigers scored the next 15 points to take a 40-29 lead. Andrew Keathly and Braden Norris each had seven points in the run for Coweta.
Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart was also hit with a technical foul in the run as well.
Coweta extended its lead in the fourth quarter by hitting seven of nine from the free-throw line. The Tigers outscored the Panthers 35-24 in the second half.
Norris and Keathly each finished with 16 points to lead Coweta, while Underwood had nine. Jones and Karp both had 15 points to lead Siloam Springs, while Josh Hunt had 10, Spencer Lashley three, Harrison Kretzer two and Josh Heinrichs one.
Coweta (Okla.) 55, Siloam Springs 46
Siloam Springs^11^11^8^16^--^46
Coweta (Okla.)^10^10^20^15^--^55
Siloam Springs: Jones 15, Karp 15, Hunt 10, Lashley 3, Kretzer 2, Heinrichs 1.
Coweta (Okla.): Norris 16, Keathly 16, Underwood 9, Kennon 6, Shamas 5, Borens 3.
Prairie Grove 54, Siloam Springs 52
The Panthers never could put the Tigers away and it came back to bite them in the fourth quarter of the opening round of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.
Prairie Grove outscored Siloam Springs 14-7 in the final quarter and survived an adventurous last few minutes to rally for the first-round upset.
Siloam Springs never trailed in the first half and led by as many as nine points -- once in the second quarter and again in the third quarter. But each time the Tigers responded. Prairie Grove pulled within 30-26 at halftime and 45-40 going into the fourth quarter.
Prairie Grove took the lead for good 48-47 in the fourth quarter on a basket by Cameron Simmons. Will Pridmore and Taylor Moore added buckets for the Tigers, who went up 54-49 with 32.4 seconds left.
Prairie Grove's Simmons was hit with a technical foul and Charlie Jones hit one free throw to make it 54-50. Noah Karp then hit two of three from the free-throw line to make it 54-52 with 23.8 left. The Panthers fouled on the other end and Pridmore missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Siloam Springs rebounded with one last chance to tie.
Karp was fouled with 3.4 seconds left, but he missed the first free throw and then missed the second intentionally. Harrison Kretzer grabbed the rebound and tried to go back up with it but was stripped and time expired on the Panthers. Siloam Springs went 3-of-7 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
Moore led Prairie Grove (5-5) with 13 points, while Simmons finished with 11 points. Kretzer had 17 points to lead Siloam Springs (4-8) while Karp had 16 and Josh Hunt 11, Spencer Lashley five and Charlie Jones three.
Prairie Grove 54, Siloam Springs 52
Prairie Grove^12^14^14^14^--^54
Siloam Springs^15^15^15^7^--^52
Prairie Grove: Moore 13, Simmons 11, Pridmore 9, Cooper 9, Laird 6, Risner 6.
Siloam Springs: Kretzer 17, Karp 16, Hunt 11, Lashley 5, Jones 3.
Up next
The Panthers open 5A/6A District 1 play at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Farmington.
Sports on 01/01/2017