Craving hoops? Plenty to see

I got my basketball fix in over the holidays with three days of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic, and the season is really just getting started around here.

It seems like there is local basketball in some form or fashion just about every day but Sunday, and there are plenty of hoops on television on that day if you're still craving it.

• I'd encourage you to check our the local teams here in Siloam Springs.

At the high school level, both the Panthers and Lady Panthers are certainly off to tough starts with records of 5-11 and 4-12, respectively, heading into Tuesday night's games at Clarksville.

Tough starts notwithstanding, the teams are fun to watch and have shown moments of brilliance despite their records. The Panthers picked up an exciting win at Tahlequah (Okla.) Sequoyah before Christmas break and the Lady Panthers rallied from 19 points down to defeat a good Claremore (Okla.) team in overtime in the third place game of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic on Dec. 30.

There is potential there for both of those teams to do some good things as the year continues, and they would love your support.

• At John Brown, both teams returned from Texas on Saturday licking their wounds after routs. Both Golden Eagles teams return to Texas for games on Thursday and Saturday this week and they'll be on the road next Thursday at Science and Arts (Okla.) as well before finally playing at home again on Jan. 21 against St. Gregory's (Okla.).

There is good basketball played in the NAIA, and a ticket to see JBU compete at Bill George Arena is certainly worth the price of admission.

• I always like to dedicate a space in this column in early January to remind our readers about our deadlines at the newspaper and what that means for sports coverage in the Herald-Leader and Siloam Sunday.

In short, it stinks sometimes.

For the Wednesday paper to be printed and delivered on time, it has to go to press by the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday, which today means that there is no coverage available of last night's Siloam Springs games at Clarksville.

For the Siloam Sunday section, which is packed with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, we wrap things up by early Saturday afternoon. That means that coverage of John Brown University games on Saturdays -- like this past Saturday's games at Wayland Baptist (Texas) -- doesn't usually make it into the paper until Wednesday.

As a daily sports section enthusiast, it's not ideal but it's the reality we work with. However, there is one more option for the readers of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Next-day coverage of home games at Siloam Springs and John Brown University usually is available in the NWADG.

-- Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-Leader. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.