Siloam Springs' boys are becoming all too familiar with buzzer-beating tip-ins, and not in a good way.
Alma's 6-foot-5 senior Bobby Winfrey's tip-in off a missed shot fell through the net as time expired to give the Airedales a 50-49 victory over Siloam Springs on Tuesday at Panther Activity Center.
It's the second time this season the Panthers have lost in such a manner. On Jan. 28, league-leader Russellville beat the Panthers 51-49 in a similar manner.
The common denominator in both losses for Siloam Springs was the inability to get a rebound in the crucial final seconds.
"The kids fought hard," said Panthers head coach Tim Stewart. "We needed one rebound."
The Panthers trailed 49-48 with 18.7 seconds left and called timeout with possession of the basketball.
Siloam Springs drew up a play where Josh Stewart found Drew Vachon cutting to the basket and Vachon scored with around 9 seconds left to give the Panthers a 49-48 lead.
"I'm so proud of the kids. They executed that last (offensive) possession so well," Tim Stewart said. "Josh hit Drew on the back door. Drew, (made a) hard cut, layup, should have won the game and we just weren't able to get a stop that last possession. ... A lot of good individual efforts. We just didn't finish very well."
Alma rushed the ball back down the floor and D.J. George fired up an off-balance shot that missed. The rebound went to Austin Cluck who shot on the baseline and missed. Winfrey was able to get the tip, which hit the front of the rim and dropped in for the game-winner.
"Bobby, there's not a harder worker or a better kid in America, I can promise you," said Alma coach Stan Flenor. "We got three shots at it at the end. What more can you ask? That's what you want."
With the win, Alma (13-9, 5-4) remained in the thick of the 5A-West playoff race while Siloam Springs fell further back with its fourth straight loss.
The Panthers had their opportunities. Siloam Springs led 38-27 in the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Max Perkins.
Alma cut it to 42-37 going into the fourth, but Josh Stewart put the Panthers back up 45-37 with a 3-pointer on the wing.
It all went downhill from there for the Panthers.
"Unfortunately, the game turned physical in the fourth quarter," Tim Stewart said. "The officials let it get real physical and we didn't handle it very good. We couldn't get into an offense. We couldn't get the ball moving, took some very marginal shots, then turned it over and Alma's good. They took advantage of it."
Winfrey powered inside for two straight buckets to make it 45-41, and then he scored on a putback to get the Airedales within 45-43.
Winfrey scored inside and was fouled for a three-point play to put Alma in front 46-45 with 2:20 remaining.
The Panthers answered with 2:07 left on a pair of free throws from Evan Sauer to go up 47-46, but George answered for Alma to go up one heading into the final minute.
"We came out and got some stops defensively and started pecking away a little bit," Flenor said. "You know, give both teams credit. Both teams played really hard. I thought during that stretch where D.J. got us going, got to the basket and got some easy ones and then Bobby hit two or three big ones -- that just kind of set it up for everybody. It was a great team win for us."
Winfrey and George each scored 14 points to lead the Airedales. Siloam Springs was able to hold Alma's leading scorer Cejay Mann to just seven points.
Josh Stewart led Siloam Springs with 24 points, including five 3-pointers. He hit back-to-back treys at the end of the first half to give the Panthers a 30-23 halftime lead. Landon Ward scored eight, while Sauer and Perkins each had five, Jackson Ford three and Vachon and Carter Winesburg each with two.
Alma 50, Siloam Springs 49
Alma^8^15^14^13^--^50
Siloam Springs^14^16^12^7^--^49
Alma: Winfrey 14, George 14, Stahler 9, Mann 7, Whalen 4, Cluck 2.
Siloam Springs: Stewart 24, Ward 8, Sauer 5, Perkins 5, Ford 3, Vachon 2, Winesburg 2.
Up next
The Panthers host Greenwood on Tuesday before heading to Little Rock Christian on Friday.
Sports on 02/16/2020