SPRINGDALE — Matt Toomer looked up at the Wildcat Arena ceiling Monday night, put his hands over his head and took a deep, nervous-looking breath.
Springdale Har-Ber’s 6-foot-5 senior faced a 1-and-1 situation with 2.7 seconds left on the clock. He needed to nail one free throw to tie Greenwood and make two to win. And after watching the Wildcats blow a 20-point fourth-quarter lead, he must’ve been thinking: How did it come to this?
“It was disappointing that they came back, but I had to get it together,” Toomer said. “Before I shot the free throws, I just prayed that God would help me make them. I even had to take a step back from the free-throw line with all the adrenaline going.”
Toomer shook his nerves and drained both free throws. Chris Bayles then stole Greenwood’s inbounds pass and sealed the Wildcats’ 48-47 first-round victory at the Har-Ber Holiday Basketball Tournament. Har-Ber will meet Tulsa (Okla.) Edison in a semifinal game at 8:15 tonight.
Conway and Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial will meet in tonight’s first semifinal contest at 6:30.
After witnessing his Wildcats commit 10 fourth-quarter turnovers and almost ruin a nearly flawless first-half performance, Har-Ber coach Eric Burnett merely shrugged his shoulders. Hard to blame Burnett, considering the Wildcats’ defense frustrated and smothered Greenwood (3-9) the entire first half.
The Bulldogs managed only four points in the first quarter and five in the second, and they committed 14 first-half turnovers.
Har-Ber (4-6) immediately stymied Greenwood in the opening quarter. Bayles and Michael Trexler each recorded a steal. Toomer drew a charge. Tyler Booth forced a five-second dribbling violation, and Kyle Shannon blocked a couple of shots.
“We got after them so hard, and it was fun to see,” Burnett said. “We were getting our hands in passing lanes and making things hard for them.”
Burnett admitted, however, he had warned the Wildcats after 16 minutes that they couldn’t afford to rest after building a 29-9 halftime advantage.
“I think we kind of relaxed and felt like they were just going to lay down, and they didn’t,” Burnett said. “They got after us and they were aggressive like we were in the first half. Everything kind of flipped. We just disappeared. We literally stopped playing defense.”
Jason Holmstrom scored off a Chad Ramey drive and pass to open the fourth-quarter scoring with 7:30 left. But the Wildcats didn’t score again for 6 minutes, 2 seconds on two Ramey free throws that gave them a 46-41 lead. Greenwood used a 15-0 run to get within 44-41 with 2:45 left.
Har-Ber committed eight turnovers during the spurt, which Ryan Lensing capped with a 3-pointer and a steal and layup. Brandon Brewer’s 3-pointer with 1:10 left closed the gap to 46-44. Two possessions later, Brewer gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the game with 21 seconds left.
That’s when Matt Bradley found Toomer, who drew a foul and clinched the thrilling victory.
“That was huge, for lots of reasons,” Burnett said. “It was huge because we won, but the one big reason is for his confidence. He isn’t as sure of himself as he should be right now. I wish the kid had as much confidence in himself as I have in him.
“He’s an unbelievable athlete and can do so many things, and he needs to believe that.”
Conway 47, Siloam Springs 35
The Wampus Cats used 9-2 runs to open the first and second quarters, and Preston Purifoy led Conway with 14 points. Dylan Henson paced Siloam with 12 points, and Kyle Teague added 11 for the Panthers (7-4).
Conway (9-1) drained consecutive 3-point attempts — one by Kenyon McNeaill and two by Micah Delph — to take an early seven-point lead. The Wampus Cats then extended their advantage to 27-12 with five points by McNeaill, a Colt Fason layup and an Everett Reed layup.
Seven straight points to start the second half gave Conway a 39-16 lead.
“We try to come out and set the tempo early with our speed and quickness, and I thought we did that in the (first three quarters),” Conway coach James Bates said.
Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial 89, Shiloh Christian 58
Toddrick Gotcher and Chris Jones combined for 43 points as the Patriots stormed past strong-starting Shiloh. Tyler Nation scored eight of the Saints’ first 10 points, and Shiloh led 15-14 after one quarter.
Lakeview Centennial secured a 37-26 halftime lead, however, fueled by 16 second-quarter points from Gotcher and Jones. Shiloh committed 15 combined turnovers in the second and third quarters and couldn’t keep the athletic Patriots from converting often in transition.
The Patriots (12-3) scored 23, 24 and 28 points respectively in the second, third and fourth quaters. Nation led Shiloh (4-5) with 16 points, and David Matthews added 13.
Tulsa (Okla.) Edison 76, Friendswood (Texas) Clear Brook 68
Steven Hamilton scored 23 of his season-high 34 points after halftime, and the Eagles improved their record to 8-1. The 6-foot-6 junior’s layup capped an 11-0 first-quarter run that put Edison up 17-8 after Clear Brook took its only lead of the contest.
The Wolverines (7-8) scored the first 10 points of the final quarter, cutting Edison’s lead to 58-56 on Eric Gibson’s driving layup. But the Eagles halted the Clear Brook spurt with two free throws and a layup by Hamilton.
Fred Richardson led Clear Brook with 21 points.