HAR-BER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT: Teague Primes Panthers

JUNIOR GUARD SCORES 40 POINTS TO DOWN SHILOH CHRISTIAN

Siloam Springs junior Kyle Teague, right, takes a shot as Shiloh Christian sophomore Taylor Thompson defends Tuesday in the second half of the Har-Ber Holiday Basketball Tournament in Springdale. Teague had 40 points in the Panthers’ 63-53 victory.
Siloam Springs junior Kyle Teague, right, takes a shot as Shiloh Christian sophomore Taylor Thompson defends Tuesday in the second half of the Har-Ber Holiday Basketball Tournament in Springdale. Teague had 40 points in the Panthers’ 63-53 victory.

— Siloam Springs coach Johnny Taylor made a simple proclamation after his team beat Shiloh Christian 63-53 on Tuesday afternoon at the Har-Ber Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Taylor said the Panthers (8-4) would’ve suffered a defeat without the contributions of junior guard Kyle Teague, who tallied a career-high 40 points. Teague drilled seven 3-pointers and nailed 14 of his 17 free throw attempts as Siloam rebounded from a Monday loss to Conway.

“We would’ve definitely lost that game had Kyle not played the way he played,” Taylor said. “He’s capable of doing that often. He played the whole game (Monday) night, and he never came out. For him to have the legs to play as hard as he did and to make those 3s, I think that’s really impressive.”

Teague scored 29 of his points during Tuesday’s first three quarters, including 14 in the third. But two of his teammates produced Siloam’s three most important baskets against the Saints (4-6).

Shiloh’s David Matthews notched all 14 of his team-high points in the third, and his 3-pointer and layup had tied the game at 39. David Eichler then gave Shiloh only its second lead of the game at 47-46 on a 3-pointer with 6:24 left in the contest.

That’s when Teague’s teammates helped him out. The Panthers took a 52-47 lead on two driving layups by Justin Gray and a layup by Payton Henson.

“Those guys helped a lot right then,” said Teague, who bettered his previous career-high of 27 points. “(Shiloh) started keying on me, and those guys stepped up. That’s when we started to pull away a little bit.”

The Saints, who missed its first 14 shots, couldn’t get any closer as Teague converted 11 of 12 free throws during the last 3:20.

Shiloh coach Brent Hester said he was pleased with how the Saints responded to their slow start. He just shook his head, however, while discussing the challenges Shiloh faced guarding Teague.

“Teague is a great player,” Hester said. “He’s solid. He can handle it real well. He can shoot it. And he just had a great night. Anything we did, he adjusted to it, found his shot and got the ball in the hole.”

Siloam will face Friendswood (Texas) Clear Brook in today’s fifth-place game at 12:45 p.m. Shiloh will take on Greenwood in today’s seventh-place tilt at 11 a.m.

Tulsa (Okla.) Edison 49

Springdale Har-Ber 43

Springdale Har-Ber just couldn’t overcome a sluggish offensive start Tuesday night, falling into a third-place matchup against Conway at 2:30 today.

The Wildcats missed their first 10 field goals and didn’t convert a shot until Chris Bayles’ layup with 4:36 left in the first half. They made only three of their 11 first-half free throws and finished 13 of 27 from the foul line.

Bayles scored 18 points to lead Har-Ber (4-7). Desmond Butler tallied a game-high 19 points to pace Edison, which will play Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial at 4:15 in today’s championship game.

“I told our guys that I gave them an ‘A’ except for one area: from the free-throw line,” Har-Ber coach Eric Burnett said. “We just didn’t make free throws. You can’t miss that many against a talented team like that in a close game and expect to win.”

Both teams struggled to score during an ugly first half. Edison (9-1) and Har-Ber committed 15 fouls in the first quarter and scored only eight combined points in the first 8 minutes.

The Wildcats trailed 6-2 after the first quarter and 22-11 at halftime, but they still must’ve felt fortunate after shooting 25 percent in the first half. Har-Ber cut Edison’s lead to three points twice in the fourth quarter — the last time at 41-38 with 1:38 left on two Bayles free throws.

Edison, however, drained 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Har-Ber did succeed in limiting the Eagles’ Steven Hamilton, who scored 34 points Monday night, to just one point Tuesday night.

“We did what we wanted to do,” Burnett said. “We wanted to make (Hamilton) a non-factor and get him in foul trouble. We also controlled the tempo like we wanted. We just couldn’t make enough free throws.”

Lakeview Centennial 76, Conway 69

The Patriots handed Conway only its second loss this season, fueled by Toddrick Gotcher’s 24 points. Kenyon McNeaill scored 23 points to lead Conway (9-2), and Preston Purifoy added 21 for the Wampus Cats.

Lakeview Centennial (13-3) scored 15 straight points spanning the first and second quarters to claim a 25-10 lead, but Conway rallied back to within 36-29 by halftime. Purifoy then trimmed the deficit to 62-60 on a layup with 2:15 left.

The Patriots responded with seven straight points to clinch a spot in today’s title game.

Clear Brook 58, Greenwood 45

Daren Smith scored a game-high 18 points as the Wolverines (8-8) held off scrappy Greenwood in a consolation matchup. Spencer Harris scored 14 points to lead the Bulldogs (3-10), who cut a 22-point first-half deficit to five by the fourth quarter.

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