Shiloh Holds On For Win Over Springdale

Alexis Jones, left, of Shiloh Christian drives around Javonda Daniels of Springdale High on Tuesday.
Alexis Jones, left, of Shiloh Christian drives around Javonda Daniels of Springdale High on Tuesday.

— Javonda Daniels drained a 3-pointer, and Taylor McPherson added another one against her former team 19 seconds later.

All of a sudden, Shiloh Christian’s 10-point lead in the final minute against Springdale High had dwindled to four with 30 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s season opener.

NONCONFERENCE

Girls Basketball

SHILOH CHRISTIAN 31, SPRINGDALE HIGH 27

Shiloh 5 3 13 10 — 31

Springdale 5 4 5 13 — 27

Shiloh Christian (1-0): Jones 10, Harris 6, Cooper 5, Sears 5, Coffman 4, Adams 1.

Springdale (0-1): Perez 6, McPherson 6, Long 5, Daniels 3, Dederich 3, Smith 2, Wood 2.

Rather than panicking, the Lady Saints switched to a man defense that prevented another point from being scored and allowed them to hold on for a 31-27 win in Bulldog Gymnasium.

Of course, it helped that Shiloh Christian (1-0) scored the first eight points of the second half to give itself a bit of a cushion down the stretch to withstand Springdale’s rally.

“We didn’t change a whole lot. We talked about let’s run our offense a little bit smoother and execute a little bit better,” Shiloh Christian girls basketball coach Mat Stewart said. “But we got pretty much the same shots, I thought, in the first half.

“We just weren’t making shots and not slowing down a little bit and getting under control.”

Both teams had difficulty getting into an offensive rhythm in the first game of the season, as they combined to score 10 points in the first quarter and 17 in the first half.

Springdale (0-1) was forced to alter its starting lineup at the last minute because senior point guard Brittany Jurgens, who’s one of the team’s top offensive threats, was unable to play because of an illness.

“We have to deal with distractions, and obviously (Brittany) being sick was a distraction,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “I’m going to challenge them to deal with distractions a little bit better than we did.”

Still, the Lady Bulldogs had a chance in the final minute to tie the game or take the lead after being down 31-21 following a free throw by Shiloh Christian forward Callie Harris with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining. Harris finished with six points, and guard Alexis Jones led the Lady Saints with 10 points.

Forward Karen Perez scored six points, and McPherson added six in her first game since transferring to Springdale from Shiloh. But the Lady Bulldogs — who scored nearly a quarter of their points in the final minute — came up short on a 3-pointer and a pair of inside shots in the final 30 seconds.

“The looks were still open. They were still just as open, but it’s like our energy picked up,” Hunsucker said of her team’s late rally. “You saw the energy and the intensity pick up, which I don’t know why we waited until the last three minutes to pick that up.”

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