SPRINGDALE -- Tylor Perry reached out and slapped the basketball away, then scooped it up and drove to the basket.
His layup kissed off the backboard and into the net as he was fouled. His free throw completed a three-point play with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left in the second quarter Thursday night.
It was a play that Perry, a junior point guard, has made numerous times as a three-year starter for Springdale Har-Ber. But what made it special this time was the free throw pushed him over the 1,000 career point mark in the Wildcats' 94-58 rout of Webb City, Mo. in Wildcat Arena.
"I give my teammates from the past three years all the credit. They put me in the position to score the ball," Perry said. "But I still have a long way to go. This is not my big priority right now. I just was to get better and better every day and get ready for conference."
Har-Ber (8-3) closed out the nonconference portion of its schedule playing its most complete game of the season, coach Scott Bolin said. The Wildcats bolted out to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter, then withstood a Webb City flurry in the second quarter, keyed by Perry's three-point play that helped turn a four-point lead into a double-digit cushion at the half.
The Wildcats played unselfishly at the offensive end with Perry and senior guard Tyler Garrett dishing out assists like holiday gifts.
"If we play like this, we're going to be pretty hard to beat," Bolin said. "But we have to continue to get better on the defensive end. I thought in the first half we gave up too many second-chance opportunities. But offensively, we've got nine guys who can go out there and get 15, that's a luxury. That's something a lot of people don't have."
Perry, who led Har-Ber with 20 points, knocked down a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, then hit Josh Ezell from almost half court for an alley-oop dunk that ignited a 26-point third quarter. Perry later added a four-point play when he drained a 3-pointer from the right wing and was fouled. His free throw extended the Wildcats' lead to 58-44 and Har-Ber was off and running.
Austin Garrett got a steal and a dunk and the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 13-5 run and a 71-49 lead.
"When you have two guards like we have that have been here since the ninth and tenth grades and started I don't know how many games, sometimes we just need to sit down and let them play," Bolin said. "I'm really proud of Tylor. He's sort of misunderstood sometimes, but he's a good teammate and he's not going to do anything but get better."
Tyler Garrett finished with 18 as six Wildcats reached double-figures. Tevaris Young led Webb City (3-5) with 16.
Springdale Har-Ber 94, Webb City, Mo. 58
Webb City 12 23 14 9 -- 58
Har-Ber 17 28 26 23 -- 94
Webb City (3-5): Young 16, Pickett 12, Ellis 10, Nichols 6, Rogers 6, Gaskill 4, Carpenter 4.
Har-Ber (8-3): Perry 20, T. Garrett 18, Buchanan 13, Ezell 12, Peek 12, A. Garrett 10, Ragsdale 9.
Preps Basketball on 12/22/2017