Van Buren outscored Siloam Springs 25-11 in the final 8 minutes to rally for a 78-70 road victory in a 5A-West Conference game inside the Panther Activity Center.
"Huge for us," said Van Buren Coach Brad Autry, whose team improved to 12-5 overall and 2-0 in league play. "When we started this season, we had seven of nine guys that had never scored a varsity point of our top nine. We had four of five starters that had never started a varsity game.
"To be 2-0 at this point, trying to work through some of that, is outstanding. I couldn't be more proud."
Siloam Springs (11-6, 0-2) led 59-53 after three quarters, but Van Buren scored the first seven points of the fourth to take a 60-59 lead, including a three-pointer and a two-point bucket from Truett Cazzell.
Siloam Springs regained the lead 62-60 on a three-pointer from Jayden Hooton. The Panthers then went up 64-60 when Hooton threw an alley-oop to Ryan Vachon, who finished on the other end for a two-handed flush.
That's when Van Buren took its game to another level.
Kyree Dumas canned his fifth three of the night to bring the Pointers within 64-63. Van Buren then forced three consecutive turnovers and scored off all three, including a breakaway dunk for Gabriel Johnson.
Kannen Russell hit a three-pointer and was fouled with 3:17 left. Russell completed the rare four-point play for a 69-64 lead. Johnson converted another basket for a 71-64 lead and an 11-0 run.
"That's kind of how we've lived is with some runs," Autry said. "We try to change the pace of the game, and we've got some guys that can do that. (Abe) Cone off the bench. Russell off the bench. They just kind of change the energy and get guys off balance. I thought Gabe Johnson got really active defensively late.
"I thought our hands were really active during that run. There were tipped balls. There were fingertips on the ball. Guys were really locked in on defending with intensity, and I thought that kind of fed into our run."
Siloam Springs wasn't able to get closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Pointers actually led 78-67 in the final seconds, having outscored the Panthers 18-3 down the stretch before Crew Webb hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score.
Van Buren forced nine Siloam Springs turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"(Van Buren) took it to another gear, and it led to a bunch of turnovers in the fourth and against a good team that's all it takes," Siloam Springs Coach Tim Stewart said. "They were able to gap it, and we didn't really respond to that pressurized situation like we wanted to.
"We've got to keep working. We did a lot of good things. Van Buren's a really good team, and they're well coached. We just didn't finish the way ... Click here to read full article
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