HEBER SPRINGS – Heber Springs raced out to a 23-6 first-half advantage and didn’t look back as the Panthers opened conference play with a 39-21 victory over Subiaco Academy at the Panther Den.
Heber Springs, which led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and 38-13 at the end of the third quarter, got 8 points from Weston Warden — all in the first quarter.
Warden was among 10 Panthers who scored in the contest.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (39): Weston Warden 8, Jude Herring 4, Liam Buffalo 6, Jacob Harrod 2, Ty West 2, Josiah Riggs 7, Seth Dudeck 5, Samuel Bush 2, Maddox Shumate 1, Nash Farmer 2
SUBIACO ACADEMY SCORING (21): Grist 3, Tarmo 5, Schmitz 8, Wu 3, George 2
HEBER SPRINGS – Heber Springs led 22-0 at the half and cruised to a 24-10 victory over Subiaco Academy in seventh-grade boys action at the Panther Den.
The improved Heber Springs to 8-0 on the season.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (24): Rhett Herring 4, Samuel Bush 1, Lachlan Tubbs 2, Tanner Graham 3, Landon Brown 4, Josiah Riggs 7, Bryson O’Neill 3
HEBER SPRINGS 7TH-GRADE BOYS2021-2022 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
(Click on each game for details)
RECORD: 8-0
Nov. 11 Heber Springs 21, Mount Vernon-Enola 3
Nov. 20 Tuckerman (win) at Tuckerman Jamboree
Nov. 20 Cedar Ridge (win) at Tuckerman Jamboree
Nov. 30 at Southside Batesville (win)
Dec. 01 Heber Springs 13, Pangburn 9
Dec. 06 Heber Springs 40, Cedar Ridge 23
Dec. 09 Heber Springs 30, Rose Bud 22
Dec. 10 Heber Springs 24, Subiaco Academy 10
Jan. 06 at South Side Bee Branch, 5 p.m.
Jan. 13 White County Central, 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 20 Riverview, 5 p.m.
Jan. 24 at Mayflower, 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 27 Bradford, 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Bauxite Jamboree
(* - results unavailable)
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ROSE BUD – Heber Springs outscored Rose Bud, 25-10, in the second half to claim a 45-22 junior boys victory.
Heber Springs led 8-5 at the end of the first quarter and 20-12 at the half before outscoring the Ramblers, 9-5 in the third quarter and 16-5 in the final stanza.
Liam Buffalo finished with a game-high 16 points while Jude Herring was also in double figures with 10.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (45): Weston Warden 3, Liam Buffalo 15, Jacob Haskett 2, Braden Biggs 2, Jacob Harrod 5, Ty West 6, Jude Herring 10, Maddox Shumate 2
ROSE BUD SCORING (22): Martin 5, Bell 6, Bradley 9, Starkey 2
HASKELL – Heber Springs fell to Benton Harmony Grove, 31-29, in nonconference senior boys play.
Benton Harmony Grove led 11-5 at the end of the first quarter and 13-10 at the half, before Heber Springs tied things up at 21-all heading into the final quarter.
J.T. Spears paced the Panthers with 10 points, while the Cardinals’ Carson Withers led all scorers with 12 points.
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (29): Eli Riggs 6, Gavin Vaughn 5, Ryan Crocker 2, Parker Brown 6, J.T. Spears 10.
BENTON HARMONY GROVE SCORING (31): Drake Brown 6, Carson Withers 12, Blake Ammons 5, Cash Parker 6, Garrett Britt 2
HASKELL – With Heber Springs’ leading scorer Jaylea Hooten held to four points, a trio of Panthers stepped up finishing in double figures in helping lead Heber Springs to a 49-43 nonconference victory over Benton Harmony Grove.
Addison Hudspeth paced Heber Springs with 16 points as the Panthers were tied at 9-all at the end of the first quarter and led 24-13 at the break.
Savannah Stout finished with 12 and Hope Turney added 11 to round out the trio that scored in double figures.
The Cardinals got back into the contest in the third quarter outscoring Heber Springs 18-8, thanks in part to four 3-pointers in the quarter by senior Kallyn Sussamon.
Sussamon scored a game-high 20 points, including nailing six of the seven 3-pointers made by Harmony Grove on the night.
Heber Springs dropped 11 3-pointers led by Stout with four, Turner and Hudspeth with three and Emily Fuller with one.
The Panthers outscored the Cardinals, 17-12, in the final quarter.
Heber Springs’ Ryan Crocker looks to get past South Side Bee Branch’s Gage Johnston in action at the Family Activities Center in Conway. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
CONWAY – J.T Spears hit a 3-pointer right before the half and Heber Springs didn’t look back in claiming a 36-25 victory over South Side Bee Branch in a consolation contest from the St. Joseph tournament.
The two teams were tied at 15-all with 60 seconds left before the break when Spears hit the field goal.
The game would remain tight throughout the third quarter as Heber Springs led 23-19 with 1:53 left in the stanza before Spears and Ryan Crocker hit 3-pointers to push the advantage to double figures.
Heber Springs finished 2-1 in the tournament as all six teams finished pool play with 1-1 marks.
“It was a really strong field with competitive games,” Heber Springs coach Jordan Riley said. “(I am) proud of these guys. I think there were a couple of games that we might have lost early in the season. but we are learning how to play the right way.
“They are doing a great job of buying in and doing what’s asked of them, I am really proud of their effort.”
Spears was one of three Panthers to finish in double figures in scoring with 11 as Gavin Vaughn also finished with 11 with Parker Brown adding 10.
Heber Springs limited Conner Riddle, who played last season for the Panthers, to 2 points.
“They have a really good team,” Riley said. “Of course they have Conner Riddle, who played at Heber last year and was a big part of what they did, we followed the game plan which was to contain Conner and the rest of their shooters on the outside and try to limit the damage they did around the basket. Offensively we wanted to be really patient, take what shots were good for us and get guys the ball in the right spot. I thought the guys executed really well.”
With the win, Heber Springs improved to 4-2 on the season. The four wins are one more than the Panthers have had the past two seasons (three).
“Just like in this game, learning how to play the right when you have a double digit lead with four minutes left, we are not going to play exactly the same way you would the rest of the game,” Riley said. “They have never really played like that, and they are staring to figure that out.
“I am really proud of their effort. Learning how to win is part of the process. They are 4-2 and I am not sure how many people expected us to be here. I am not sure how many people in that locker rom expected to here, but they are buying in, working hard every day, and when you do those things the wins come.”
Heber Springs will open conference play Friday at home against Subiaco Academy.
“They are really tough, but it’s going to be like that every night in our league,” Riley said. “We play in a really tough league. We are going to have play the right way consistently to be able to compete and hoepfully come up with quite a few wins.”
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (36): Gavin Vaughn 11, Ryan Crocker 6, J.T. Spears 11, Parker Brown 10.
SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH SCORING (25): Whitt Holland 3, Nathan Emmert 2, Gage Johnston 10, Conner Riddle 2, Reece Beaudin 5, Hayden Black 3.
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Heber Springs’ Lindsay Southerland dribbles past South Side Bee Branch’s Jewel Walley in senior girls action the Family Activities Center in Conway. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
CONWAY – Heber Springs got 16 points from Addison Hudspeth as the Panthers downed South Side Bee Branch, 47-41, in a consolation contest of the St. Joseph Tournament at the Family Activities Center.
Heber Springs led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and 23-17 at the break.
The game remained tight throughout the third quarter as a Molly Smith basket gave the Panthers a 29-21 advantage with 5:45 left in the third quarter, before Marli Huddleton field goal capped a 6-0 run that put the score a 29-27 with 2:22 remaining in the stanza.
Hudspeth would go on a 5-0 run with a 3-pointer, one of three on the afternoon, and a short jumper with 59 seconds left pushed the Heber Springs advantage back to seven at 34-27.
Mollie Leonard hit a pair of free throws for the Hornets and Jewel Walley drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 34-31 heading into the final quarter.
Junior Jaylea Hooten would take over in the fourth quarter scoring seven points, including the only two field goals for Heber Springs in the quarter, to fuel a 7-2 run that saw the Panthers increase their advantage to 41-33 with 4:48 left.
South Side Bee Branch (7-9) would make it a six-point contest with less than a minute to go but Heber Springs would salt the game away from the free-throw line. The Panthers finished the quarter 9-of-15 from the line and 11-of-20 on the afternoon.
“The game was a little closer than I wanted it to be,” Heber Springs coach Spencer Gay said, “but I was proud of the effort and was really proud of the girls fixing some ball-handling problems we’ve had.”
Heber Springs came into the tournament with an undefeated record but suffered their first loss of the season in the pool-play opener to Mayflower.
“That game was tough,” Gay said. “I don’t want to harp on that because winning two out of three (in the tournament) was pretty big time for us. I was proud of that.”
The first-year Panther coach would later add that the loss could benefit Heber Springs when they get into conference play.
“They played us a style that we are going to see later down the road,” Gay said. “I saw a (ball-handling) problem. Our kids saw a problem and they’ve worked every day since to fix it. It’s not going to happen overnight, but a month from now, but you are going to see a different team.”
The win improved Heber Springs to 7-1 on the season.
“I am ecstatic where we are,” Gay said. “I think it says a lot about the kids.”
HEBER SPRINGS SCORING (47): Hope Turney 1, Jaylea Hooten 15, Addison Hudspeth 16, Sophie Stone 4, Molly Smith 8, Emily Fuller 3.
SOUTH SIDE BEE BRANCH SCORING (41): Brinkley Smith 2, Marli Huddleston 3, Mollie Leonard 8, Jewel Walley 13, Emily Walley 14, Maggie Bradford 2.
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