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With Berryville trailing Blue Eye by 22 points at halftime of the teams’ first meeting this season, Bobcats coach Brent Compton chose not to make the adjustments that might have made things more competitive in the second half.
Call it planning ahead.
One week after Blue Eye went on to a 38-point victory over Berryville in the Green Forest holiday tournament, the Bobcats got their revenge.
After leading most of the way in the rematch, Berryville rallied over the final two and a half minutes and beat Blue Eye 46-37 on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Bobcat Arena.
“That first game, we got so far down at halftime,” Compton said. “I told the kids: ‘I’m not making any changes because I don’t want to give anything away for next week.’ I told them: ‘Obviously, we’re going to have to play a lot of zone the next game but we’re just going to have to continue what we’re doing.’ I just didn’t want to give anything away in the second half that might tip them off to what we were going to do the following Tuesday, and thankfully that worked. The score didn’t look great. We got beat the week before, but it paid off the week after.”
In the rematch, the Bobcats scored the final 10 points of the game.
“I was really proud of our kids,” Compton said. “After the way we played the week before and how bad the score was, I was proud of the way they responded on Tuesday and did what they had to do to win.”
Berryville led 3221 midway through the third quarter before Blue Eye went on a 7-0 run to close the period. The Bulldogs then scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to things at 32.
Bobcats sophomore Noah Houghton scored back-to-back baskets off assists by seniors Dale Nagtalon and Lucas Pierce to give Berryville a four-point lead, but a three-pointer at the 4:11 mark and two free throws with 2:33 left in the game gave Blue Eye a 37-36 lead.
The Bulldogs didn’t score again.
Senior Ashton Blok put Berryville ahead to stay when he scored on an inbounds pass for a 38-37 lead, then Houghton added a short jumper from inside the lane to make it 40-37 with 1:25 remaining. Blok hit the first of two free throws with 24 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 41-37.
“Ashton made a big basket,” Compton said. “He played solid.”
On its next possession, Blue Eye rebounded a missed three-pointer, but Nagtalon came up with a steal and sophomore Peyton Smith made two free throws with 9.3 seconds left. Smith tacked on the second of two free throws after Blue Eye was whistled for a technical foul.
Berryville kept possession because of the technical and Blue Eye fouled Smith again after the inbounds pass. The sophomore sank two free throws with 7.6 seconds left for the game’s final points.
“There were chances that we could have given in, but our guys are good character guys,” Compton said. “They were determined to get the win and they did.”
Houghton and Smith led Berryville with 15 points apiece. Smith had 10 points in the first half and Houghton scored 11 in the second half.
Josh Butler made two three-pointers and scored eight points for Berryville.
The Bobcats lost their 4A-1 conference opener at Farmington, 63-26, on Friday, Dec. 15.
Berryville will host Shiloh Christian at Bobcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 19, before playing at Huntsville on Friday, Dec. 22.
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