Bobcats rally to win 2 games at home

After playing five road games to start the season, the Berryville Bobcats finally got to play in front of a home crowd with two games last week at Bobcat Arena.

The Bobcats had to come from behind in both games, but still picked up a pair of victories. Berryville defeated Green Forest 5443 on Tuesday, Nov. 29, then topped Valley Springs 55-44 on Friday, Dec. 2.

The Bobcats erased an early 13-2 deficit against Green Forest and then scored 15 consecutive points after trailing in the fourth quarter against Valley Springs.

“Against Green Forest, I think our kids were just super amped up,” Berryville coach Brent Compton said. “We’d played all of our games on the road and I think we kind of got overhyped, so to speak.”

Green Forest made four three-pointers in the first quarter, including three during their game-opening run. The Tigers’ three senior guards — Ali Cabrera, Tony Gonzalez and Jay Pope — led the way. Pope hit back-to-back three pointers to get Green Forest out to a 6-1 lead. Cabrera’s three-pointer from the left wing made it 9-1 less than three minutes into the game, then Gonzalez scored in transition and converted an offensive rebound into a basket for a 13-2 advantage.

“Green Forest played extremely well,” Compton said. “They’d played a different defense all season until that night. They threw a different defense at us and it kind of threw us out of rhythm a little bit. So it took us a while to get going. But the kids did what they had to do to win.”

Berryville’s D.J. Colbert made a pair of free throws with 3:02 left in the first quarter, then answered another three-pointer by Cabrera with a three of his own from the left corner off an inbounds pass to make it 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Berryville chipped away at the lead, but Green Forest led 26-25 at halftime. The Bobcats finally started to take control late in the third quarter, reeling off an 11-2 run to finish the quarter.

Senior guard Nate Allen’s three-pointer with 4:51 remaining gave the Bobcats their first lead at 31-30. Pope scored off an assist from Cabrera to put Green Forest back in front, but then Berryville scored the next eight points.

Colbert’s free throw with 3:36 left in the quarter tied the score at 32, then he dropped in a three-pointer for a 35-32 lead at the 2:32 mark. Senior forward Jake Wilson scored in transition, then drove for a basket to make it 39-32 at the end of the quarter.

After a basket by Pope, Wilson’s three-pointer extended Berryville’s lead to 42-34. Wilson then added a bank shot and two free throws, Allen scored a layup in transition and Colbert dropped in a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 51-37 with 4:12 left to play.

Colbert and Wilson finished with 23 points apiece for Berryville. Colbert made six of the Bobcats’ 10 three-pointers, while Wilson had three.

Pope led Green Forest with 18 points, while Gonzalez added 10 and Cabrera scored nine. The Tigers had just three three-pointers over the final three quarters, including one in the second half.

Berryville wasn’t sharp offensively against Valley Springs on Friday, but led 34- 32 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers opened the fourth quarter with an 8-3 run and led 40-37 when Compton called a timeout with 5:19 left.

After the timeout, Wilson took over. The Berryville senior scored the game’s next 12 points, starting with a three-point play that tied the score at 40 with 5:02 left. Wilson scored off an offensive rebound to put the Bobcats ahead to stay, added a three-pointer with 3:33 remaining, then made four consecutive free throws. Colbert’s three-pointer from the left corner capped a 15-0 run by the Bobcats for a 52-40 lead with 1:34 to play.

“We knew we had to get things going, and we knew he was the guy that could get it going,” Compton said about what he told his team during the timeout. “We came out of the timeout with a play just for him and he scored and got fouled and made the free throw and tied it up. The momentum at that point swung back to us. Our kids are winners. They’re going to find a way to win. And they did what it took to win.”

Colbert made six of the Bobcats’ nine three-pointers and led Berryville with 22 points. Wilson had 19, including 12 in the fourth quarter.

Berryville defeated Omaha 61-39  in the first round of the Green Forest Holiday Tournament on Monday as Wilson scored 25 points, with Allen adding 18 and Colbert scoring 14. The Bobcats will play Lincoln in a semifinal game at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday.