Cobras fall to Panthers’ pressure in boys’ final of Shootout

Fountain Lake was held to single digits in three of four quarters Saturday as Benton won the championship game of the Chartwells Spa City Shootout, 54-31, at Bank OZK Arena.

The score was tied, 13-13, after the opening quarter, but the Cobras fell behind (14-3, 4-1

3A-4), 30-21, by halftime. Each team only had one player in double figures, but the Panthers

(7-4, 0-0 5A-South) had four more players with at least six points.

“The athleticism and depth definitely factored into it,” said Fountain Lake head boys’ basketball coach Jake Dettmering. “They turned up the heat a little bit in the second quarter. We gave them some run-out layups because we turned the ball over.

“In the second half, they continued a little bit of the same and we definitely wore down a little bit. I played six kids most of the game.”

Fountain Lake was outscored, 13-5, in the crucial third quarter. A 3-pointer by senior Joe Murphy cut the Cobras’ deficit to 11 points at 37-26 with 2:13 left until the final quarter, but Benton got three baskets from three different scorers to take a 43-26 lead into the fourth.

The Class 3A Cobras kept pace with their Class 5A opponents in the opening quarter. Benton scored the first five points, but Fountain Lake hit back with a 3-pointer by Murphy and a free throw by junior Rodrigo Vasquez.

Back-to-back buckets from seniors Saywer Oulch and Carl Ross put the Panthers back ahead by five points. Fountain Lake senior Ahman Johnson scored six points in the quarter, including the final shot with three seconds on the clock, and senior guard Jordan Mungle added a 3-pointer for a tie game to start the second quarter.

Benton went on an 8-0 run in the next two minutes of game time, but Fountain Lake cut into the lead with a pair of 3-pointers from Mungle and junior Colton McMullin. Three

more Panthers scored to re-establish the lead and Oulch hit a step-back 3-pointer with three seconds on the clock to set the halftime margin.

Oulch was the high scorer in the game with 11 points, all in the first half. Johnson scored six of his eight points in the first quarter and Mungle did not not score in the second half.

“We hit some shots in the first half,” Dettmering said. “In the second half, they kept us off balance. They were matching up, switching some of our actions and did a good job trapping us.

“We did not do a good job attacking out of the trap. We either turned the ball over or pass out and let them recover instead of attacking the numbers on the weak side. Their athleticism, length and depth were part of that, too.”

Ross finished with seven points for Benton, all in the first half. Senior guard Carson Cates, senior forward Maleek McClendon and junior forward Ethan Hilkert each finished with six points apiece.

Murphy led Fountain Lake in scoring with 10 points.

Fountain Lake was in Saturday’s final after beating a pair of 5A teams in the first two rounds. The Cobras defeated Greenwood (3-9, 0-0 5A-West), 4126, on Thursday before defeating Lakeside (3-8, 0-0

5A-South), 53-34, on Friday.

The Panthers advanced from the semifinals on Friday with a 43-42 victory over Sylvan Hills (10-2, 0-0

5A-Central). The Bears were ranked No. 5 in 5A in the Arkansas Sports Media Boys’ High School Basketball Poll entering the holiday break.

“Over Christmas, you look for tournaments to push yourselves where you have a chance to win a game or two against quality competition,” Dettmering said. “We definitely saw that this week.”

Fountain Lake is scheduled to be off for another week before the first of two 3A-4 matchups with Perryville (9-5, 4-1) in the second half of the season. The Cobras will host the Mustangs on Jan. 29.