VAN BUREN -- Cabot coach Chris Meseke was eager to see how his young team would do closing out games to begin the season. The Panthers were able to pass their test Friday night at Clair Bates Arena.
Cabot held off a come-from-behind attempt from Subiaco Academy with the help of the free-throw line in a 54-52 victory in a semifinal matchup at the Citizens Bank Classic. Cabot was able to make 12 of 14 its fourth-quarter attempts from the line.
Cabot 54, Subiaco Academy 52
Subiaco^11^12^9^20^—^52
Cabot^18^10^10^16^—^54
Subiaco (5-1): Taylor 23, Janga 11, Myers 7, Tayne 6, Forest 3, King 2.
Cabot (3-1): Rainey 14, Muse 12, Vance 12, Hudson 8, Rudolph 6, Vaught 2.
Citizens Bank Classic
At Van Buren
Thursday’s games
Subiaco 74, Mountain Home 71 (2 OT)
Cabot 68, Bentonville West 57
Fort Smith Southside 59, Clarksville 47
Mena 56, Van Buren 52
Friday’s games
Mountain Home 53, Bentonville West 48
Van Buren 63, Clarksville 47
Cabot 54, Subiaco 52
Fort Smith Southside vs. Mena, (n.)
Today’s games
Bentonville West vs. Clarksville, 1:30 p.m.
Mountain Home vs. Van Buren 3 p.m.
Subiaco vs. FS Southside/Mena, 4:30 p.m.
Cabot vs. FS Southside/Mena, 6 p.m.
"That is one of our strengths as a team," Meseke said. "We do shoot the ball well. We got some guys who can shot the free throws well. That was a plus for us tonight. We have to get better down the stretch though."
Class 7A Cabot (3-1) held a 38-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter and pushed the edge out to 44-32 after Subiaco started the quarter with three consecutive turnovers.
The Class 4A Trojans were able to get back into the game after that, using an 11-2 run to cut the advantage to 46-43 capped by back-to-back 3-pointers.
Subiaco senior guard James Taylor was then called for a foul on defense and then picked up another after the play to foul out with just minutes left to play. Taylor finished with a game-high 23 points.
Cabot was able to take a 49-43 lead after making three of the four free-throw attempts after the fouls.
Subiaco (5-1) battled back to take a 52-51 lead with a key 3-point basket with 38 seconds left. Elvis Janga, who finished with 11 points in the game, hit the outside shot for the Trojans.
"Subiaco has some big playmakers," Meseke said. "The more you let them hang around, they live for that big shot. They hit some tonight. Thankfully we made one more play than they did as ugly as it was for us."
Jackson Muse made back-to-back free throws for Cabot with 18 seconds left to take a 53-52 lead, and the Panthers were able to hold on after that. Subiaco had a shot go in and out of the rim on its last possession of the game.
"We had our opportunities we didn't shot the ball very well," Subiaco coach Tim Tencleve said. "We had some things go wrong for us. We had our chances. We had a real good shot at winning it. It just didn't happen."
Cabot was able to make 12 of its 16 fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line to help secure the victory.
"For us it's on the job training," Meseke said. "We have one senior and he didn't even play basketball last year. So we have these juniors who didn't get many minutes last year. They haven't played under the lights on the big stage. We are leaning how to finish."
Cabot was led by Jordan Rainey finishing with a team-high 14 points. Muse and Seth Vance each added 12 points for the Panthers.
Cabot was able to take a 28-23 lead into the break with a lay-up at the buzzer by Vance off a missed Subiaco free-throw attempt. The Panthers scored the final eight points to help answer a strong start to the second quarter from the Trojans.
Cabot didn't miss much early in the game, making seven of eight shots from the field to open that game including three 3-pointers. That allowed them to take an 18-11 edge after the initial quarter.
"It was nice to get out to a good start for our guys," Meseke said. "We were in a tough situation. If we can shoot the ball, it is a big boost for us early. That helped us out a lot."
Subiaco was able to find its way on offense to open the second quarter. The Trojans used a 12-2 run to take a 23-20 lead late in the quarter. Taylor capped the scoring burst with a shot behind the arc.
Subiaco was able to take advantage of the free-throw line during the run, as it made five of six attempts in the second quarter.
Sports on 12/01/2018