Tough trip
The Lady Panthers were blown out Friday at Mountain Home.
MOUNTAIN HOME — The Mountain Home Lady Bombers jumped out to a big early lead and held Siloam Springs to just nine first-half points in taking a 48-21 victory over the Lady Panthers in nonconference action Friday night at The Hangar.
The Lady Bombers scored three of their first five buckets on offensive rebounds, jumping out to a 10-4 lead.
Hannah Pfeifer knocked down the Lady Bombers’ first 3-pointer of the night with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter to give the hosts a 13-4 lead going into the second, where the 5-foot-7 junior drained another trey to push the lead to 16-4.
Chloe Price hit Siloam Springs’ first 3-pointer to draw within single digits, but the Lady Bombers answered with a basket in the
paint by Maly Tabor and another 3 by Pfeifer with 4:46 left before halftime.
“We didn’t play a very good game on the offensive end,” Siloam Springs head coach Tim Rippy said, “and you have to give Mountain Home some credit for playing good defense. For most of the night, they stayed in front of us and we had trouble getting to the rim.”
Mountain Home’s Alivia O’Brien knocked down another 3-pointer later in the second quarter, and the Lady Bombers were sitting on a 24-9 halftime advantage.
“We only had 10 turnovers, which is good,” Mountain Home coach Dell Leonard said. “We wanted our kids to handle mistakes and have a lot of energy and play with a lot of intensity on defense.”
Mountain Home kept it going in the third, with Vinessa Daniel filling the hoop and Pfeifer going coast to coast for a nifty layup and a 28-9 lead.
The Lady Panthers’ offensive struggles continued in the third quarter, missing on their first six field goal attempts before Sidney Henry got on the board with a basket at the 2:48 mark.
Mountain Home was up 36-13 when Henry banked in a 3-pointer to draw within 20. But Daniel had an answer for Mountain Home, hitting a 3 to end the third quarter with a 39-16 advantage.
“We looked like we were out of control,” Rippy said. “After we turned it over a few times, we didn’t understand that we needed to get organized. We have a really young team, with just two kids who have varsity experience, so it will take a little longer. Hopefully, this is a growing pain we can learn from.”
The Lady Bombers led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter — after five straight from Kenzie Collins and a basket by Kyra Pinn — and Siloam Springs could climb only as close as 21.
Pfeifer led all scorers with 15 points and Daniel added 13 for Mountain Home.
Price paced Siloam Springs with 10 points.
Mountain Home 48, Siloam Springs 21 Siloam Springs 4 5 7 5 — 21 Mountain Home 13 11 15 9 — 48 Siloam Springs (1-1): Price 10, Henry 5, Buckminster 4, Vaughn 2. Mountain Home (1-1): Pfeifer 15, Daniel 13, Tabor 8, Collins 5, O’Brien 3, Martin 2, Pinn 2.
Siloam Springs 54, Bentonville West 44
Morgan Vaughn found her groove at just the right time for Siloam Springs.
The Lady Panthers’ junior point guard scored 18 of her 22 points in the third quarter and Siloam Springs surged ahead of the Lady Wolverines for a season-opening victory.
A scrappy West squad led 24-22 at halftime and Siloam Springs struggled with the athletic Lady Wolverines in the first half. West beat the Lady Panthers to loose balls and gave them trouble with their full court pressure.
“We’ve got to learn how to be more physical,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. “A lot of times we were in the right position, but we weren’t physical enough. We also had a ton of mental mistakes, but we’re a young team and hopefully we’ll progress from game to game.”
Vaughn, who missed a couple of layups and didn’t make a 3-pointer in the first half, turned it around in the third quarter.
She had a couple of baskets inside to get the lead back for Siloam Springs, and Chloe Price scored in transition to make it 28-24.
Vaughn then had a steal and score and later hit a pair of 3-pointers as Siloam Springs pulled ahead by double digits.
“(Vaughn) did a heck of a job,” said West coach Randy Richardson. “She got loose on us a couple of times.”
Brooklyn Buckminster added nine points for Siloam Springs, while Alexis Roach and Kenlie Noel each had seven.
Imani Montgomery led the Lady Wolverines with 18 points, while Shania Wilson had 14.
Siloam Springs 54, Bentonville West 44 Bentonville West 9 15 8 12 — 44 Siloam Springs 13 9 21 11 — 54 Bentonville West: Montgomery 18, Wilson 14, Crowson 5, A. Henry 4, Wacaser 2, Williams 1. Siloam Springs: M. Vaughn 22, Buckminster 9, Roach 7, Noel 7, Price 5, Brown 3, S. Henry 1.