Lady Panthers stumble in fourth quarter
Pryor outscored the SSHS girls 16-4 in final period.
INOLA, Okla. — Siloam Springs’ offense was able to keep pace with Pryor (Okla.) for three quarters on Saturday, but the Lady Panthers hit a wall in the fourth quarter.
Pryor outscored Siloam Springs 16-4 in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good and pull away for a 49-40 victory over the Lady Panthers in the third-place game of the Jerry Oquin Invitational at the Inola (Okla.) Sports Complex.
Turnovers plagued the Lady Panthers the whole night as they finished with 27 overall, including seven in the fourth quarter.
“You’re not going to be successful if you have 27 turnovers, which also led to a bunch of their points,” said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Rippy. “When you lose a close game and you give the other team points by turning the basketball over, it’s just very frustrating.”
Four straight turnovers in the first quarter helped Pryor build a 15-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers managed to pull within 18-16 by the end of the period thanks to a threepoint play from Hadlee Hollenback and 3-pointers from Morgan Vaughn and Alexis Roach.
Siloam Springs had nine turnovers in the second quarter, but managed to take a 25-22 lead after a Vaughn jump shot. Pryor closed the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 27-25 lead at halftime.
Pryor pulled ahead 31-28 in the third quarter after a spinning
layup from Hunter Gilstrap, but the Lady Panthers closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 36-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Vaughn cut the lead to 31-30 with a jump shot, and after Pryor made it 3330 on a steal and score from Alyissa Harry, Vaughn tied the game with a 3-pointer. Chloe Price then knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Lady Panthers a three-point lead.
Pryor cut the lead to 36-35 to open the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws by Autumn Miller, and Vaughn hit a pair of free throws on the other end to keep a three-point advantage.
Pryor scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. Faith Lanham hit a pair of free throws to start the run and Kenzie Silkey and Sarah Wood connected on treys for a 43-38 lead.
Vaughn answered with a basket to make it 43-40, but the Lady Panthers were unable to generate any more points out of their offense.
Siloam Springs had trouble penetrating Pryor’s trapping defense, which led to turnovers and easy baskets for the bigger, more physical Lady Tigers throughout the game.
“They were bigger, but we have to be aggressive with the attack,” Rippy said. “We have the speed advantage, they have the size advantage. We continued to leave our feet and tried to throw over the trap, instead of either getting a split on the trap or getting their hands up and bouncing the ball around the trap. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. That’s frustrating.”
Vaughn finished with 20 points to lead the Lady Panthers while Hollenback had eight, Price seven, Roach three and Brooklyn Buckminster two.
Gilstrap led Pryor with 19 points, one of nine different players who scored points on Saturday for Pryor.
The Lady Panthers finished the tournament 1-2 after going winless in three games at the Rogers Great 8 Classic the week before.
The Lady Panthers beat tournament host Inola 57-52 in overtime in the first game last Monday and lost to Tulsa private school Holland Hall 62-52 on Thursday. Holland Hall wound up winning the tournament Saturday.
“We’ve started to score the ball better and rebound better,” Rippy said. “Those were some of the positives from this week. We’ve improved in some of the things. We’re in almost every game. We’re competing, but it seems like there’s one thing that’s a nemesis in our game, whether it’s turnovers or rebounds etc. We’ve got to get where we’re playing a complete ballgame, and that’s what we’re trying to learn how to do.”
Siloam Springs returned to action Tuesday in a nonconference game against Rogers. Results were not available at presstime.
The Lady Panthers (2-7) play at Tahlequah Sequoyah on Friday in their final game before the Christmas break.