Boys’ senior night a success
The Panthers hope to play one more game at the PAC.
The Siloam Springs boys basketball team hope Friday night’s home finale isn’t the last game it will play at the Panther Activity Center this season.
The Panthers defeated Russellville 66-49 on senior night and improved to 3-0 versus 6A competition in 5A/6A District 1 play with one game remaining Tuesday at Greenwood. The Panthers (9-17, 4-7) also own a nonconference victory over Greenwood in the seventh place game in the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic and a blowout win at Mountain Home for a 5-0 mark versus 6A teams this season.
And the Panthers would love another shot on their home court.
“That would be fantastic,” said Siloam Springs senior Noah Karp, who finished with 18 points. “We’d love to be able to play one in the conference tournament here. You know we’ve had a great student section all year this year. It’s been the best out of the three years I’ve been playing here. We’d love to give the students an opportunity to come out and cheer us on one more time.”
Siloam Springs will likely be the highest 6A seed from District 1 and could have a chance to host a 6A-West Conference Tournament game on Saturday, Feb. 18, if it earns a No. 4 seed. Seeding for the 6A-West tournament is set to take place early next week.
“It’s hard when you don’t see or play more than half of the other (6A) teams,” Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart said. “With our schedule and the improvements that we’ve seen, we don’t have any doubt that we can go play and compete with everybody.”
Like they have all season, Siloam Springs’ seniors led the way for the Panthers on senior night, scoring a combined 48 of their 66 points.
“It’s a special group. We’ve praised them for their attitude and their willingness to be coached and their willingness to bring that energy every day,” Stewart said. “It’s fun to see them excel on senior night. It may not be the last game that we have at home, but it’s a special night for those guys. For them to see the improvement throughout the year is really fun as a coach.”
Siloam Springs took control of Friday’s game against Russellville in the second quarter when it outscored the Cyclones 19-11 to take a 30-22 halftime lead.
The game was tied 18-18 when junior Spencer Lashley cashed in a 3-pointer from the wing and Charlie Jones had a steal and score to make it 23-18.
Lashley hit another trey in the corner to go up 28-20 and Harrison Kretzer hit a pair of free throws to put the Panthers up 30-22.
The Panthers pulled ahead by double digits in the fourth quarter on Karp’s shot off the glass and extended that margin in the fourth quarter to as many as 17 points.
Seniors Josh Hunt and Kretzer each scored 14 points to go with Karp’s 18, while Lashley, a junior, had nine.
“Really hammering the boards and our high-low passing is such an improvement from earlier in the year,” Stewart said. “Then our bigs handled the ball for us, too. Charlie and Noah in the first half didn’t have any trouble with the press, and then in the second half Harrison and Josh also got involved with that pressbreak. They’re wellrounded players and doing a lot for us.”
Ryan Talley led Russellville (3-17, 1-9) with 21 points, and Rhett Atkins added 14.
“Listen this group, 3-17 does not do justice to what this group has done,” said Russellville coach Matt Hall. “They have battled and competed and stayed together and hung in there and fought and whatever you want to say the whole time. They will not quit, and they are as frustrated as I am. We want to be winning, but winning is a long process and you’ve got to do a lot of stuff right. We did a lot of good things tonight, but not enough.”
Alma 60, Siloam Springs 56
ALMA — Siloam Springs had its chances late against Alma on Tuesday night, but the Panthers were unable to overcome the Airedales. The Panthers trailed 16-9 after the first quarter and 32-24 at halftime. The Panthers got within 48-43 going into the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie with 40.6 seconds left, but Josh Hunt was only able to make one of two free throws and the Airedales maintained a 57-56 lead. Siloam Springs was not able to score any more points as the Airedales completed the season sweep of the Panthers. Hunt led the Panthers with a career-high 24 points, while Noah Karp added 15, Charlie Jones 10, Spencer Lashley five and Harrison Kretzer two. Nathan Corder, who hit a halfcourt game-winning shot in a 54-52 victory in Siloam Springs on Jan. 13, led Alma with 21 points on Tuesday night. The Airedales hit 13 3-pointers.
Up next
The Panthers close out the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Greenwood. The Panthers have beaten Greenwood twice this season.