Girls earn first conference win
■ Jael Harried tied a careerhigh with 33 points in the win over Russellville.
It was all hands on deck Tuesday night for the Siloam Springs girls basketball team, and the Lady Panthers needed every one of them to hold on for a 67-62 victory against Russellville.
Siloam Springs took an early 6-0 lead on Russellville and never trailed in earning its first 5A-West Conference win of the season.
The Lady Panthers subbed early and often, hammering Russellville with fresh legs and feisty defense.
“We led from start to finish, and we really tried to push the tempo tonight, and we played a lot of kids,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. “I think we played 10, and I felt like we had the depth to do that tonight and it helped our scoring. You’ve got to give (the Lady Cyclones) credit too for making all those shots late and hanging in there. I felt like we were on the verge of putting them away a couple of times, but they really hung tough as well.”
Jael Harried tied a career-high with 33 points to lead the Lady Panthers in scoring, matching her output in a road victory at Bentonville West earlier this season. Harried scored the Lady Panthers’ first nine points on the night and helped Siloam Springs take a 17-6 lead after the first quarter.
“She was aggressive tonight, attacking the rim,” Rippy said of Harried. “That’s what we need from her. I thought she cut really well away from the ball as well, and our kids did a really good job of finding her. Russellville traps a lot, so you have the opportunity to cut behind the traps and get your playmakers the ball. We did that for the most part.”
Siloam Springs led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter and took a 34-22 advantage at halftime.
Mia Hevener hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the third quarter to help the Lady Panthers keep their double digit lead, but the Lady Cyclones rallied to pull within 47-40 going into the fourth quarter.
Russellville hammered Siloam Springs on the offensive boards, which led to second chance points that helped the Lady Cyclones.
“A lot of times we were in position and it hit us in the hands, and we just couldn’t seem to come down with it where we had inside position,” Rippy said. “I don’t know how many times that happened, but it felt like four or five consecutive possessions in the third quarter. Of course we were challenging them on that very thing every time out, every break in the action, to block out, rebound and continue to push it on offense, because we got a lot of easy buckets.”
Siloam Springs got its lead back up to 14 points in the fourth quarter. Points from Harried and Sydney Moorman and sophomores Halle Hernandez and Reina Tiefel gave Siloam Springs a 54-40 lead.
We intentionally got some of the younger ones in tonight. Boy Halle Hernandez really stepped up for us and made some big plays down the stretch for us, and also a lot to learn from for the future. Reina was playing really good defense early in the ballgame. Proud of those kids for contributing as much as they did against Russellville’s athleticism.
Russellville made a late run, cutting the Lady Panthers’ lead to 65-62 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Cara Davis and Sara Velazquez with 19 seconds left.
Hevener missed a pair of free throws and Russellville got the ball back with a chance to tie but Davis’ shot was way off.
Moorman was fouled and sank a pair of free throws with 0.2 seconds left to finish the Lady Panthers’ win.
Velazquez scored 23 points to lead Russellville, while Gracie Campbell had 19 and Davis 11. Moorman contributed 10 points for Siloam Springs, while Hevener had six, Tiefel and Hernandez each with five and Fortner, Efurd, Henderson and Winesburg all with two apiece.
Siloam Springs 67, Russellville 62
Russellville 6 16 18 22 — 62 Siloam Springs 17 17 13 20 — 67 Russellville (6-10, 1-5): Velazquez 23, Campbell 19, Davis 11, Handie 6, Thone 3.
Siloam Springs (7-11, 1-5): Harried 33, Moorman 10, Hevener 6, Tiefel 5, Hernandez 5, Fortner 2, Efurd 2, Henderson 2, Winesburg 2.
Girls lose at Vilonia
The Siloam Springs girls dropped a 61-32 loss at Vilonia on Friday to wrap up the first half of 5A-West Conference play. The Lady Panthers (7-12, 1-6) trailed 16-6 after the first quarter and 27-15 at halftime. Vilonia (18-2, 6-1) outscored Siloam Springs 23-7 in the third quarter to take a 50-22 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Jael Harried had 11 points, Quincy Efurd had five, Mia Hevener, Cheyanne Pfieffer and Sidney Pfeifer each had three, Sydney Moorman and Reina Tiefel both had two.