The last hurrah for seniors
Panthers fall to Vilonia
The Siloam Springs boys basketball team’s season came to an end Friday night with a 62-47 loss to Vilonia, but the end of the night brought smiles to nearly everyone inside of Panther Activity Center.
Injured seniors Jordan Stewart and Carson Wleklinski, who both suffered ACL injuries before the season, entered in the game in the final minutes for one last hurrah on what has been lost personal seasons.
Stewart and Wleklinksi fired away 3-point shots and none found their target, but the moment seem to put a light on what has been a tough finish to the season for the Panthers (13-12, 4-10 5A-West).
“At the end of the day, the night was about the seniors,” said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart. “What a strong group that’s been. Ever since I’ve been here, that group has been a fun team to be around. They’ve left a good mark on the program, a good legacy for the underclassmen. It would have been picture perfect to get a win and let Jordan and Carson hit a three right there”
Then Tim Stewart added with a laugh, “But like Coach (Bill) Covington said, the knee injuries obviously didn’t affect their shooting ability.”
Vilonia also played a role in it. Up big, the Eagles were willing to let the injured Panthers take their shots.
“Give Vilonia some love too. They did a good job of understanding the situation,” Tim Stewart said. “The fans had fun with it. We’re going to miss this group. We had a tough year. Had some adversity. Had some close calls. Through it all, the kids have really been coachable and played hard.”
Five games into conference play, Siloam Springs was sitting 3-2 after a big win at home against Little Rock Christian and poised to make a run at the state tournament. The next game the
Panthers lost on a tip-in at the buzzer to 5A-West conference champ Russellville and a few weeks later to Alma on a similar play. Overall the Panthers finished 1-8 in their final nine games.
On Friday, the longer, more athletic Eagles had things going from the opening tip.
Sophomore Austin Myers pumped in 23 points as the Eagles finished the season sweep of the Panthers.
The Eagles (20-7, 9-5) earned the No. 3 seed out of the 5A-West after Little Rock Christian’s overtime win over previously unbeaten Russellville clinched the No. 2 seed for the Warriors.
Vilonia led 12-8 after the first quarter and 32-23 at halftime. The Eagles led by at least eight points the rest of the way.
“We wanted to finish strong have a good outing here tonight,” said Vilonia coach Jeremy Simon.
Landon Hill added 12 points for Vilonia, while Austin Wader scored 11.
Senior Evan Sauer had 21 points to lead Siloam Springs in his final game, while senior Drew Vachon had nine, Josh Stewart six, senior Thad Wright four, Max Perkins and Landon Ward each with three and Carter Winesburg one.
The Panthers said goodbye to their seniors, but the coaches feel a good group of players is in the works for future years.
“We have some pieces where we’re going to have more length than we’ve had since Payton (Henson) and Dylan (Gray) have been here,” Tim Stewart said. “It’s going to be a different look. We’re really going to hit the weights and the court. It’s going to be as athletic and physically capable of a group as we’ve had in a long time, guys that we think are still growing and carry on what this senior group has done as far as culture.”
Russellville 70, Siloam 45
The Panthers fell at 5AWest champ Russellville 70-45 on Tuesday evening at Cyclone Arena.
Taelon Peter scored 15 points, while Ryan Sitkowski and Trey Allen each scored 12 for the Cyclones.
Drew Vachon led the Panthers with 13 points, while Carter Winesburg had 10, Landon Ward and Jackson Ford each with six, Josh Stewart and Evan Sauer each with five and Thad Wright two.