Freshmen lose in regional semifinals

■ The team finishes the year with a record of 20-5.

The Siloam Springs ninth-grade girls basketball team closed out a tremendous 2019-20 season Thursday night with a 43-28 loss to Greenwood in the semifinals of the 6A-West Region Tournament at Bulldog Arena in Fayetteville.

The Lady Panthers finished with an overall record of 20-5 and 9-1 in Northwest Arkansas Conference play.

“It’s been a blast,” said head coach Daren Ward. “We set a high standard and a high bar right from the beginning in the first practice. We were clear with our expectations and how good they could be. We were not shy about talking about regional tournament from the getgo. It was a priority for us. It’s what drove us to do that and achieve that.”

Unfortunately the Lady Panthers were not at their best on Thursday.

Greenwood shot out to a 15-3 lead after the first quarter and 23-7 at halftime.

Siloam Springs pulled within 31-17 going into the fourth quarter.

Brooke Ross led the Lady Panthers with 13 points, while Brooke Smith had eight, Sophie Stephenson three and Mimo Jacklik and Rachel Rine each with two.

The season ended one game short of the regional championship, but Ward said the future is bright for the Lady Panthers.

“Because of the caliber of players they are and their desire to be great, as they get more experience they’ll be able to flourish in those moments,” Ward said. “The desire is there. They have a desire to be great and work on it every day. That’s something that’s very rare these days that most teams don’t have. I’m proud of them for putting in all the work they did and allowing me to challenge them.”