SSHS girls living up to hype

There’s a lot of excitement around Siloam Springs girls basketball right now — and with good reason.

Heading into this week, I’ve gotten to see the Lady Panthers play three times, and in all three games they’ve shown flashes of their potential to do great things, not only this year but in years to come.

Let’s start with this year’s three seniors: Quincy Efurd, Mia Hevener and Sydney Moorman. I remember when these girls were freshmen, playing under coach Erin Gatling Portmann. That group won a lot of games in a tough Northwest Arkansas Conference, composed of teams along the I- 49 corridor, and nearly advanced to the regional tournament. If memory serves correctly, they missed out qualifying on a tiebreaker.

This year’s juniors, led by Halle Hernandez and Reina Tiefel, didn’t have quite the same success as freshmen, but they had a workman-like mentality. They weren’t afraid to dive on the floor after loose balls, stir things up defensively and win the old-fashioned way with hustle, guts and determination.

And then there’s the talented group of sophomores. We’re only getting to see three of them right now in varsity action with the two Brookes, Brooke Ross and Brooke Smith and guard Mimo Jacklik.

Ross’ game reminds me of former SSHS standout Baily Cameron, who went on to become the all- time leading scorer at John Brown University. Smith is ultra- talented and has only scraped the surface for how good she’s going to be one day. And Jacklik has already caught the eye of several sportswriter colleagues of mine for her ability to take over a game.

The combination of these three classes has led to a team that has great potential for this 2020-21 season.

Of course, head coach Tim Rippy would tell you — and I would agree — that this group has a long way to go. You can’t win on talent alone in the 5AWest and the Lady Panthers will have to continue to make strides to compete with the Greenwoods, Vilonias, Mountain Homes and other top teams in this conference.

Also, conference members Russellville, Alma and Van Buren will be tough games in a rugged conference schedule.

I’ve been excited about this basketball season for some time now, and the Lady Panthers are fun to watch. They’ll be back in action at home Friday against Springdale.

If you want to be entertained, I’d encourage you to come watch them play.

Next week we’ll take a look at the Siloam Springs boys team after a tough week of road games at Bentonville and at Farmington, where they’ll face former Panthers head coach Johnny Taylor.