Back in the mix
Panthers complete season sweep of Vilonia
Landon Ward pumped his fist and wore a smile on his face from ear to ear.
The rest of his Siloam Springs teammates didn’t hide their excitement either as the final seconds ticked off the Panthers’ stirring 68-61 come-from-behind homecoming victory over Vilonia on Friday.
“It was a big win,” said Ward, a senior guard. “We needed this win. Hopefully this will give us momentum and we’ll start winning the rest of our games. That’s the plan.”
The Panthers’ victory over the Eagles completed the season sweep of Vilonia (13-4, 6-2 5AWest), whose only two losses in league play have been to Siloam Springs.
The Panthers (8-11, 3-5) won at Vilonia on Jan. 5 to open conference play, but then lost their next five 5A-West games and fell to last place in the conference. The Panthers have also dealt with losing key players to covid-19 quarantine and injuries along the way.
Siloam Springs, though, picked up a big win at Van Buren on Tuesday and Friday’s victory has gotten the Panthers back in the thick of the league race for the second half of the season.
“This is a momentum game for us,” said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Stewart. “We’ve had so much adversity. We didn’t even have all our guys yesterday for practice. We just wanted the team to come together and get some momentum going and some positives going. We were able to do that at Van Buren. (On Friday) They just battled through adversity. They were down and we’re coaching them hard at halftime. Probably the best third quarter we’ve had in awhile.”
Siloam Springs let Vilonia crash
the boards and get several second change points as the Eagles took a 30-22 lead at halftime and looked to be in control.
But the Panthers emerged from the locker room for the third quarter with a different look about them and it showed on the court. Tim Stewart said the coaches challenged the team at half.
“We were soft,” Tim Stewart said. “They were getting too many rebounds. We knew the scouting report and told them what to do, and we didn’t execute. The officials were letting us play and we weren’t being physical on the rebounds, and man it was a lot better in the second half.”
Josh Stewart missed a field goal to open the second half but tipped the rebound to a wide-open sophomore Nate Vachon, who buried a 3-pointer to bring Siloam Springs within 30-25.
The Panthers then forced two straight turnovers which resulted into a basket-and-one from Landon Ward and an opportunity for another three-point play for Ward as the capacity homecoming crowd came to life.
Ward missed the free throw and the game remained tied, but only momentarily. Vilonia responded with five straight points to take a 35-30 lead, but the Panthers came charging back again.
Jackson Ford scored inside and Dalton Newman hit a short jumper to pull within 35-34.
Vachon then hit a 3-pointer for a 37-35 lead with 3:44 remaining in the quarter. Vachon would go on to hit another trey and Newman, Josh Stewart added baskets as Siloam Springs pulled ahead 4440.
A deep 3-pointer from the wing by Ward gave the Panthers a 47-40 lead and Newman would later convert a three-point play.
Siloam Springs outscored Vilonia 28-17 in the third quarter.
“Credit Siloam Springs,” said Vilonia coach Jeremy Simon. “What they did in that third quarter, we couldn’t stop them. I think they scored 28 points. I think there was 13 possessions, they scored 28 points. That’s ridiculous. Credit to them on how well they played. … For them it was a great team effort because we couldn’t stop any of their players tonight.”
The Panthers continued to make big plays in the fourth quarter to maintain a lead. Ford had a tipin, and Newman buried another 3-pointer in the corner. Ward and Newman had run-out layups and Siloam Springs converted 7 of 8 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
“The foundation is that toughness and effort and playing for each other,” said Tim Stewart. “Then when shots start falling, it’s been a long time since we’ve shot the ball well. You add that foundation of they’re getting on the floor and fighting for their teammates, then you hit a shot and it just snowballed for us.”
Austin Myers led Vilonia with 16 points, while Jones White added 14 and Dashun Spence 12 for Vilonia, who fell into second place behind league-leading Russellville.
Ward led Siloam Springs with 20 points, while Newman had a career-high 19 and Josh Stewart 13. Vachon scored all nine of his points on three 3-pointers in the third quarter, while Ford had five and Jedi Hunter with two.
Siloam Springs 68, Vilonia 61
Vilonia 15 15 17 14 — 61 Siloam Springs 10 12 28 18 — 68 Vilonia (13-4, 6-2): Myers 16, White 14, Spence 12, Middleton 9, Janski 6, Bartlett 2, Lovelace 2. Siloam Springs (8-11, 3-5): Ward 20, Newman 19, Stewart 13, Vachon 9, Ford 5, Hunter 2.
Siloam Springs 57, Van Buren 47
The Panthers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5A-West Conference victory at Van Buren on Tuesday at Clair Bates Arena.
The Panthers trailed 20-9 after the first quarter as Van Buren connected on six 3-point baskets in the first quarter.
Siloam Springs pulled within 29-23 at halftime and outscored Van Buren 18-7 in the third quarter to take a 41-36 lead going into the fourth.
“The kids showed some perseverance and toughness in weathering the early barrage of 3-pointers from Van Buren to keep working and comeback to win a conference road game,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Stewart. “We have a lot of guys contributing and this win comes at a good time for us to get on a roll.”
Landon Ward led the Panthers (7-11, 2-5) with 21 points, while Nate Vachon added 12, Josh Stewart nine, Jackson Ford eight and Dalton Newman seven.
Avery Salisbury led Van Buren with 21 points, including four 3-pointers in the first quarter. Jose Estrada added 14 points for the Pointers (8-5, 2-3).
Up next
The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday at home against Van Buren in a rematch of last Tuesday’s game.