Panthers enjoy big win vs. Vilonia

The Siloam Springs boys are good enough to beat any team in the 5A-West Conference.

And on the flip side, any team in the 5A-West Conference is strong enough to defeat the Panthers.

That’s what the first half of league play plus last Friday’s homecoming game against Vilonia told us.

What a night Friday was for the Panthers, who recorded their second win over second-place Vilonia, 68-61, inside Panther Activity Center.

To put it simply: It was a huge win. So was the 57-47 victory at Van Buren on Jan. 26, which snapped a five-game losing streak. In that game, Siloam Springs overcame a blazing start by the Pointers, who hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter and led by 11 early.

Friday’s win against Vilonia though will be remembered for a long time around here, hopefully as the one where the Panthers turned their season around.

Down 30-22 at halftime, Siloam Springs blitzed the Eagles in the third quarter and scored 28 points to take a three-point lead going into the fourth. Vilonia kept things interesting, but the Panthers controlled the fourth quarter and made big plays down the stretch for a huge victory.

So heading into Tuesday night’s rematch with Van Buren — results were not available at presstime — Siloam Springs was sitting at 3-5 in league play. The Panthers were right there with six others teams in the league fighting for position.

Russellville, which was 7-1 and only loss to Vilonia, was in first place. Hey, the Cyclones were fortunate to beat the Panthes 70-62 on Jan. 22. A break here and there and that one could have gone to Siloam Springs.

The Panthers get another shot at the Cyclones on Feb. 19 at the PAC.

Second place Vilonia’s only two league losses have been to the Panthers.

Greenwood, with four league wins, is the most improved team in the conference, but they were fortunate to pull out a 53-50 win at Panther Activity Center on Jan. 19. Siloam Springs plays at Greenwood on Feb. 16.

How about Greenbrier? Greenbrier won the first round 62-50 on Jan. 15. The next showdown of Panthers takes place on Feb. 12.

The bottom two teams in the league, Alma (2-5) and Mountain Home (1-4), both defeated the short-handed Panthers when Josh Stewart was gone from the lineup.

Siloam Springs is scheduled to play the Bombers on Friday at the Hangar in Mountain Home — never an easy trip, nor an easy place to win.

The Panthers get another shot at Alma on Feb. 9 at Charles B. Dyer Arena, another tough place to play.

A strong finish by the Panthers will hopefully be enough for the Panthers to break a four-year postseason drought.