Lady Panthers show no rust
■ Siloam Springs’ girls rout Huntsville, improve to 5-0.
HUNTSVILLE — Siloam Springs’ girls didn’t show any rust from more than two weeks since their last game.
The Lady Panthers shot out to an early sizable lead against Huntsville and ran away with a 52-34 victory Friday on Colors Day inside Charles Berry Gymnasium.
Siloam Springs’ previous game was a 52-39 win against Prairie Grove at Panther Arena on Nov. 18. The team took off Thanksgiving week and returned to practice last Monday.
“We had a chance to practice all week, and I think also get a little healthier over the break,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy.
“We were able to take five days off, which we don’t typically take that long over Thanksgiving. We thought we had some nagging injuries and things. That was good for us. We came back refreshed, and then we had four good days of practice and preparation.”
Siloam Springs scored the first eight points of the ball game and led 14-5 after the first quarter and 28-12 at halftime.
The Lady Panthers (5-0) led by as many as 26 points in the second half before Rippy emptied his bench for the final half of the fourth quarter.
Rippy was pleased with the Lady Panthers’ matchup zone defense, which limited Huntsville (4-3) to just five field goals in the first half.
“We ran our matchup, and it’s really the first game we kind of told our kids that we’re going to commit to it the whole game and not change defenses and really try to work on it because we haven’t had that luxury yet,” Rippy said. “This week in practice obviously we got to work on it a lot.”
Huntsville coach Greg McCone said the Lady Eagles expected to see Siloam Springs’ matchup and still struggled with it.
“We knew they were going to run it, and (Rippy) does a great job teaching it,” McCone said. “It gives you fits. When we did get a couple of shots we didn’t make it. Siloam does a good job with that defense and they’re a tough matchup.”
Carlie Howerton led Huntsville with seven points, while Alissa Pillow and Elly Harriman each had six.
Siloam Springs enjoyed a balanced scoring night offensively. Brooke Ross led the Lady Panthers with 11 points, while Mimo Jacklik had nine, Brooke Smith eight, Reina Tiefel and Emily Keehn each with seven, Cailee Johnson four and Anna Wleklinski, Sophie Stephenson and Sidney Pfeifer each with two.
Huntsville 59, Siloam Springs 52
Siloam Springs 8 11 17 16 — 52 Huntsville 18 13 15 13 — 59 Siloam Springs (1-3): Stewart 21, Winesburg 10, Newman 10, Vachon 6, Lashley 5, Huntsville (5-0): Lambert 16, Davidson 13, Dodson 13, Sisk 11, Reynolds 6.
Siloam Springs 67, Rogers Heritage 42
The Siloam Springs boys basketball team picked up its first win of the season Tuesday, and the Panthers looked good doing it.
Nate Vachon scored 20 points, Carter Winesburg had 16 and Josh Stewart 15 as the Panthers rolled by Rogers Heritage 67-42 inside Panther Activity Center.
The Panthers (1-2) never trailed, jumping out to a double-digit first quarter lead and leading by as many as 24 in the first half before Heritage cut the deficit to 16 at halftime.
The War Eagles trimmed it to down to 11 early in the third quarter, but Siloam Springs responded with an 8-0 run to retake control.
“We got the big lead and getting players to play their best with the big lead is a challenge,” Siloam Springs Coach Tim Stewart said. “Lot of good learning lessons.”
Leading 17-7 after the first quarter, Vachon hit two straight baskets to open the second quarter. He would go on to hit two three-pointers and convert a three-point play, scoring 13 points in the second quarter.
“If we find him in rhythm, he can hit them every night,” Stewart said of Vachon, a junior.
Josh Stewart, who sat most of the second quarter with foul trouble, scored 12 points in the third quarter, including two three-point plays and a three-pointer.
The Panthers avenged a 68-60 loss in their seasonopener at Heritage last season when War Eagles guard Micah Hill scored 32 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
On Tuesday, Hill was held to 18 points, hitting four three-pointers.
“Defensively, keeping a team like Heritage out of rhythm, keeping a shooter like Micah Hill out of rhythm, keeping [Carson] Simmons and [Jaden] Torres in check is big defensive win for us,” Stewart said. “Then you add to the fact that offensively it’s the first night where offense really got moving and the ball went in the hole.”
Siloam Springs 67, Rogers Heritage 42
Rogers Heritage 7 15 11 9 — 42
Siloam Springs 17 21 15 14 — 67
Rogers Heritage: Hill 18, Simmons 10, McChristian 7, McElroy 3, Furuseth 2, Hensley 2. Siloam Springs: Vachon 20, Winesburg 16, Stewart 15, Newman 7, Hawbaker 4, Cunningham 2, Hunter 2, Fox 1.