Lady Panthers can’t keep up with Vilonia

The energy and effort wasn’t there for the Siloam Springs girls basketball team Saturday afternoon in its regular season finale.

And what wasn’t there for the Lady Panthers was indeed present for the Vilonia Lady Eagles, who rolled to a 56-38 victory inside Panther Activity Center.

Vilonia had its offense clicking for three quarters before finishing the game with reserves. Vilonia won battles for loose balls and second chance points and had four players score in double figures.

The Lady Eagles (21-5, 11-3) used a 14-2 run in the first half to build a double-digit lead, which Siloam Springs could never overcome.

“”Early in the game I didn’t think that we played very hard,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. “Obviously we got on to them pretty good at halftime. But I felt like they got a lot of loose balls and second chance points, stuff we’ve got to clean up. That part of it is not understandable to me.”

Both teams were limited in preparation because of the winter weather across the state on Wednesday and Thursday. Both teams got to practice on Friday afternoon.

“I had no clue what to expect,” said Vilonia coach Jeremy Simon. “Being off two days straight, no practice. Then we had a sloppy practice (Friday). Then we had a four-hour trip up here. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if we were flat. I didn’t feel like our energy was real good before the game. As soon as we tipped it, we just executed really well tonight.”

Vilonia, the No. 2 seed from the 5A-West Conference, led 20-9 after the first quarter and 34-16 at halftime. The Eagles led 47-27 after the third quarter and led by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter.

Madeleine Tipton led the Lady Eagles with 15 points, while Sidni Middleton had 14, Bailey Sims 11 and Lexy Heston 10.

“Credit them,” Rippy said of Vilonia. “They were ready today and we didn’t look like we were. It’s one of those games where you can’t dwell on it too much. You’ve got to move on because you’ve got to get ready.”

Senior Hannah Riley led the Lady Panthers (17-9, 8-6) with seven points, while Reina Tiefel had six. Brooke Ross, Emily Keehn and Sidney Pfeiffer each had five, Anna Wleklinski four and Brooke Smith, Mimo Jacklik and Sophie Stephenson each with two.

The Lady Panthers will now play in the Class 5A state tournament at 1 p.m. Thursday against Little Rock Christian (22-4, 12-2).

Vilonia 56, Siloam Springs 38

Vilonia 20 14 13 9 — 56 Siloam Springs 9 7 11 11 — 38 Vilonia (21-5, 11-3): Tipton 15, Middleton 14, Sims 11, Heston 10, Grice 3, Bartlett 3.

Siloam Springs (17-9, 8-6): Riley 7, Tiefel 6, Ross 5, Keehn 5, Pfeiffer 5, Wleklinski 4, Smith 2, Jacklik 2, Stephenson 2.