Lady Panthers spoil Harrison’s senior night
Siloam Springs to play Paragould in opening round of girls basketball tournament
HARRISON — Siloam Springs girls coach Beau Tillery expected a battle at Harrison on senior night, and that’s just what the Lady Panthers got.
Siloam Springs overcame early foul trouble, a poor free-throw shooting performance and a subpar night offensively to rally past the Lady Goblins 53-50 on Friday inside Goblin Arena.
The Lady Panthers (19-9, 12-2) held Harrison scoreless over the final three minutes of the game and finished on a 7-0 surge to overtake an inspired Lady Goblins squad that was playing its best basketball at the end of the season.
“We knew it would be (a battle),” Tillery said. “Obviously it was tough at our place for three quarters and it was a scrap. Giving the situation on the road, knowing that it’s really hard to get 16- to 18-year olds to think about tonight and not about next week, you know, state tournament that they’re going to be competing in. Then on (Harrison’s) side, senior night, last game on their season. They shoot it really well here. They play really well here. They’re coming off a big win. Their crowd is phenomenal.
“If we can take anything away from it, it’s that we fought through a little bit of adversity and managed to get the job done when it wasn’t easy and wasn’t the smoothest and sharpest.”
Siloam Springs led 16-6 early in the second quarter after Brooke Smith scored on a bank shot, and 18-8 after a Brooke Ross basket inside, but both ended up in foul trouble and Harrison took advantage and rallied to a 23-23 tie at halftime.
“We had Ross and Smith (in foul trouble) and anytime those two are off the floor it’s going to be a struggle to find offense,” Tillery said. “If we can’t press them it makes it tough to find offense with that group that doesn’t have Smith and Ross and some scorers.”
Both teams traded leads in the third quarter with Siloam Springs pulling ahead 38-37 entering the fourth.
Smith split a pair of free throws and Emily Keehn knocked down a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth as Siloam Springs went in front 42-37, but Harrison responded with a 13-4 run to go take a 50-46 lead with three minutes left.
Harrison freshman Brooklyn Mitchell and senior Claire Cecil hit back to back 3-pointers to tie the game at 43.
Then John Brown signee Claire Barger knocked down a three for a 46-43 lead.
Down 48-44, a Brooke Ross basket put Siloam Springs within 48-46, but Harrison’s sophomore London Lee hit a pair of free throws with 3:00 left for a 50-46 lead.
Siloam Springs got a free throw from Ross on the other end and then scored on an Emily Keehn layup to cut it to 50-49.
Mimo Jacklik’s steal and score gave the Lady Panthers a 51-50 lead with 1:23 left. Anna Wleklinski and Brooke Smith each split a pair of free throws in the final minute to go up 53-50.
Claire Barger missed a 3-pointer to tie with 1.8 seconds left, but Harrison still had one more chance. The Lady Goblins (10-18, 4-10), however, were unable to get a final shot off.
It was a disappointing end for the Lady Goblins, who had upset Russellville on the road Tuesday.
“Very proud of them,” said Harrison head coach Stacie Klott. “The last two games we have really gone out and tried to end the year on a positive note. We were making mistakes. I kind of challenged them, ‘How do you want this to end?’ And they stepped up to the challenge. They showed what they’re made of this week, beating Russellville and tonight as hard as they played. I’m really proud of them.”
Mitchell led Harrison with 15 points, while Barger had 13 and Lee 11 as Harrison’s season ends.
Ross led Siloam Springs with 21 points, while Smith had 12, Keehn nine, Anna Wleklinski six, all in the second half, and Mimo Jacklik five.
Siloam Springs hit 11 of 22 free throws.
“We struggled,” Tillery said. “I don’t know if that was road or what. We shoot them all the time.”
The Lady Panthers will be the No. 2 seed from the 5A-West Conference in the Class 5A playoffs in Pine Bluff. They’ll play at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Paragould
(17-9, 9-5), the No. 3 seed from the 5A-East.
SILOAM SPRINGS 65, VAN BUREN 34
Siloam Springs celebrated senior night with a mercyrule victory over Van Buren on Tuesday inside Panther Activity Center.
Siloam Springs coach Beau Tillery said he challenged the team after its senior night ceremony prior to the game to use that emotion to their advantage.
“We kind of talked about it after they got done with their senior ceremony, hey, I want you guys to think about when you were ninth-graders coming up, how scared you probably were. the battles you’ve had in practice, the battles you’ve had on that floor, the tears, the friendships, the memories you’ve had right here playing basketball for Siloam Springs,” he said. “I want you to bottle all that up, because I can imagine you look back now and it seems like it went by really quick. We’ve kind of challenged our sophomores and juniors, it’s going to be gone just like that before you know it.
“Bottle all that up for your last time in front of your student body, your friends, your family and your home crowd and display it on the floor.” The speech worked. The Lady Panthers led 24-4 after the first quarter and built a near 30-point lead in the first half before carrying a 38-19 lead at halftime.
“We came out just firing on all cylinders,” Tillery said. “It’s really good to see. It’s getting to be that time of the year where you want to play your best basketball.”
Van Buren got back to back 3-pointers from Cayleee Barbour and Carter Myers to open the third quarter and trim the Lady Panthers’ lead to 38-25. But Emily Keehn answered with a 3-pointer in the corner and a baseline jumper to get it back to 43-25.
Brooke Smith hit two more 3-pointer in the third and Keehn had one more trey from the quarter as Siloam Springs answered with a 20-4 run overall and led 58-29 going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Panthers pulled ahead by 60-29 on a Mimo Jacklik jumper to go up 31 and enforce the running clock sportsmanship rule.
Barbour led Van Buren (14-14, 6-7) with 15 points. The loss combined with Mountain Home’s win over Greenbrier on Tuesday, eliminated the Lady Pointers from postseason contention.
Brooke Ross and Smith each scored 14 points to lead Siloam Springs, while Keehn had 12 and Jacklik 11, Addison Pilcher and Sophie Stephenson each with three, Faith Ellis two and Kaidence Prendergast and Bianey Quinonez each with one.