INOLA, Okla. -- It's been a strong start to the 2015-16 season for the Siloam Springs girls basketball team, but even a great performance on Saturday night might not have been enough against Fort Gibson, Okla.
The tradition-rich Lady Tigers went on a 15-0 run in the first quarter to open up a double-digit lead and never let off the gas in a 64-35 win against the Lady Panthers in the championship game of the Jerry Oquin Invitational at Inola (Okla.) Indoor Sports Arena.
"I hope it's a game we can learn a lot from," said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Rippy. "I knew that (Fort Gibson was) a good enough team that this could happen if we weren't sharp and on point. The way they shoot the ball and their size, it all came together for them tonight, and it was a struggle for us."
It was Siloam Springs' second loss in its first seven games of the season as the Lady Panthers completed their second tournament with a 2-1 record.
"Overall we have gotten a lot better in the last five games," Rippy said. "We've seen steady improvement from even our older players and younger players that are getting court time. We've had a really positive start to the year. We just hope that this won't knock us off track."
Siloam Springs opened the game with a basket inside from senior Haley Stewart, but the Tigers came back on the other end and Kabree Edgmon hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key for a lead that Fort Gibson (5-0) wouldn't relinquish.
Edgmon's trey was the start of a 15-0 run by the Tigers, who pulled ahead 15-2 late in the first quarter. Cailey Cunningham and Alexis Wright each hit 3-pointers in that span while Zoe Shieldnight scored three baskets, including two putbacks on second-chance points.
"I really thought early in the game they really dominated the offensive glass, and we had a hard time tonight blocking out," Rippy said. "They sent a lot of big bodies in there to get offensive rebounds, and they finished well when they got second and third chances. We've got to do a much better job of that."
To make matters more difficult in the first quarter was the fact that Stewart spent most of the quarter on the bench with two fouls.
"We've talked about that with Haley," Rippy said. "We're going to have to find ways to keep her out of foul trouble. We're a much better team with her in the ballgame. That got us in trouble a little bit early, and then I thought their pressure defensively caused us problems initiating offense. They did a good job pressuring. That's something we've got to get better at."
The Lady Panthers scored five straight spanning the first quarter to pull within 15-7 at the start of the second. Stewart re-entered the game and scored two baskets but again had to leave the floor when she picked up her third foul in the second quarter.
Fort Gibson took advantage in the second as the Lady Tigers went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead 25-7.
Ali Christie hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put the Lady Tigers ahead 36-13 at halftime.
The Lady Panthers had their best offensive quarter in the third, scoring 12 points, including six from Stewart and four from sophomore Hadlee Hollenback. But the Lady Tigers scored 16 in the third and led 52-25 going into the fourth quarter.
Shieldnight finished with 16 points to lead Fort Gibson in scoring, while Wright had 14 and Edgmon 12.
Stewart led Siloam Springs with 12 points, while Alexis Duffy had six, Abby Cox five, Morgan Vaughn five, Hollenback four, Gabrielle Hufford two and Larissa Tillery one.
"I like this team's grit, and I think the ceiling is growing higher for us as we move," Rippy said. "Early in the year we didn't know what our ceiling would be. I really feel like we have the potential to keep improving throughout the year."
Following the game, Stewart was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 14.3 points per game in three tournament games. She had 15 points in the 45-41 win against tournament-host Inola on Dec. 7, and she scored 16 in the 42-38 win against Victory Christian (Okla.) on Dec. 10.
The Lady Panthers played their first home game of the season on Tuesday night against Tulsa Webster. Results were not available at presstime.
The Lady Panthers play at 6 p.m. on Friday against Class 7A Rogers Heritage at War Eagle Arena. The Lady Panthers have already played three games at War Eagle Arena this season, having gone 2-1 at the Great 8 Classic hosted by Heritage.
Fort Gibson (Okla.) 64, Siloam Springs 35
Siloam Springs 5 8 12 10 -- 35
Fort Gibson, Okla. 15 21 16 12 -- 64
Siloam Springs (5-2): Stewart 12, Duffy 6, Cox 5, Vaughn 5, Hollenback 4, Hufford 2, Tillery 1.
Fort Gibson, Okla. (5-0): Shieldnight 16, Wright 14, Edgmon 12, Cunningham 5, Christie 5, Johnson 4, Glover 2, Fryar 2, Bell 2, Swink 2.
Sports on 12/16/2015