SSHS girls open against Pine Bluff

The Siloam Springs Lady Panthers will open state tournament play Thursday at 1 p.m. against Pine Bluff, the No. 3 seed out of the 6A-South.

The tournament begins Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Panther Activity Center on the campus of Siloam Springs High School.

The Lady Panthers (15-11, 5-8 7A/6A-Central) went 2-4 against 6A competition in 7A/6A-Central Conference play and earned the No. 3 seed. The Lady Panthers were swept by Greenwood and lost road games at Russellville and at Alma. The Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Cyclones and Lady Airedales at Panther Activity Center.

The Fillies finished 18-8 overall and went 9-5 in the 6A-South Conference.

Pine Bluff tied Little Rock Parkview for second place in the conference, and the two teams split their regular season meeting. The Lady Patriots earned the No. 2 seed with three more tiebreaker points than the Fillies.

The winner of the Siloam Springs-Pine Bluff game will advance to face East No. 1 seed Mountain Home at 7 p.m. Friday.

Looming showdown

The most exciting matchup of the Class 6A State Girls Basketball Tournament may take place in the semifinals on Saturday.

The top seeds out of the 7A/6A-Central and 6A-South, Greenwood and Little Rock Hall, have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for most of the season.

Both teams earned a first-round bye and will play their first round games on Thursday. Hall (21-7, 13-1) will face the winner of Wednesday's game between Jonesboro and Sheridan at 4 p.m. Thursday, while Greenwood (26-2, 13-1) will face the winner of Benton and Marion at 7 p.m.

If both teams win their Thursday games, they'll play at noon Saturday in the 6A State semifinals.

Hall and Greenwood met in a nonconference game earlier in the year with Hall rallying to beat the Lady Bulldogs.

Lagniappe

Mountain Home (11-5, 5-9) is the other No. 1 seed in the tournament after edging out Jonesboro (10-15, 5-9) in 7A/6A-East. ... Little Rock Parkview is the No. 2 seed out of the 6A-South and earned a first-round bye. The Lady Patriots (13-11, 9-5) play at 4 p.m. Friday against the winner of Wednesday's game between Central No. 2 seed Russellville (11-13, 7-5) and El Dorado (19-8, 7-7), the fifth seed out of the 6A-South.

Sports on 03/04/2015