The Siloam Springs girls basketball did a lot of good things Friday night against Springdale, but the Lady Panthers simply couldn't stop Marquesha Davis.
Davis, a future Lady Razorback, went off for a game-high 35 points and was the difference for the Lady Bulldogs in a 56-37 victory in the winner's bracket semifinal of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.
"We competed hard and we were able to stay in the ballgame a long time and execute a lot of the stuff that we run," said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. "I thought that was a positive step in the right direction, because they get after you and they pressure you well in their man-to-man defense. We handled that fairly well for the most part."
Davis opened the game with a 3-pointer on Springdale's first possession and then spent much of the next 32 minutes controlling the glass and running in transition, and Siloam Springs had no answer for her.
"One thing we didn't do a good job of was keeping (Davis) off the boards and off the glass," Rippy said. "That's a challenge. Even when we had good position, we had a hard time getting the rebound. She's able to get her hands on the ball. She's great at going to get it and then jumping back up and finishing."
Chloe Price scored six points in the first quarter and her final bucket of the period gave Siloam Springs a 10-9 lead before Springdale's Jeniya Gause banked in a 3-pointer for a 12-10 Lady Bulldogs lead at the end of the first quarter.
Davis, who had nine of Springdale's 12 points in the opening frame, scored two quick buckets on putbacks to open the second quarter for a 16-10 lead.
A 3-pointer from Alexa Bersi made it 19-10, but Siloam Springs got a 3-pointer from Jael Harried and a steal and score from Price to cut it to 19-15.
Springdale led 27-19 at halftime and slowly pulled away in the second half for the win. Davis scored eight more points in the third quarter and finished off her night with several buckets in the fourth quarter.
"We don't have anybody that can simulate her," Rippy said. "I think the hardest thing in the first half was not only keeping her off the boards but when she got a defensive rebound for her to create for her teammates or go coast to coast to finish and us not be able to catch her. We resorted in the second half if she was going to have an open breakaway to just try and foul her because she made some great decisions with the ball in transition . You've got to give her a lot of credit."
Davis was the only Springdale player in double figures. The Lady Bulldogs played Rogers on Saturday afternoon in the championship game. Results were not available at presstime.
Price led the Lady Panthers with 14 points, while Harried had eight, Morgan Winesburg four, Jadyn Still three, Sydney Moorman, Emery Brown, Alexsis Fortner and Hattie Price each with two.
Siloam Springs played Coweta (Okla.) in the third place game on Saturday. The Lady Panthers are scheduled to open conference play against Beebe on Friday.
Springdale 56, Siloam Springs 37
Springdale^12^15^16^13^--^56
Siloam Springs^10^9^8^10^--^37
Springdale: Davis 35, Sysavanh 7, Minchew 4, Bersi 3, Gause 3, Pegue 2, Arvizu 2.
Siloam Springs: C. Price 14, Harried 8, Winesburg 4, Still 3, Moorman 2, Brown 2, Fortner 2, H. Price 2.
Siloam Springs 44, Prairie Grove 29
The Siloam Springs girls basketball team got a much-needed win Thursday in their own tournament.
The Lady Panthers snapped a six-game losing streak and avenged an earlier loss this season with a 44-29 victory over Prairie Grove in the opening round of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.
It was Siloam Springs' first win since defeating Fort Smith Southside 57-36 on Nov. 30 in the Rogers Great 8 Classic.
"The month of December was very difficult for us," said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. "We played some very good teams, but we also didn't grow as much in December as much as we'd hoped. I thought one thing that was really good for us was having that week of practice right before going into the (Christmas) break, because we had to make some tweaks on how we're trying to do some things. As a result of that, I thought we were able to do a lot of that tonight. There's still growth that we need, but we were able to apply some of it tonight and take some steps in the right direction for sure."
Siloam Springs (3-8), which lost 50-40 at Prairie Grove on Nov. 20, trailed 7-4 in the first quarter after a basket by Jasmine Wynos.
The Lady Panthers then went on a 13-0 run to take control of the game.
Jadyn Still started the run with a jumper and a Chloe Price free throw tied the game 7-7. A basket inside by Morgan Winesburg gave Siloam Springs a 9-7 lead they would never relinquish.
Emery Brown scored inside to open the second quarter and Price added a basket followed by a 3-pointer from Jael Harried for a 16-7 lead.
Price split a pair of free throws to complete the run.
Wynos stopped the bleeding with a basket and Emily Grant hit two free throws to bring the Lady Tigers (5-5) within 17-11. But Siloam Springs closed the half on a 6-2 run to lead 23-13 at halftime.
Harried hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and Sydney Moorman completed a three-point play to help the Lady Panthers pull away in the third quarter. They would lead by as many as 18 points in the second half.
Harried led Siloam Springs with 17 points, while Price had 13, Still seven, Moorman three and Brown and Winesburg each with two.
Grant led Prairie Grove with 10 points.
"I thought we were more patient on the offensive end," Rippy said. "We didn't take as many quick, rushed shots as we've done the first part of the season. We've tried to get them to realize that open shots in transition are good shots, but if it's not wide open we're better setting up and being patient on the offensive end. We're trying to do that a little bit better and control the tempo a little bit better."
Siloam Springs 44, Prairie Grove 29
Prairie Grove^7^6^11^8^--^29
Siloam Springs^9^14^16^5^--^44
Prairie Grove: Grant 10, Madewell 6, Wynos 4, Sugg 3, Crawford 2, Hulbert 2, Elder 2.
Siloam Springs: Harried 17, Price 13, Still 7, Moorman 3, Brown 2, Winesburg 2.
Sports on 12/30/2018