Siloam Springs' girls suffered another close loss Tuesday night, but this one had a different feel than so many others this season.
Clarksville outscored Siloam Springs 7-4 in overtime to earn a 56-53 5A/6A District 1 victory in a battle of Lady Panthers inside Panther Activity Center.
It was a back-and-forth type game where both teams had the upper hand at times but neither was able to pull away until the overtime period.
Siloam Springs had a look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer in overtime, but Chloe Price's attempt was off target as Clarksville held on the for the win.
"I think we just got beat right at the end," said Siloam Springs head coach Tim Rippy. "That's just two teams going at it, and both teams in regulation made plays in critical times and did what you needed to do."
Clarksville shot out to an early 14-6 lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 10 points in the first half.
Siloam Springs outscored Clarksville 14-6 in the second quarter to tie the game 20-20 at halftime.
Siloam Springs went on a 13-4 run in the third quarter and pulled ahead by eight points, powered by a pair of 3-pointers by Morgan Vaughn and another trey from Price to take a 39-31 lead.
Clarksville ended the third quarter on a 4-0 run to pull within 39-35.
Clarksville went to its inside post game in the fourth quarter with a pair of 6-foot-tall players in sophomore Emmaline Rieder and junior K.K. Phillips.
Rieder hit back to back layups early in the fourth and Phillips gave Clarksville a lead 44-43.
Clarksville pulled ahead 47-44, but Kenlie Noel swished a 3-pointer for Siloam Springs to tie the game at 47.
"I thought both sides made plays," said Clarksville coach Randy Talley. "I thought the key for us -- and we haven't done this much -- was playing our two post players at the same time. I thought they did well and we really hurt them down inside."
Rieder scored with less than a minute left to give Clarksville a 49-47 lead, but Vaughn answered for Siloam Springs to tie the game at 49 and send it into overtime.
Siloam Springs struck first in overtime with Vaughn getting a transition basket after a steal, but Rieder went back to work, trying the game at 51.
Clarksville took the lead for good, 54-51, on a 3-pointer by Maegan Payne
Siloam Springs cut the lead to 54-53 on a layup by Morgan Vaughn.
Siloam Springs fouled Alexie Tibbs with 24.1 seconds left and Tibbs hit two free throws to give Clarksville a 56-53 lead.
Siloam Springs burned two timeouts and finally ran its final play, but Price's game-tying attempt from behind the 3-point line was off target.
Vaughn led Siloam Springs with 26 points, while Price had 17.
Rieder and Phillips combined to score 24 points, with Rieder leading with 16. Payne finished with 15 for Clarksville.
"That's really hard for us to defend," Rippy said of Clarksville's post players. "We tried playing front. We tried playing behind. We tried side fronting. We tried swarming them. They were good enough to get the ball in there and that made it difficult on us. That's a challenge for us for the second time is how can we defend that a little bit better?
Clarksville 56, Siloam Springs 53 (OT)
Clarksville^14^6^15^14^7^--^56
Siloam Springs^6^14^19^10^4^--^53
Clarksville (9-7, 1-2): Rieder 16, Payne 15, Phillips 8, Tibbs 6, Dougan 5.
Siloam Springs (5-12, 1-2): Vaughn 26, Price 17, Hollenback 5, Noel 3, Williams-Loftis 2.
Sports on 01/14/2018