Siloam Springs' boys caught fire at just the right time Tuesday night.
The Panthers hit their first of six 3-pointers to start the second half and turned a three-point halftime lead into a 56-32 rout of Greenwood at Panther Activity Center.
The Panthers snapped a five-game losing streak, dating back to a 51-49 buzzer-beater loss at home to Russellville on Jan. 28.
Overall, seven different Panthers combined to hit 11 3-pointers on the night, which pleased coach Tim Stewart.
"That's a big deal -- seeing guys answer the call," Stewart said. "Greenwood did a great job. They had a plan against our zone, and we finally kind of popped it loose there like you said. Seeing the guys playing with that energy and the crowd getting into it was a good bounce back game for that rough patch we've had."
The Panthers led 24-21 at halftime and quickly established themselves with the long ball in the second half.
Landon Ward hit a 3-pointer to go up 27-21, but Greenwood got a bucket from Jayce Garnes to make it 27-23.
That would be the Bulldogs' last score for a long while as the Panthers revved up for a 17-0 run.
Greenwood coach Donnie Husband tried twice to stop the bleeding with timeouts but to no avail.
"You have to weather the storm by doing something yourself offensively," Husband said. "We didn't. We didn't get anything done on the offensive end. Didn't hit any shots, didn't hit any good shots. In the first half I thought we attacked the (3-2 defensive) zone pretty good. Second half just for whatever reason we came out of the locker room flat. You know they blitzkrieged us, and that's kind of where it ended."
Drew Vachon, who had been struggling offensively his last three games, came alive with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 33-23 lead. Ward hit another trey and Vachon also hit one to go up 39-23.
Tim Stewart was pleased to see Vachon have a big night.
"You know what we noticed is he didn't hit the shot first," Tim Stewart said. "He got some loose balls and rebounds, and he had missed a couple of easy ones, and it showed some maturity to keep fighting through it and make some shots."
After Ward hit a pair of free throws to continue the run and Josh Stewart canned a trey for a 44-23 lead.
The run might have continued for Siloam Springs but Josh Stewart was hit with a technical foul for excessive celebration after his 3-pointer.
Greenwood's Samuel Forbus knocked down the technical free throws to get it back to 44-25, but Siloam Springs extended its lead to 48-25 going into the fourth -- having outscored the Bulldogs 24-4 in the third quarter.
Jayce Garnes led Greenwood (3-21, 0-11) with nine points, while Evan Bartlett had eight.
Ward led the Panthers with 17 points, while Vachon finished with 11 and Evan Sauer eight, including a pair of early treys. Max Perkins hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and had six points, while Josh Stewart had five, Thad Wright four, Carter Winesburg three and Solomon Hufford and Jackson Ford each with one.
"It's really good to see the kids respond and get this one," Tim Stewart said. Going into these next 3 games with a little bit of a head of steam and confidence and get on the road and finish this thing as good we can.
Siloam Springs 56, Greenwood 32
Greenwood^11^10^4^7^--^32
Siloam Springs^12^12^24^8^--^56
Greenwood (3-21, 0-11): Garnes 9, Bartlett 8, Ligon 5, Forbes 4, Stein 4, Lee 2.
Siloam Springs (13-9, 4-7): Ward 17, Vachon 11, Sauer 8, Perkins 6, Stewart 5, Wright 4, Winesburg 3, Hufford 1, Ford 1.
Up next
The Panthers take another shot at league-leading Russellville on Tuesday before hosting Vilonia on Friday for senior night.
Sports on 02/23/2020