Panthers rise to the challenge

Siloam Springs hands LRC first league loss

Siloam Springs sophomore Josh Stewart, left, goes to the basket as Little Rock Christian's Layden Blocker, right, defends on the play.
Siloam Springs sophomore Josh Stewart, left, goes to the basket as Little Rock Christian's Layden Blocker, right, defends on the play.

The Panther Activity Center was rocking Friday night, and the Siloam Springs boys basketball team fed off that energy for a big 5A-West Conference victory.

Sophomore Josh Stewart scored a career-high 22 points and Evan Sauer added 20 as the Panthers handed Little Rock Christian its first league loss 79-68 in front of a large crowd, including an active Panther Pit student section.

5A-West Conference basketball standings

Boys^Overall^Conf.

Team^W-L^W-L

Russellville^15-4^5-0

LR Christian^9-6^4-1

Siloam Springs^12-4^3-2

Vilonia^14-4^3-2

Alma^10-8^2-3

Beebe^7-10^2-3

Greenbrier^5-12^1-4

Greenwood^3-15^0-5

Last week

January 21

Siloam Springs 65, Greenwood 34

LR Christian 56, Beebe 39

Greenbrier 53, Vilonia 51

Russellville 63, Alma 58

January 24

Siloam Springs 79, LR Christian 68

Alma 58, Greenbrier 53

Beebe 67, Greenwood 46

Russellville 57, Vilonia 55

This week

January 28

Russellville at Siloam Springs

Alma at Greenwood

Greenbrier at Beebe

Vilonia at LR Christian

January 31

Siloam Springs at Vilonia

Beebe at Alma

Greenwood at Greenbrier

LR Christian at Russellville

The atmosphere certainly had its effect on the Panthers, who scored a season-high in points.

"It was definitely the loudest this gym's been in a long time," said Sauer, who scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. "It definitely juiced up everybody on the team. We definitely prepared for this and were ready for the moment. We knew no matter what we had to work as hard as we could and the crowd definitely helped us out, and we got a big one."

Sauer scored midway through the first quarter as Siloam Springs took a 12-11 lead and the Panthers led the rest of the way.

Stewart knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 15 of his points in the first half as Siloam Springs took a 20-13 lead after the first quarter and 37-26 lead at halftime.

"Our crowd was amazing tonight," said SSHS coach Tim Stewart. "The Pit was fired up, the crowd was awesome and Little Rock Christian has a great group and it really makes it hard on you. That makes me all the more proud of how our guys responded."

The first half also saw the Panthers score several times in transition as the Warriors were slow to get back on defense. Siloam Springs battled for nearly every loose ball and won several of those battles that help teams win ballgames.

"We weren't focused with the energy to win. I really believe I've got a better team, but they just outplayed us. He had them prepared," said LRC coach Clarence Finley. "I thought during the week we had them prepared for the (3-2) zone, but we didn't shoot it well. We didn't screen it well. We just didn't execute. I thought they beat us to all 50-50 balls. They had some people rebounding that weren't even great jumpers. I thought we had better athletes, but they just had better effort."

Little Rock Christian got within 41-35 in the third quarter after three straight baskets. Creed Williamson -- the 6-foot-7 son of former Razorback great and NBA veteran Corliss Williamson, who was an assistant on the LRC bench -- scored on a putback and Layden Blocker and Collin Cooper followed with buckets.

But Siloam Springs answered in turn. Thad Wright scored inside and Landon Ward hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get the lead back to double digits.

Josh Stewart hit another big 3-pointer later in the third and Siloam Springs took a 55-40 lead going into the fourth quarter

Siloam Springs (12-4, 3-2) led by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter and answered every Warriors run.

Little Rock Christian (9-6, 4-1) got within 73-66 late in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers were able to extend their lead back to double digit and maximize their tiebreaker points, which caps at 10.

Layden Blocker led Little Rock Christian with 23 points, while Creed Williamson and Akeem Gilmore each had 11 and Collin Cooper 10.

Landon Ward added 14 points for Siloam Springs, while Drew Vachon had 11 and Jackson Ford eight off the bench, including a two-handed dunk in the first half.

"At the end of the day the kids' effort was what was so fun to see," Tim Stewart said. "The kids played really hard tonight -- not just making the right slides on defense and making tough shots but playing tough in the trenches."

Siloam Springs 79, LR Christian 68

LR Christian^15^11^14^28^--^68

Siloam Springs^20^17^18^24^--^79

LR Christian (9-6, 4-1): Blocker 23, Williamson 11, Gilmore 11, Cooper 10, Jones 9, Hightower 4.

Siloam Springs (12-4, 3-2): Stewart 22, Sauer 20, Ward 14, Vachon 11, Ford 8, Wright 2, Winesburg 2.

Siloam Springs 65, Greenwood 34

The Panthers earned their second conference win Tuesday with a mercy-rule victory over Greenwood at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena.

Josh Stewart scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the first quarter as the Panthers shot out to a 15-7 lead. Siloam Springs outscored Greenwood 22-3 in the second quarter to take a 37-10 lead at halftime.

Greenwood cut the deficit to 52-27 going into the fourth quarter.

Landon Ward added nine points for Siloam Springs, while Drew Vachon had eight, Evan Sauer seven, Max Perkins six, Jackson Ford and Breck Soderquist each with five, Thad Wright four and Carter Winesburg three.

Jayce Garnes led Greenwood with 10, while Caleb Ligon scored six.

Up next

The Panthers host league leading Russellville (15-4, 5-0) on Tuesday before traveling to Vilonia on Friday.

"It doesn't get any easier," Tim Stewart said. "We've got Russellville coming and at Vilonia. That's kind of the gauntlet in the conference. I told the kids if you bring that effort every night, that's fun. We're going to have fun playing that hard."

Sports on 01/26/2020