LADY PANTHERS EDGE OUT HARRISON

SILOAM SPRINGS -- Having already lost several close games this season, Siloam Springs' girls found a way to win on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers held Harrison scoreless for the nearly the last half of the fourth quarter and rallied for a 35-32 victory inside Panther Activity Center. "We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot tonight," said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. "We found a way to get the lead when we were behind. Just a lot of gutsy determination on defense. I thought it was a great defensive game from both teams. Neither team shot the ball well, but we gutted one out. We did everything that we needed to do." Harrison scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take a 30-24 lead, and the Lady Goblins led 32-27 after a basket by Kenzie Parker. Chloe Price knocked down a pair of free throws with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left to cut the lead to 32-29, and Hadlee Hollenaback cut the Lady Goblins' lead to 32-31 with a basket in transition. The Lady Panthers (7-16, 3-5) took the lead for good with 38.2 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Shelby Johnson. Siloam Springs had a pair of opportunities to extend the lead but went 0 for 3. Harrison though couldn't capitalize and Morgan Vaughn intercepted a pass and was fouled with 2.1 seconds left. Vaughn, Siloam Springs' leading scorer, scored her only two points of the game at the free throw line to put the Lady Panthers up 35-32. Claire Doshier's halfcourt heave banged off the back of the iron as the Lady Panthers earned the win. "I'd love to see us clean up the free throws at the end better, but we made the two that we had to have," Rippy said. "I really thought we rebounded well down the stretch, and I thought that was the difference in the game." Siloam Springs had a lot of success with its post players as Hollenback led with 14 points and Johnson finished with 10. "We saw that they were going to play behind our post players in the first quarter," Rippy said. "So I told our kids, especially since we were struggling from the outside, to pound the ball inside. We did it well at times. We struggled with it at times, but it was important to get those buckets, especially early when we were struggling to score. I felt like even late we were able to get it inside and go to the free-throw line." Caroline Cecil led Harrison (7-14. 2-5) with 11 points. "We just couldn't take of the ball very well in crtical situations," said Harrison coach Doug Young. "Sometimes when you've got sophomores you've got growing pains. Not blaming sophomores, because we had some older ones make mistakes too. It's all part of the growing process and learning from your mistakes in crucical situations. "I messed up. I could have called a timeout and tried to stop it before it transpired, so I'm going to take the blame on this one." Harrison 9 7 8 8 -- 32 Siloam Springs 10 7 7 11 -- 35 Harrison (7-14, 2-5): Cecil 11, B. Parker 8, K. Parker 6, Doshier 4, Horn 2, Groberg 1. Siloam Springs (7-16, 3-5): Hollenback 14, Johnson 10, Price 4, Harried 3, Brown 2, Vaughn 2.

LADY PANTHERS EDGE OUT HARRISON

GRAHAM THOMAS

Arkansas Online | 1/31/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Harrison Athletics