GRAVETTE — With experience, talent and a Division I signee in the post, the Siloam Springs girls basketball team is primed for a big season.
The Lady Panthers cruised to a 70-44 win over Gravette in their season opened Saturday but they still have a ways to go before another postseason run is possible.
“We made some mistakes,” Siloam Springs coach Debbie Sharp said. “(The game” exposed some areas we have to get better at, but that’s what this part of the season is for.”
The Lady Panthers jumped out to a quick lead and led by double digits most of the night but Sharp was concerned by a few lulls during the win.
Junior guard Laken Grigg had a game-high 23 points and senior Anna Markovich had 21. The pair scoredthe Lady Panther’s first 13 points and each scored seven in the fourth quarter as Siloam Springs, which lost one starter from last year’s Class 5A runner-up finish, pushed the lead to as many as 28.
Six-foot-4 post Ashley Adams, who has signed with Ohio State, had eight points and seven blocks, forcing the Lady Lions (1-1) to shoot from the outside.
“It’s all about matchups. We didn’t match up with them real well at the post, so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time taking it in there,” first-year Gravette coach Duane Thomas said. “We tried to work the outside screen and take goodshots.”
Morgan Bayley led Gravette with 11 points, knocking down three 3-pointers. Julia Himsl had two 3-pointers and 10 points; Jacy Alsup added 9; Waldrip had 4; Vanotterlooand Nichols each had 3 and Detring and Newell each added 2.
Gravette was back in action when the Lady Lions and Lions hosted West Fork.
Siloam 57, Lions 29
The Panthers (1-0) had four players in double digits in the mercy-rule win.
Junior guard Kyle Teague had 14 - including eight straight points in the second quarter - and 6-5 freshman Payton Henson and 6-4 junior Nicholas Eshnaur each had 11. The Panthers experimented with their lineups because they were without senior center Dylan Henson.
Cody Montee had six points for Gravette, which had just gotten most of the team out of the football season.
Bilderback had 5, Hendren and Alexander 4 each, Daniels and O’Brien 3 apiece and Doublehead and Strzelecki 2 each.
Sports, Pages 10 on 11/25/2009