SILOAM SPRINGS — The Siloam Springs ninth grade girls squandered a pair of sizable leads twice in their season-opener on Monday, almost letting Gentry take the game, but the Lady Panthers made the plays at the end when it mattered most.
Alexis Roach’s putback in the final seconds proved to be the winning points as Siloam Springs defeated Gentry 33-32 in the opening round of the 29th annual Allen Classic Girls Gray Bracket at Panther Activity Center.
The Lady Panthers (1-0) called timeout with 8.4 seconds left with possession of the basketball and trailing 32-31.
“We talked about needing to shoot it early in case we missed it,” said Siloam Springs head coach Rebecca Ault. “With eight seconds left, you hope you have time to get a rebound and put it back in if the first shot misses.”
Inbounding from the baseline, the ball went to Chloe Price and her jump shot spinned out.
Roach corralled the rebound, took a dribble and bobbled it a bit before going back up and scoring off the glass with just a couple of seconds left. By the time Gentry got the ball back in, time expired and the Lady Panthers walked away with the victory.
Early on the game looked like it could be a rout.
Siloam Springs scored the first nine points of the game and led 13-2 after a Price basket in the first quarter.
Gentry went on a 13-2 run of its own to tie the game at 15, and two free throws from Meledy Owens tied the game at 17 with 31.6 seconds left.
Emery Brown’s layup as time expired in the second quarter gave Siloam Springs a 19-17 lead at halftime.
The Lady Panthers gained the upper hand in the third quarter, going up 25-17 after Hailey Dorsey scored the first six points of the third quarter. Gentry, however, went on a 15-4 run into the fourth quarter to lead 32-29 after a basket from Owens.
“The game really never had a great flow for us,” Ault said. “I think Gentry had a lot to do with that, with how hard they play. They get their hands on a lot of balls. They played really, really well. I thought we didn’t rebound exceptionally well, and that kept them in it.”
Tigeris Quinn scored with 41.5 seconds left to pull the Lady Panthers back within 32-31. The Lady Panthers forced a five-second turnover on the inbound to get the ball back with 14.3 seconds for an opportunity to win the game.
Dorsey led Siloam Springs with 10 points, while Roach had seven and Price six. Melody Owens and Madison Ward each scored 10 points for Gentry.
The tournament continued on Tuesday with the Maroon Bracket. Results were not available at presstime.
Siloam Springs continues Gray Bracket play Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Greenwood, which defeated Prairie Grove 40-38 on Monday.
Panthers 31, Pioneers 29
Leading 24-16 going into the fourth quarter, Siloam Springs didn’t finish off Gentry as strongly as it would have liked. But the Panthers were able to hold on for the two-point victory over their Benton County rivals in the Boys Gray Bracket of the Allen Classic.
“We’ve got a lot of things we can correct from that game,” said Siloam Springs boys coach Bill Covington. “A lot of mental mistakes, especially there at the end when the pressure got on, but they played really hard. It’s their all-out effort that helped them win that game.”
The Panthers (1-0) seemed to be in good shape after a basket from Jacob Wakefield gave them a 30-24 lead with less than a minute remaining, but Gentry’s Christian Waddell banked in a 3-pointer to slice the lead in half, 30-27, with 16 seconds left.
The Panthers then turned the ball over and Dylan Kilgore scored inside for Gentry for a 30-29 Siloam Springs lead with 8.2 seconds left.
The Panthers turned the ball over again, but Wakefield intercepted a Pioneers pass with 1.6 seconds left and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws for a 31-29 lead. Gentry’s desperation heave at the buzzer fell short.
Aside from trailing 3-0 to open the game, Siloam Springs led the entire way.
Karson Clement led Siloam Springs with 12 points, while Micah Eldridge had six. Waddell led Gentry with 16 points, while Kilgore had eight.
The Panthers advance to Wednesday’s semifinals against Greenwood, which beat Providence Academy 52-39 on Monday.
“Lots of mistakes but, man, did they run and play hard and get lots of tips,” Covington said. “They’re going to be fun to coach because their effort is there. If that’s there, you can work on all the skill stuff and being in the right place. We’ve got a chance to improve a lot.”
29th annual Allen Classic
Nov. 16-21
Siloam Springs High School
BOYS
Gray Bracket
Monday’s results
G1: Greenwood 52, Providence Academy 39
G2: Springdale Southwest 67, Gravette 33
G3: Siloam Springs 31, Gentry 29
G4: Stilwell, Okla. 39, Springdale Lakeside 32
Wednesday’s games
G5: Greenwood vs. Siloam Springs, 5:15 p.m.*
G6: Providence Academy vs. Gentry, 5:15 p.m.#
G7: Springdale Southwest vs. Stilwell, Okla., 7:45 p.m.*
G8: Gravette vs. Springdale Lakeside, 7:45 p.m.#
Saturday’s games
Consolation finals: Winner G6 vs. Winner G8, 10:45 a.m.#
Championship: Winner G5 vs. Winner G7, 1:15 p.m.*
Third place: Loser G5 vs. Loser G7, 3:45 p.m.#
Maroon Bracket
Tuesday’s results
G1: Springdale Central vs. Fort Smith Chaffin (n)
G2: Farmington vs. Fayetteville White (n)
G3: Rogers vs. Westville, Okla. (n)
G4: Huntsville vs. Springdale George (n)
Thursday’s games
G5: Winner G1 vs. Winner G3, 5:15 p.m.*
G6: Loser G1 vs. Loser G3, 5:15 p.m.#
G7: Winner G2 vs. Winner G4, 7:45 p.m.*
G8: Loser G2 vs. Loser G4, 7:45 p.m.#
Saturday’s games
Consolation finals: Winner G6 vs. Winner G8, 10:45 a.m.*
Third place: Loser G5 vs. Loser G7, 1:15 p.m.#
Championship: Winner G5 vs. Winner G7, 3:45 p.m.*
GIRLS
Gray Bracket
Monday’s results
G1: Greenwood 40, Prairie Grove 38
G2: Springdale Southwest 37, Gravette 28
G3: Siloam Springs 33, Gentry 32
G4: Stilwell, Okla. 53, Springdale Lakeside 29
Wednesday’s games
G5: Greenwood vs. Siloam Springs, 4 p.m.*
G6: Prairie Grove vs. Gentry, 4 p.m.#
G7: Springdale Southwest vs. Stilwell, Okla., 6:30 p.m.*
G8: Gravette vs. Springdale Lakeside, 6:30 p.m.#
Saturday’s games
Consolation finals: Winner G6 vs. Winner G8, 9:30 a.m.#
Championship: Winner G5 vs. Winner G7, noon*
Third place: Loser G5 vs. Loser G7, 2:30 p.m.#
Maroon Bracket
Tuesday’s results
G1: Springdale Central vs. Fort Smith Chaffin (n)
G2: Farmington vs. Fayetteville White (n)
G3: Rogers vs. Westville, Okla. (n)
G4: Huntsville vs. Springdale George (n)
Thursday’s games
G5: Winner G1 vs. Winner G3, 4 p.m.*
G6: Loser G1 vs. Loser G3, 4 p.m.#
G7: Winner G2 vs. Winner G4, 6:30 p.m.*
G8: Loser G2 vs. Loser G4, 6:30 p.m.#
Saturday’s games
Consolation finals: Winner G6 vs. Winner G8, 9:30 a.m.*
Third place: Loser G5 vs. Loser G7, noon p.m.#
Championship: Winner G5 vs. Winner G7, 2:30 p.m.*
Panther Activity Center
Panther Den