Gentry girls get past Siloam Springs in tournament play

Siloam Springs sophomore Jael Harried ties up Gentry's Ahrya Reding during the first quarter of Saturday's seventh-place game in the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.
Siloam Springs sophomore Jael Harried ties up Gentry's Ahrya Reding during the first quarter of Saturday's seventh-place game in the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.

— Siloam Springs girls basketball coach Tim Rippy is starting to sound like a broken record.

The Lady Panthers let a seven-point fourth quarter lead slip away to Benton County neighbor Gentry, and the Lady Pioneers rallied for a 52-51 victory in the seventh-place game Saturday in the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic.

Chastery Fuamatu scored inside with 3.2 seconds left to put the Lady Pioneers in front and, after a Siloam Springs timeout, Gentry’s Haley Hays intercepted an inbounds pass to run the remaining time off the clock.

It was the third straight close loss for Siloam Springs in their home tournament, preceded by a 59-57 buzzer-beating loss to Claremore, Okla., on Thursday and a 47-46 loss to Prairie Grove on Friday.

Rippy said the postgame speech to the Lady Panthers after Saturday’s loss sounded familiar.

“I said I’m going to continue to say what I say until it’s important to you,” Rippy said. “It’s the exact same thing. In each of the three games, we’ve had more than two — at least — opportunities to put the ballgame away. Until we’re willing to do what’s necessary to put the ballgame away, we’re going to have the same result.”

In Thursday’s loss to Claremore, it was two late turnovers that were costly to the Lady Panthers, while Siloam Springs got a shot at a game-winner Friday against Prairie Grove and missed the shot.

On Saturday, it was missed free throws as the Lady Panthers missed four straight foul shots in the last 30 seconds that would have helped them put the game away.

“They had to foul us. We get four consecutive free throws, and you probably win the game if you knock down those four free throws in crunch time,” Rippy said.

The Lady Pioneers led 9-0 early in the game but Siloam Springs clawed back within 11-10. Gentry pulled ahead 28-21 in the second quarter and led 30-26 at halftime.

Price knocked down a 3-pointer to start the third quarter and Siloam Springs took its first lead, 31-30, on a Hadlee Hollenback bucket with 6:22 left in the third quarter.

Faumatu got the lead back for Gentry with a basket on the other end.

A Hollenback free throw started a 7-0 Lady Panthers run that gave Siloam Springs a 38-32 lead after a Price 3-pointer. The Lady Panthers led 44-40 after the third quarter.

The Lady Panthers (4-10) led 47-40 with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left after Jael Harried knocked down a free throw.

Gentry coach Toby Tevebaugh called a timeout and ripped into the Lady Pioneers (7-7) about getting the ball inside.

The pep talk worked as Gentry post, Hannah Boss, scored three straight possessions inside to cut the Lady Panthers’ lead to 47-46.

“We try to be more selective about getting into them,” Tevebaugh said. “I was very upset that we weren’t getting the ball inside. We wanted to establish the post play coming out of that timeout. I think (Boss) got six straight points. And that opens up the outside for them. I was really pleased with how they responded to that.”

Boss hit a free throw with 3:22 left to tie the game, but Siloam Springs got the lead right back at 49-47 after a Chloe Price bucket.

Emery Brown followed with a basket to make it 51-47 with more than two minutes left, but it was the last time Siloam Springs would score.

Ahrya Reding hit a free throw to get Gentry within 51-48 with 1:51 left, and Fuamatu hit two with 1:07 left to cut it to 51-50.

With 36.9 left, Brown missed two free throws for Siloam Springs, but Gentry turned the ball over with 14.2 seconds left and fouled Price.

Price missed her first free throw and got a second chance at a second missed free throw after a Gentry lane violation. However, Price missed again and the Lady Pioneers came back down and scored the game-winner.

“It’s nice to find a way to win,” Tevebaugh said. “Siloam kind of had a little bit of a lead and we could have panicked. And we have panicked in the past. But I thought we did a nice job of overcoming some mistakes and keeping our wits about us. We just made one more play than they did.

“Siloam’s got a nice team. They struggled a little bit this week, lost three straight close games. But that’s a good win for us. It should be one that gives us some momentum and confidence going into the second half of the year.”

Boss finished with 17 points to lead Gentry, while Faumatu had 14 and Hays 10.

Price hit six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 24 points for the Lady Panthers, while Hollenback had nine, Morgan Vaughn eight, Brown and Harried four each and Shelby Johnson two.

The Lady Panthers return to action at home Wednesday against Farmington in a 5A/6A District 1 conference game at Panther Activity Center. The game was pushed back one day from its originally scheduled date of Tuesday, Jan. 2.

“We’re looking for someone to step up in crunch time and be able to put the game away for us,” Rippy said. “When we have a kid or two do that, our outlook will be much more positive. I’m proud of the way that they compete at times, but until we grow in that area it’s going to be the same.”

Gentry 52, Siloam Springs 51

Gentry 16 14 10 12 — 52

Siloam Springs 12 14 18 7 —^51

Gentry (7-7): Boss 17, Fuamatu 14, Hays 10, Dezurik 6, Jarnagan 4, Boyd 1.

Siloam Springs (4-10): Price 24, Hollenback 9, Vaughn 8, Brown 4, Harried 4, Johnson 2.

GIRLS

Thursday, Dec. 28

Game 1: Rogers 50, Prairie Grove 45

Game 2: Coweta, Okla. 56, Gentry 46

Game 3: Springdale 58, Shiloh Christian 41

Game 4: Claremore, Okla. 59, Siloam Springs 57

Friday, Dec. 29

Game 5: Shiloh Christian 46, Gentry 38

Game 6: Prairie Grove 47, Siloam Springs 46

Game 7: Springdale 59, Coweta, Okla. 33

Game 8: Rogers 45, Claremore, Okla. 34

Saturday, Dec. 30

Seventh-place: Gentry 52, Siloam Springs 51

Fifth-place: Shiloh Christian 42, Prairie Grove 31

Third-place: Coweta, Okla. 48, Claremore, Okla. 43

Championship: Springdale 46, Rogers 36