SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber used its pressure defense to take out Siloam Springs early Friday night.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 73, SILOAM SPRINGS 52
Siloam Springs 11 10 9 22 — 52
Springdale Har-Ber 19 14 17 23 — 73
SILOAM SPRINGS (10-9, 3-5): Owens 15, Stock 12, Lopez 8, Pippin 8, Miller 5, Cameron 2, Torres 1, Gay 1.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER (14-9, 5-3): Schalk 14, Montgomery 12, Weber 12, McCarver 11, Wright 6, Gray 4, Bohannon 4, Neal 4, Netherton 2, Cameron 2, Stephens 2.
JV BOYS’ SCORE: Springdale Har-Ber 45, Siloam Springs 32.
The Lady Wildcats built a 12-0 lead and rolled to a 73-52 victory over the Lady Panthers in 7A/6A-West Conference play in Wildcat Arena.
Bailey Schalk scored eight of her 14 points in the first quarter for Har-Ber, which began the second half of conference play with a victory after losing at home Jan. 25 to Rogers High.
Har-Ber (14-9, 5-3 7A/6A-West) tied a season-high for points, but it was the Lady Wildcats’ full court pressure defense that set the tone against Siloam Springs (10-9, 5-3). The Lady Panthers had trouble getting the ball across midcourt at the outset, which prompted coach Brett Sanders to pull his five starters with five minutes, 33 seconds left in the first quarter.
Har-Ber finished with 13 steals, including six by Samantha Weber.
“I don’t know if we were scared or what, but we weren’t ready to play,” said Sanders, whose team had won its previous two games.
Siloam Springs began to break Har-Ber’s press after its starters returned, and the Lady Panthers got within 27-19 after a layup by Mayse Pippin. But Har-Ber went inside again and stretched its lead to 33-21 after baskets by Schalk, Maleeya Montgomery and Tayleah Neal.
“Defensively, we played with a lot of energy and converted several turnovers into points,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. “We got on a roll, and when things are going good, everybody has a lot more fun and plays more relaxed.”
Har-Ber had 11 players score at least two points, including Weber and Maleeya Montgomery, who each finished with 12. While Schalk dominated inside, Har-Ber received a boost outside from Haley McCarver, who scored 11.
The senior guard had six points in the first quarter on a 3-pointer and three free throws. She added five more points in the third quarter before leaving the court with the other Har-Ber starters in the fourth quarter.
“McCarver did really well,” Wright said. “She scored some points for us and made some good decisions.”
Bailee Owens had 15 points and Ashlin Stock 12 to lead Siloam Springs.