JONESBORO — Siloam Springs' recent struggles against Greenwood in girls basketball continued Monday in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A State Tournament.
The 6A-East Conference's top-seeded Lady Bulldogs ended the Lady Panthers' season for the second straight year with a convincing 80-43 mercy-rule win at Don Riggs Hurricane Gymnasium in Jonesboro.
How They Scored
Girls
Greenwood 80, Siloam Springs 43
Siloam Springs^10^14^5^14^—^43
Greenwood^25^28^21^6^—^80
Siloam Springs (18-10): Cameron 10, Miller 6, Pippin 5, Owens 4, Gay 4, Torres 4, A. Cox 4, Eldridge 3, Stewart 2, Jones 1.
Greenwood (21-6): Hartness 27, Williams 14, H. Henson 14, Branum 6, Goodner 5, Crase 4, Elkins 4, Rozell 2, Clements 2, Brown 2.
Greenwood has now won five straight games against Siloam Springs since the 2011-12 season in what had been a back-and-forth rivalry when the two teams were conference foes in the 5A-West. Siloam Springs and Greenwood will both be in the 7A/6A-Central Conference next season.
The Lady Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead in the first quarter and never let off the gas.
Greenwood (21-6) hit 11 of its first 15 shots in the first quarter and led 25-10 after the first quarter.
Greenwood made nine of its first 12 shots to open the second quarter and finished the first half 21 of 32 overall from the field.
"If they shoot the ball like that, I don't think anybody can stop them," said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy.
Megan Hartness led the way for Greenwood, scoring 23 points in the first half and finishing with 27. Hartness scored from all over the floor, hitting outside jump shots and scoring under the basket.
"She was able to score inside and out," said Greenwood coach Clay Reeves on Hartness's performance. "That is one of her strengths."
Greenwood guards Lundon Williams and Haleigh Henson each scored 14 points. They hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second quarter to give Greenwood a 31-13 lead.
Hartness then went to work, going on a 13-point tear midway through the second quarter to put Greenwood up 47-17. Hartness had a pair of three-point plays and a long jump shot in that run.
"Fortunately we came out and shot real good, and usually when we do that, things go really well for us," Reeves said. "We stress shooting more than anything else we do. Our kids played hard and gave a good effort."
Greenwood led 53-24 at halftime and remained aggressive in the third quarter.
Hartness had a steal and score on the half's first possession and Williams had a basket inside to make it 57-24. The Lady Bulldogs pulled ahead by as many as 45 points in the third. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Greenwood advances to today's 6A semifinals at 4 p.m.
For Siloam Springs (18-10), which won its first playoff game in three years on Saturday 46-31 against Mountain Home, the Monday loss certainly wasn't the result the Lady Panthers had hoped for.
"We definitely couldn't stop the bleeding once it started," Rippy said. "We didn't have an answer for their aggressiveness, which led to a lot of our turnovers."
Siloam Springs junior Baily Cameron scored all of her team-high 10 points in the first half.
Sports on 03/11/2014