SILOAM SPRINGS -- Siloam Springs's girls knew they needed to beat Russellville by four points or more Tuesday night to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Russellville also was very aware of the scenarios and the Lady Cyclones knew a victory over Siloam Springs would clinch their own playoff spot.
The result was one of the better played ballgames of the year and a wild finish.
Russellville senior Zee McAllister's layup as time expired gave the Lady Cyclones a 49-48 victory to spoil senior night at the Panther Activity Center.
Russellville (16-9, 8-5) clinched the fourth seed from the 5A-West Conference with the victory, officially eliminating the Lady Panthers.
Siloam Springs (9-17, 6-7) had just taken a one-point lead, 48-47, with 13 seconds left after Chloe Price had banked in a 3-pointer.
But a one-point lead wasn't going to help Siloam Springs, which lost at Russellville 53-50 on Jan. 18. Siloam Springs wanted to foul and hope Russellville would tie the game up so it could go to overtime and try and win by four.
"You had to go for the points," said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. "That's a game, under the circumstances in the last minute, I think we normally go ahead and win that ballgame. A two-point win, one-point win's not good enough so we had to try to make something happen in both situations."
McAllister, though, got behind the Lady Panthers' defense for the game-winning layup with the Siloam Springs coaches yelling for the Lady Panthers to foul her.
"(McAllister) felt like she was in slow motion," said Russellville coach Sherry White, "and I was going down that floor, 'Just go, Zee.' It felt like a slow motion."
After trailing most of the first half, Russellville went on a 9-0 surge before halftime to take a 26-22 lead. Brooklyn Shreve's 3-pointer pulled the Lady Panthers with 26-25 at intermission.
The Lady Cyclones came out crashing the boards in the third quarter led by 6-foot posts Anna Myers and Hillyn Vardeman, who gave Russellville several second chance points.
The Lady Cyclones carried a 37-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
Siloam Springs came charging back in the fourth. Jael Harried scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers as Siloam Springs tied the game with 1 minute, 7 seconds left, and then took the lead 45-43 with 45.5 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Chloe Price.
Myers tied the game back up and Russellville took a 47-45 lead after a steal and score by Cara Davis.
"We had more energy finally there at the end," White said. "A lot of pressure on this game tonight. It was a hard fight between two teams."
Davis finished with 17 points to lead Russellville, while Myers had 10.
Price scored 21 points in her final home game at Siloam Springs, while Harried had 14.
"It was a great ballgame," Rippy said. "I thought we played well. I thought they played well. I thought it was back and forth tonight. Very proud of them."
Russellville 49, Siloam Springs 48
Russellville^12^14^11^12^--^49
Siloam Springs^14^11^6^17^--^48
Russellville (16-9, 8-5): Davis 17, Myers 10, Ealy 6, McAllister 5, Velazquez 4, Vardeman 4, Fleming 3.
Siloam Springs (9-17, 6-7): Price 21, Harried 14, Shreve 7, Moorman 2, Brown 2, Hevener 2.
Boys
Russellville 60, Siloam Springs 35
Russellville clinched the 5A-West Conference's No. 1 seed and at least a share of the conference title with the blowout win to spoil Siloam Springs' senior night.
The Cyclones (19-6, 11-2) can win the conference outright with a victory Friday night at home against Little Rock Christian.
"Man just ... super proud of the kids," an emotional first-year Cyclones coach Kyle Pennington said. "I just can't say enough about those kids in the locker room. They have completely bought in and it's a joy to coach them. When you have a team that's unselfish and plays that way, it's a joy to coach them. Again I'm just so proud of them."
The Cyclones bombed in 13 3-pointers and took control of the game from the very start.
Russellville hit four 3-pointers, including a pair by Trey Allen, to take a 20-14 lead.
Russellville blew open the game in the second quarter, outscoring Siloam Springs 20-6 in the period to take a 40-20 lead at halftime.
Up 20 points, Russellville's Kade Shaffer caught fire in the third quarter, hitting four of his five 3-pointers as the Cyclones extended their lead.
Another 3-pointer at the buzzer from Spencer Terry gave Russellville a 60-29 lead entering the fourth quarter, which was played with a running clock.
"We've got a lot of guys that can shoot the basketball, and we kind of feed off each other," Pennington said. "The other thing is they're so unselfish. If they hit one and it forces them to guard that guy, then we kick it to the next guy. I'm very proud of those guys, very proud."
Shaffer finished with a game-high 21 points, while Terry had 11, including three 3-pointers. Bowen Mathias had nine points on three 3-pointers and Allen also had nine points, including two triples.
"Russellville's tough on any night, but when they shoot that good, they may be able to get some quality wins in the playoffs," Siloam Springs coach Tim Stewart. "It's one of those things where we knew coming in that we need to be good defensively and slow them down. Unfortunately, they were hot from the start and we missed some easy ones early that kind of dug that hole. They're a hard team to crawl out of the hole on."
Siloam Springs senior Murphy Perkins led the Panthers (9-15, 4-9) with 16 points in his final home game, while Evan Sauer had nine.
Russellville 60, Siloam Springs 35
Russellville^20^20^20^0^--^60
Siloam Springs^14^6^9^6^--^35
Russellville (19-6, 11-2): Shaffer 21, Terry 11, Mathis 9, Allen 9, Sitkowski 4, Smith 4, Adkins 2.
Siloam Springs (9-15, 4-9): Perkins 16, Sauer 9, Bagsby 2, Stewart 2, Vachon 2, Ward 2, Wright 2.
Preps Sports on 02/20/2019