FARMINGTON -- The Siloam Springs Panthers know full well what a hot hand can do for a basketball team plus challenges that manifest when an opponent is stroking 3-pointers.
Girls
In their last game of 2016, the Lady Panthers rode the hot second-half shooting of junior Morgan Vaughn, whose 26 points in the second half and overtime propelled Siloam Springs back from a 13-point halftime deficit. Vaughn had 11 points in the first half during a Dec. 30 home game against Claremore, Okla. as host of the Siloam Springs Holiday Classic. The 5-feet-5 junior finished with 37 after a blistering of the nets when the teams came back out after intermission.
Sparked by Vaughn and Hadlee Hollenback's 12 points, Siloam Springs offset 24 points by Claremore's Lauren Chancellor. The Lady Panthers owned a 22-10 scoring advantage in the third and forced overtime by tying the contest at 60-all at the end of regulation. Siloam Springs outscored Claremore 7-2 in overtime to take a 67-62 win.
Four days later, Farmington limited Vaughn to 8 points and Hollenback to two in a defensive struggle won by the Lady Cardinals, 40-31.
"It was more of a defensive battle than anything else," said Farmington head girls coach Brad Johnson. "We struggled offensively. Siloam Springs had a lot to do with that. Maybe, we didn't play the best offensively, but we played really well defensively. We gave ourselves a chance to win."
Farmington led 14-11 with 5:49 to go in the first half on a pair of Kaylee Brown free throws. Siloam Springs countered with a 5-0 run to take a 16-14 lead, getting a putback by Emery Brown and Chloe Price's steal leading to an uncontested layup. Farmington regained the lead, hitting 3 of 6 foul shots while holding Siloam Springs scoreless for the last 4:25 of the half.
The Lady Cardinals capped the third period by breaking away from a 22-21 lead with an 8-3 run over the final 2:02. Price, who led the Lady Panthers with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer, but Farmington had the last basket off an in-bounds play with four seconds showing. Sophomore Madisyn Pense drained a spot-up trifecta from the left corner letting the shot fly a fraction of a second before the horn. The hoop gave Farmington momentum and a 30-24 lead going into the fourth.
"We made some timely plays," Johnson said, referring to the buzzer-beater and pair of plays that extended the lead to 35-24 with 2:55 elapsed in the fourth quarter.
Brown cleared a defensive rebound and looked downcourt, finding Pense on the fly for an easy bucket. Then freshman Makenna Vanzant posted up and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. Siloam Springs didn't score for the first 3:41 of the fourth and managed only 7 points in the period as Farmington went on to a 40-31 win.
Boys
Farmington won the boys game, 70-48, with senior guard Matthew Wilson outscoring the Panthers by himself. Wilson scored a career-best 49 points, making 16 of 19 field goals from 2-point range including a slam-dunk, 5 of 11 shots from 3-point range and 2 of 7 free throws. He set a new single-game scoring record at Farmington, edging the previous high of 47 by assistant girls basketball coach Jessica Carter-McCollough in a contest versus Elkins in 2000. McCollough didn't stay to see Wilson break her record. She went home and put her kids to bed, but Johnson informed her of the news.
"We were texting back and forth, I said, 'Your record's about to get broken," Johnson said.
Wilson didn't take any days off when school let out for the holidays.
"I was in the gym every day, Christmas eve, Christmas day, all of it."
Wilson admits his devotion to the game is such that seems there is no place he would rather be. Johnson has seen that first-hand.
"Matt Wilson is one of the most dynamic players I've ever seen," Johnson said. "What I love most about Matt Wilson is his work ethic. Coach Thompson is always talking about it. I can attest to that. Many times I've been up here late at 10 or 10:30 looking at film and he'll drive by and see my vehicle and text me and ask, 'Coach, do you mind if I come in and shoot a few baskets?'
According to Johnson, Wilson doesn't waste his gym time. Besides shooting, Wilson will dribble two basketballs at once working on his dexterity.
"Everything he does is at game-speed," Johnson said.
One of Johnson's former players as a three-year starter, Haley Maxwell, who graduated in 2014 and is now working on a degree in sports journalism at the University of Arkansas, said what is impressive about Wilson's talent is that he has worked for it.
"He has lot of natural talent," said Maxwell, whose younger brother Peyton is one of Wilson's teammates. "But 85 percent of what he's got, he's worked for it."
Sports on 01/11/2017