Rogers High rebounds, tops West

For Rogers High girls basketball coach Preston Early, Tuesday's first quarter felt like a case of déjà vu. In a more than 30-point loss to Bentonville on Friday, Early's squad struggled to score, leading to a big deficit that the Lady Mounties couldn't overcome. So when the Lady Mounties struggled to score early again and fell behind by double-digits early in the first quarter against Bentonville West on Tuesday, Early said he felt like it was a case of been there done that. Except this time it wasn't. After trailing by as much as 16-3 in the first quarter, Rogers (10-9, 3-2 7A West Conference) fought back to take a 54-49 victory. "We got it put on us Friday," Early said. "We had to come back and regroup and rebuild. Then, to still get off to a sluggish start, I can't say enough about our resiliency to just keep coming." Kate McKinnon hit a three with little more than 30 seconds ticked off the second quarter clock that sparked a 17-1 second-quarter run that saw Rogers take a 23-19 halftime lead. "Sometimes, it just takes one play to change momentum," said Early of McKinnon's shot. "That took the lid off. Then you could see our players, their shoulders relaxed a little. Then we made some shots and got ourselves within striking distance and made a good run." Bentonville West (8-10, 1-4) would tie it on a three by Kelsie Mahone with 4 minutes 16 seconds remaining, but Rogers closed the contest on an 8-2 run to secure the victory. "In the second half, we answered every time we had to," Early said. Rogers 54, Bentonville West 49 Rogers 7 16 14 15-- 52 Bentonville West 18 1 15 15 -- 49 Rogers (10-9, 3-2): Loyd 17, Storey 9, Hatch 8, Figenskau 6, McConnell 5, Carr 5, Larkin 4. Bentonville West (8-10, 1-4): Wilson 17, Kash 12, Mahone 10, Clifton 5, Montgomery 3, Wood 2. Boys Bentonville West 59, Rogers High 48 Bentonville West used hot-shooting from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half to turn a three-point advantage at the half into a double-digit victory, Owning a five-point advantage about half way through the quarter, West's Garret Wilmot and Collier Blackburn showed their touch from beyond the arc. Each connected from downtown on consecutive possessions, as the Wolverines (14-4, 4-1) swished 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions to stretch their lead to 11 with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter. "The third quarter is where we flexed on them a little bit," Bentonville West coach Greg White said. "The kids trust each other. They trust me to call plays, and then they go and execute. It makes me look really smart at times. Gabe Hornsby led Bentonville West with 11 points. Blackburn scored nine, all from three-point range. With the loss, Rogers drops to 7-11 overall and 0-5 in 7A West Conference play. Bentonville West 59 Rogers 48 Rogers 8 17 6 18 -- 49 Bentonville West 18 9 15 17 -- 59 Rogers (7-11, 0-5): Miller 12, Dake 12, Lacewel 7, Early 5, Paschal 6, Vecker 4, Satchel 3. Bentonville West (14-4, 3-1): Hornsby 11, Bailey 10, Collier Blackburn 9, Collin Blackburn 9, Wilmot 8, Larsen 4, Barron 4, White 4.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville West High School Athletics

ROGERS HIGH REBOUNDS, TOPS WEST

RICK FIRES

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 1/24/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville West High School Athletics