ROGERS -- The 3-point shot was open and available, and Rogers High's girls took full advantage of it Friday night.

The Lady Mounties connected on a dozen shots from beyond the arc -- six of them by senior guard Courtney Storey -- and that became the main offensive weapon as Rogers claimed a 53-37 victory over Bentonville West during 6A-West Conference basketball action in King Arena.

"We knew it was going to be a critical element in this game," Rogers coach Preston Early said. "We knew they had become a zone team over the last three or four games. One of the things we worked on is the spacing and ball movement.

"I give a lot of credit to our players for the way they moved the ball to open shooters. We tell them all the time ball energy creates open shots. We were relaxed and confident, and those things go hand-in-hand."

Storey found the open spot early and quickly hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes, then Kate McConnell hit her first to help Rogers (14-8, 6-4) grab a 13-5 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. Storey then hit one more in each quarter, with her sixth coming with 6:16 remaining.

That put Storey within one of the school record McConnell set earlier in the season, but she never had the chance to go for the tie. Early told his team to settle for layups as Rogers owned a 51-37 lead, and Storey did hit a short jumper to give her a game-high 21 points.

"We practiced a lot against the 1-2-2 this week, and our JV helped us work for the open shot," Storey said. "Then my team found me. It would have been nice to tie that record with Kate McConnell, but I'm OK with it. We were doing good."

McConnell added a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Lady Mounties, whose win sets up Tuesday's showdown against Springdale High for third place in the league standings, while Gracie Carr added two 3-pointers and finished with 10. Anna Kash led West (8-14, 3-7) with nine points, followed by Shania Wilson with 8.
