Road-tested West gets best of Rogers
BENTONVILLE WEST 59, ROGERS 47
ROGERS — Playing two games on the road this week didn’t trouble Bentonville West.
The Wolverines grabbed an early 10-point lead and defeated Rogers 59-47 Friday in 6A-West Conference action at Rogers Arena. Riley Buccino led the way with 18 points for West, which fell behind only briefly after grabbing an early 16-6 advantage.
Dalton McDonald scored 13 points and Tucker Anderson 10 for West, which won 64-60 at Springdale on Tuesday. Donell Cunningham scored 11 points and Will Liddell 10 for the Mounties, who lost 62-61 in four overtimes to Fayetteville on Tuesday.
There was little drama in Friday’s game between West (6-4, 13-9) and Rogers (7-8, 4-6). Buccino and McDonald had the hot hands early and, McDonald — the quarterback on the school’s football team — led a defensive effort that frustrated Rogers for much of the night.
“It starts with those senior leaders,” West Coach Greg White said. “Dalton McDonald was just making plays. You wish you could take credit as a coach, but he just makes plays and he leads. I thought our defense got our offense going. We play fast and shoot a lot, but tonight, and this past week, we had stops to get wins.”
Rogers took a 33-32 lead late in the third quarter behind an impressive effort by Liddell, who made a three-pointer and went up between two defenders for a rebound basket. The lead didn’t last long against West, which got its hands on plenty of passes, including a steal at halfcourt by Buccino, who scored five consecutive points to put the Wolverines ahead 41-35.
McDonald, Buccino, and Tucker Anderson then contributed baskets to give West a 52-40 lead with under four minutes remaining.
Bentonville West made six three-pointers in the first half while grabbing a 29-22 lead after two quarters. Buccino and Tucker Anderson made three-pointers to prompt a Rogers timeout with the Mounties trailing 16-6.
Rogers got to within five points before Cade Packnett countered with a three-pointer and a rebound basket in the lane to put the Wolverines ahead 28-20 late in the second quarter.
GIRLS ROGERS 49, BENTONVILLE WEST 34
Ava Maner scored 12 points to lead balanced scoring from Rogers.
Gracie Carr and Camiran Brockhoff scored 10 points apiece while Aubrey Treadwell added nine. Ivy Johnson had 10 points for Bentonville West, which managed eight points in the second quarter and only four in the fourth quarter.
Rogers led 26-19 at halftime and 3826 in the third quarter when Brockhoff stole a pass near midcourt and made a layup. West got to win nine in the fourth quarter before Maner, Taylor Treadwell, and Aubrey Treadwell made baskets to stretch the Rogers lead to 13 with 3:48 left to play.