Ozark rallies past Rogers High in second half

OZARK 59, ROGERS HIGH 49

ROGERS — Rogers High used a hot-shooting first half to fashion an eight-point lead, but Ozark, Mo., owned the final two quarters on Friday afternoon.

Sophomore Madi Braden scored 21 of her game-high 30 points to key a big third-quarter run and lead the Lady Tigers to a 59-49 win in the consolation round of the First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic at War Eagle Arena.

The Lady Mounties (2-2) will try to get a win in the Classic when they take on Fort Smith Southside in the seventh-place game today at noon. Ozark takes on Siloam Springs for fifth at 1:30.

Braden, a 5-foot-6 guard, scored eight points in Ozark’s 16-0 run to start the second half to turn a 34-26 deficit into a 42-34 advantage with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter.

Rogers High coach Preston Early said his team may have gotten too comfortable with its good first half as the Lady Mounties made eight 3-pointers.

“I felt like for whatever reason maybe we maybe hit a level of satisfaction with how we had performed and then we come out in the third quarter and we’ve got our head in the clouds,” Early said. “We miss our first two set play calls where we’re lost. We have two defensive mistakes.

“We let an eight-point lead

turn into a deficit in about four minutes with just lack of concentration and all of a sudden we didn’t have that intensity and that edge that we had. A quality team took advantage of it and they had a lot more purpose.”

Rogers was within 4236 after three quarters. But Braden hit three 3-pointers for her own 9-3 run to open the fourth quarter and give Ozark a 51-39 lead with less than four minutes left. Braden made seven 3-pointers in the game.

Senior Madison Loyd scored 15 on five 3-pointers in the first half, but managed just two free throws in the final two quarters and finished with a team- high 17. Kate McConnell added 12 on four 3-pointers, but nine of those were in the first half. Courtney Storey was also in double figures with 11 for the Lady Mounties.

Ozark coach David Brewer said his team’s execution was just better in the second half, particularly defensively. He also said playing three sophomores and a freshman a lot, his team needs a little time to come together.

“We just made sure that they understood they need to get where they need to be defensively,” Brewer said. “We did a better job guarding the ball and shortened our closeouts. You know how 3-point shooters are, if they make a few in a row they’re tough. We were better engaged defensively in the second half.”

Freshman Jersey Wolfenbarger was Northside’s only player in double figures with 15, despite three firsthalf fouls. Sophomore Katie Mayes was also in double figures for Ozark with 11.

FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 64, ROGERS HERITAGE 37

The Lady Bears remained undefeated and advanced to today’s championship game with a big win.

Northside (5-0) held the Lady War Eagles ( 2-2) almost the entire second quarter without a field goal and led 30-11 at halftime. Heritage’s Sydney Kinnamon hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the half for her team’s lone field goal as the Lady Bears outscored Heritage 155 in the quarter.

Sophomre Pam Seiler led Heritage with 16 points.

CAMDENTON, MO. 60, WEBB CITY, MO. 50

The Lady Lakers ( 3- 0) outscored the Lady Cardinals 23-4 in the fourth quarter to rally and claim a spot in the Great 8 championship game.

Natalie Basham poured in a game-high 24 points for Camdenton, which trailed 46-37 after three quarters. Addie Darby led Webb City with 15.

SILOAM SPRINGS 75, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 51

The Lady Panthers (2-3) placed three in double figures to roll over the winless Mavericks.

Emery Brown led all scorers with 16 for Siloam Springs, which led 40-24 at halftime. Chloe Price added 14 and Morgan Vaughn 11. Erin Graham led Southside (0-5) with 11, while Hannah Schmidt had 10.

“We let an eightpoint lead turn into a deficit in about four minutes with just lack of concentration and all of a sudden we didn’t have that intensity and that edge that we had.”

— Rogers coach Preston Early