Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Class 6A boys
Joel Garner (left) of Rogers grabs a rebound over Little Rock Central’s Ubong Etim during Rogers’ 53-50 victory Thursday at the Class 6A boys basketball state tournament at Centerton.
CENTERTON — Rogers High took a major stride Thursday in its basketball rebuilding project under coach Lamont Frazier.
Freshman Will Liddell scored 14 points as Rogers defeated Little Rock Central 53-50 in the Class 6A state tournament at Bentonville West’s Wolverine Arena.
The victory is the first for Rogers in a state tournament game since 2011 when the Mounties won twice before being eliminated by a Little Rock Hall team led by Bobby Portis.
Rogers (21-6) advanced to a quarterfinal game at 8:30 p.m. today against Conway.
Little Rock Central had a chance to tie after trailing 4132 early in the fourth quarter. With 4.6 seconds left, Central wanted the ball in the hands of AJ Williams, who led the Tigers with 22 points. But Williams passed off while being closely guarded by Derek Hobbs and Braxton Bowen did not get a shot off before the buzzer.
“We wanted to make sure with 4.6 seconds left that whatever they did, we contested,” said Frazier, the Mounties’ second-year coach. “If they were going to make it, they would’ve had to make a contested shot.”
Little Rock Central led 25-23 at halftime on the strength of 14 points by Williams, a senior guard. But Rogers outscored Central 15-7 in the third quarter with six players contributing baskets. The Mounties extended their lead to 41-32 in the fourth quarter after Liddell hit a step-back 3-pointer, which prompted more chants of “he’s a freshman” from a large student section from Rogers.
Central kept hustling and got to within 50-48 on a rebound basket from KD Arnett with 32 seconds left in the game. The Tigers were called for a charge after forcing a turnover in the backcourt and Hobbs answered with two free throws to put Rogers ahead 5248 with 25 seconds left.
“Coming into it, I was really worried about how we were going to defend their size, defend their speed,” Frazier said. “As the game went on, our guys really acclimated.”
Elliot Paschal added 11 points for Rogers while Jakalyn Jackson contributed 13 for Little Rock Central (16-11).
LR Central ............ 12 13 7 18 — 50 Rogers ................. 8 15 15 15 — 53 LR Central (16-11): Williams 22, Jackson 13, Brewer 6, Arnett 5, Jones 2, McIntosh 2.
Rogers (21-6): Liddell 14, Paschal 11, Voigt 9, Hobbs 7, Miller 5, Rhame 3, Garner 2, Uecker 2.
BRYANT 73, CABOT 39
The Hornets played like the No. 1 seed from the Central in their state tournament opener Thursday evening.
Bryant (23-4) took control with a 25-0 first-half run and added a 24-2 spurt to start the second half for good measure to cap a dominating performance en route to an easy win over Cabot.
The Hornets have now won 14 consecutive games and advance to Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. semifinal against defending state champion North Little Rock.
Bryant did it with balance on offense as 6-foot junior Khalen Robison led the way with 14 points, but he had plenty of help. Rodney Lambert and Camren Hunt added 11 each, while Khasen Robinson chipped 10 and Treylon Payne had nine.
Bryant coach Mike Abrahamson said his team has hung its hat on defense this season. That didn’t change, playing Cabot for the third time this season.
“I think there was a comfort level between both teams,” Abrahamson said. “But defensively our guys were locked in and ready to go. They had a nice performance and were able to turn some of that into offense.
“Of course, hitting shots makes everything better. It was a good performance by our guys. Look, Cabot got some open looks they didn’t make. It wasn’t all us. We had a good day. They had a rough day. We played two pretty close games earlier in the year. At the same time, I want to give credit to our guys, defensively they were really good, made some shots, moved the ball well at times and played well in transition.”
Bryant took control early. After Cabot’s Jacob Hudson hit a jumper to get the Panthers within 5-4, they wouldn’t score again for quite a while.
The Hornets took off on a 25-0 run keyed by Khalen Robinson. He had 11 of his 14 points in that flurry. Robinson’s driving layup gave Bryant a 30-4 advantage before Cabot’s Weston Vaught scored inside to snap the streak with 3:41 left in the first half.
Zach Bates led Cabot (20-9), the No. 5 seed from the 6A-Central, with 10 points. Cabot ................... 4 6 9 20 — 39 Bryant ................. 16 17 32 8 — 73 Cabot (20-9): Bates 10, Rosenbuam 7, Hill 5, Raney 3, Muse 3, Rogers 2, Vance 2,Roberts 2, Hudson 2, Vaughn 2, Rudolph 1.
Bryant (23-4): Khal. Robinson 14, Hunter 11, Lambert 11, Khas. Robinson 10, Payne 9, Adams 6, Jenkins 6, West 3, Hefley 3,
BENTONVILLE HIGH 59, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 56
The Tigers may have struggled in the final couple weeks of the regular season, but they came together for a huge state tournament win.
Bentonville senior Michael Shanks made a bit of a hook shot to snap a 5656 tie with 9.4 seconds left. Teammate Connor Deffebaugh then tipped the ball away in the waning seconds, and Thane Spencer added 1 of 2 free throws before North Little Rock’s desperation heave was not close at the buzzer.
Bentonville coach Dick Rippee acknowledged others may not have given his team much chance to win against the defending state champions, but he and the players believed.
“You’ve gotta play with some urgency this time of year, kinda have a little pride check,” said Rippee, whose team finished as the No. 2 seed from the West but lost three of its last five to finish the regular season.
“I thought our guys played with some pride and enthusiasm. I thought it was a great team win against a really quality program. Our guys just really battled and really proud of them for persevering.”
Shanks led all scorers with 16 points, but he was one of four Tigers in double figures. Sawyer Price added 11, while Spencer and Brayden Freeman chipped in 10 each.
Collin Moore led North Little Rock (229), the No. 3 seed from the 6A-Central, with 16, while Shawn Fudge added 13.
Bentonville (21-7), the No. 2 seed from the 6A-West, advances to face Bryant in the semifinals at 1:30 on Saturday.
The Tigers led much of the first half and hit a pair of 3-pointers to start the second half for a 32-18 advantage. But North Little Rock responded with a 15-1 run to tie the game at 33 on a follow with 4:03 left in the third quarter. But the Tigers still led 39-38 entering the fourth quarter.
DeCorey Watkins hit a driving layup to start the fourth quarter to give North Little Rock a 40-28 advantage, but the Charging Wildcats would never lead again.
Bentonville got off to a quick start and led by as many 10 in the first half. The Tigers hit four 3-pointers and led 16-6 late in the first quarter. But Freeman scored eight second-quarter points to help Bentonville maintain that advantage. North Little Rock ..... 8 10 20 18 — 56
Bentonville ........... 16 10 13 20 — 59
North Little Rock (22-9): Price 16, Fudge 13, Steele 9, Simes 6, Cotton 4, Williams 4, Collier 2, Watkins 2. Bentonville (21-7): Shanks 16, Price 11, Spencer 10, Freeman 10, Deffebaugh 5, Smith 4, Simmons 3.