Koons pours in 35 to lead Har-Ber

6A-WEST GIRLS SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 56, BENTONVILLE WEST 51

NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE SPRINGDALE — Spring- dale Har-Ber knew who to turn to with Pacious McDaniel in foul trouble Wednesday night.

The Lady Wildcats turned to Caylan Koons, who delivered another standout performance.

Koons poured in 35 points to lead Har-Ber to a 56-51 victory over Bentonville West in a quarterfinal game of the Class 6A Conference tournament at Wildcat Arena. Har-Ber (12-10) advanced to tonight’s semifinal game at Bentonville, the No. 1 seed.

“In big moments, the best ones always seem to rise to the occasion and (Koons) definitely stepped up for our team,” Har-Ber coach Kimberly Jenkins said. “It wasn’t going Pacious’ way tonight. Caylan definitely found a way and we had other kids who did a great job for us.”

McDaniel, who scored 32 points in a recent win over Rogers, finished with 12 points after fouling out Wednesday with 47 seconds to play. Koons picked up the slack in the second half when she scored 24 points and made 16 of her 18 free throws out the night.

Koons had 13 points in the fourth quarter when Har-Ber outscored Bentonville West 22-13.

“The whole game was crazy, but I knew we weren’t going to lose,” said Koons, a junior guard. “Something just clicked and I said to myself ‘OK, it’s time to go.”

While Koons carried the scoring load for Har-Ber, the Wildcats received a clutch 3-point basket by Maddux McCrackin with 20 seconds left in the game. McCrackin’s shot from the corner came after several passes and she made the 3-pointer to break a 51-51 tie and give Har-Ber the lead for good.

“That was a clutch shot, for sure,” Jenkins said. “She actually directed that whole (sequence), it wasn’t a play. It started on one side of the wing and I could hear her saying ‘one more, one more (pass)’, until it got to her. She wanted that moment and that’s her mentality.

West rallied from an early 10-point deficit to take a 38-31 lead in the second half. Koons gave Har-Ber a lift when she made a 3-pointer to end the third quarter. She then made nine consecutive points, including four consecutive free throws, when Har-Ber regained a 48-47 lead.

Laynee Tap scored 10 points to lead Bentonville West. Ivy Johnson added nine.

ROGERS HIGH 43, ROGERS HERITAGE 39

Taylor Treadwell scored on a driving layup with 2.3 seconds remaining to lift the Lady Mounties to the win in the 6A-West Conference tournament.

Treadwell’s basket snapped a 39-39 tie. She was also fouled on the play, but missed the ensuing free throw. Heritage coach Josh Laymon was also assessed a technical foul on the play and Treadwell made those two free throws to set the final score.

Rogers (17-9) will now play at Fayetteville tonight at 6 p.m.

Ava Maner led a balanced scoring attack for the Lady Mounties with 11. Aubrey and Taylor Treadwell added nine each.

Heritage, which trailed by 10 in the third quarter, led 39-36 with two minutes left, but Maner tied it with a 3-pointer from the corner with a minute left.

Easton Kimball led all scorers with 16 points for the Lady War Eagles, who trailed 22-16 at halftime.

BOYS BENTONVILLE WEST 56, SPRINGDALE HIGH 42

Anthony George’s bucket with 18 seconds left in the first half gave West a lead it never relinquished, and the Wolverines pulled away in the second half to claim a quarterfinal victory in Wolverine Arena.

George’s bucket off a steal gave West a 24-22 lead, and the Wolverines slowly built their lead to a 42-32 margin after three quarters. West led by as much as 19 points.

Dawson Price had 11 points and Tucker Anderson added 10 for the third-seeded Wolverines, who travel to second seed Fayetteville for tonight’s semifinal game. Domnique Hertin had 11 for Springdale, which will play in the fifth-place game Friday.

ROGERS HIGH 47, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 42

The Mounties advanced in the 6A-West Conference tournament despite scoring only six fourth-quarter points.

Rogers led 41-31 after three quarters but had to hold on for the win. The Mounties travel to Bentonville for a semifinal matchup tonight.

Will Liddell led all scorers with 17 points, but he had just one point in the second half. Van Rhame chipped in nine and Karsen Uecker eight — all in the second half.

Mack Wright led Har-Ber with 15, while Miles Rolfe added 14.