Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rogers High holds off Lady Wildcats
ROGERS — Rogers High offset Springdale Har-Ber’s size advantage with some red-hot outside shooting to claim a 54-52 back-and-forth win in the 7A-West Conference opener for both teams Friday night at King Arena.
The Lady Mounties (95, 1-0) hit 9 of 15 from the 3-point line and seemed to do it each time Har-Ber threatened.
Senior Maddi McKinney drained two free throws with 18 seconds left for a three-point Rogers lead. The Lady Mounties then withstood Khanni Shannon’s tip-in try to tie at the buzzer off a missed free throw.
Senior Madison Sandor drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key only seconds after Har-Ber took a 43-42 lead with 6 minutes, 35 seconds left that gave Rogers the lead for good.
Rogers coach Preston Early couldn’t have been more pleased with how his team responded in the league opener, but he also admitted to being happy to see senior Elise Randels back in the lineup. The 5-foot-11 post player had missed the past four games with a dislocated thumb. She was only cleared to play on Thursday, but was sorely needed because of Har-Ber’s tremendous size.
However, Early said his team made a defensive adjustment at halftime to apply more ball pressure to make it tougher for the Lady Wildcats (10-5, 0-1) to get the ball to the post.
“We had to get more stress on those passers and then all of a sudden it wasn’t as accurate,” Early said. “The other thing was we were letting their post players establish position. In the second
half, we did a better job of establishing defensive position first and then doubling on catches down there.
“The whole key of being able to capitalize on it is if you can come to the other end and make some open
shots. I thought Maddi, Madison (Loyd) and Sandor did that. They had no hesitation tonight. I thought that was really big. We felt like ‘Hey, they’re going to try to overpower us on the blocks, so we’re going to play the finesse game at the elbows and make them guard drives.”
Sandor led three Lady Mounties in double figures with 16, while Madison Loyd added 13, including four 3-pointers off the bench. Senior guard Maddi McKinney chipped 11, also with three 3-pointers. Randels also had nine.
Har-Ber coach Jaime Green said a difference in the game was definitely at the 3-point line and freethrow line. She also acknowledged Maci Mains’ absence was key, too. It was her first game out with a foot injury.
“We went 8 for 17 from the free-throw line and lost by two,” Green said. “Threepoint line killed us. We got beat off the dribble drive. Our post couldn’t maintain a stance and attacked our hips, which collapsed the gaps. So one-on-one defense has got to improve for us.”
Karrington Whaley, 6-1 senior, led Har-Ber with 16 points, while 6-1 Juliza Brown added 11. Savannah Collins had 10 for the Lady Wildcats, who led 28-26 at halftime but trailed 42-39 after three quarters.