Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
On to the quarterfinals
Rogers girls, Northside boys among state tourney winners.
ROGERS 37, CABOT 35
FAYETTEVILLE — Abby Harris and Perla Morales made sure they stood their ground as Laylah Reese drove into the lane and tried to hit a game-tying shot Wednesday afternoon.
The Rogers duo caused the Cabot sophomore’s shot to go off the mark as the final buzzer sounded, and the Lady Mounties escaped with a 37-35 victory to complete the opening round of the Class 6A girls state tournament at Bulldog Arena.
Cabot (9-19) had the ball near midcourt with 7.6 seconds remaining after Rogers (19-10) had turned the ball over, and Reese took the ball near the top of the key before she headed into the lane. Harris and Morales met her close to the bucket, and they caused the shot to not even hit the rim.
“I think when [Cabot Coach Jay Cook] saw us go man, he had the most dynamic player on the floor,” Rogers Coach Preston Early said. “He tried to go for an iso drive and get an and-one. Bottom line, he’s putting the ball in his best player’s hands.
“I want to give credit for Abby Harris and Perla Morales because they stood foot-to-foot in the lane. They walled up on that thing and held the line right there at the end, and they contested that shot just enough for her to miss.”
Rogers didn’t trail again after freshman Ava Maner hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 24-21 lead with under a minute remaining in the third quarter. When Cabot went more than four minutes in the fourth quarter without scoring, the Lady Mounties stretched their cushion to 32-25 on Taylor Treadwell’s bucket with 3:16 remaining.
Morales hit two free throws to make it a 37-30 game with 52.6 seconds remaining, but Rogers didn’t scored again. Cabot picked up two free throws from Reese and a three-pointer by Kaitlyn Theobald with 13 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game.
“We’ve just had to plug and play,” said Early, whose Rogers team lost Kate Miller and Aubrey Treadwell in separate games last week. “Honestly, we’re just trying to make it through there. We’ve lost some good ones, but we still have some good ones out there.
“The thing that shined for me was our competitive spirit. We were so uptight. We played well other than shooting the ball. Our shooting was rough, but it’s such a skill thing that when you’re uptight like that you get it up in your head. We just kept encouraging them and telling them to focus on what they can do next.”
Maner finished with 11 points and Camiran Brockhoff 10 for Rogers, which advances to a Friday quarterfinal game against Conway.
Theobald had all of her 11 points in the second half to lead Cabot, while Reese added 10.
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 55, ROGERS HERITAGE 39
Elyse Smith scored 13 of her 20 points in the second half to lead Little Rock Central past Rogers Heritage.
Central (14-12) advances to face host Fayetteville in Friday’s 10 a.m. quarterfinal game.
Smith scored nine of Central’s 14 points in the third quarter after Heritage pulled within 29-26 on a basket by Easton Kimball. Smith answered with two three-pointers and a layup as Central pulled away 45-31 early in the fourth quarter.
Carlee Casteel scored 21 points to lead Heritage, which fell behind 14-3 in the first quarter. Casteel scored 16 points in the first half as Heritage got within 2722 after Casteel’s three-pointer to end the half.
Jordan Marshall added 15 points and Lauryn Pendleton had 11 for the Lady Tigers.