Rogers girls edge Bentonville West

ROGERS 50, BENTONVILLE WEST 49,

ROGERS — Rogers Coach Preston Early said he had a feeling Friday’s 6A-West Conference girls game against Bentonville West would be a battle. He wasn’t wrong.

The Lady Wolverines missed two shots around the basket as time expired, and the Lady Mounties held on for a 50-49 victory at Mountie Arena.

“We told our kids, because we had seen [West] on film all of January, they’re improving, playing people closer and we knew they could shoot,” Early said.

West controlled much of the first half, taking a 17-10 lead early highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Rachel Gandy and six points from Hallie Ford.

The Lady Wolverines (915, 1-10) led 17-13 after the first quarter and 28-27 at halftime.

Rogers (12-12, 4-6) responded with a 12-2 run to open the third quarter to open up a 3930 lead. Sybell Solis scored the first five points of that run and Kiara Owens hit a three-pointer for a 37-29 lead. Solis later scored again inside for a 39-30 lead.

West answered with a 7-0 run to get within 39-37 with four points from Ford and a three-pointer from Regan Crusinbery.

The Lady Mounties led 42-37 after three quarters and pulled ahead 50-44 late in the fourth after a putback by Owens, but West wouldn’t go away.

West pulled within 50-49 and had one more chance with 11.8 seconds left. The Lady Wolverines pushed the ball inside, but Ford’s shot bounced out and Ashley Rangel’s follow-up was short as time expired.

Ford led West with 19 points, while Gandy had 10.

West Coach Dion Hargrove said he was proud of the fight his team showed.

“We just played really hard,” Hargrove said. “We’re just so young and inexperienced. The first round of conference play, it took us so long to adjust to how physical the game is at this level. I feel like our second round of conference play we’ve played a lot tougher.”

Solis led Rogers with 15 points, while Kiara Owens had 14 and 9 rebounds. Cate Jackson added 11 points and Brooklyn Owens 10 for the Lady Mounties.

Early said he was most pleased that his team recorded a season-high 14 assists.

“That’s big for this crew because we’ve had games where it’s been below five [assists],” Early said. “To see us move the ball and everybody confident offensively and people being able to come in off the bench that was big for us.”

BOYS BENTONVILLE WEST 46, ROGERS 39

The Wolverines outscored the Mounties 12-4 in the fourth quarter to rally for the victory.

West (11-12, 5-6 6A-West) trailed 37-34 when Lane Jeffcoat converted a three-point play to tie the game with 3:59 left. Jaxson Brust followed with a three-pointer to give West the lead for good at 40-37. Landon Price added a bucket and Ben Van Hecke and Cooper Moore each hit free throws to ice the win.

Price led West with 12 points, while Van Hecke had 11. Rex Krout led Rogers (1311, 3-7) with 11 points.