ROGERS — The first Sherman, Texas basket Saturday night against Rogers High will surely make the Bearcats’ year-end highlight film.
Senior Cameron Clark soared along the baseline for a dunk off a missed 3-pointer by Trey Jones 24 seconds into the game that awed the crowd in King Arena.
But the rest of the highlights belonged to the Mounties.
Rogers senior Wyatt Hively hit four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points and sophomore Josh Anderson added 19 points as the Mounties pulled away early for a 56-35 victory.
Rogers took a 47-19 lead to the final period and flirted with putting the 30-point mercy rule into effect but the Bearcats scored 16 points the final eight minutes.
Rogers hit 8-of-15 3-point attempts while Sherman managed to make just 4-of-22 3-pointers. Anderson had three 3-pointers for Rogers.
Rogers coach Marty Barnes said Sherman’s first basket was an eye opener. Clark has signed with Oklahoma but finished with just nine points.
“I’ll be honest with you, that first dunk off the rebound caught me off guard,” Barnes said. “That first possession put us back on our heels. But we have a variety of people that can score some points. I think we are getting in more of a comfort zone (shooting the basketball).”
Rogers was a sizzling 7-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half and all seven of the Mounties’ second period attempts were from 3-point range. They made four threes while building a 38-12 halftime lead.
Sherman, however, struggled mightily from 3-point range. The Bearcats missed all six attempts from behind the arc in the first period as Rogers raced to a 17-6 lead. Sherman made just 1 of 7 3-point attempts in the second period and were just 5-of-24 from the field in the first half.
Sherman coach Jeff McCullough said the Bearcats had trouble handling the different Rogers defenses. Sherman turned the ball over 20 times.
“We are not going to play anybody that sound defensively,” McCullough said. “We didn’t get any easy looks. I thought we played pretty well defensively, but Rogers shot the ball extremely well.”
Greg Jackson led Sherman with 12 points.
Hively’s first 3-pointer gave the Mounties the lead for good at 5-4 and the senior then added another three and a jumper the final 1 minute, 18 seconds of the first period that pushed the lead Rogers lead to 17-6.
Anderson opened the second period with his second 3-pointer of the game and Graham Parker followed with another trey for a commanding 23-6 lead. Anderson’s final 3-pointer of the game gave the Mounties a 31-10 lead with 2:54 left in the first half and capped a seven-point outburst by the sophomore.
Rogers returns to action Dec. 28 when they face Salem, Mo. in the first round of the 2009 US Bank/Rolla High School Holiday Invitational Tournament in Rolla, Mo.