Rogers looks to make its move to top

By Rick Fires

Posted: November 8, 2009 at 6:11 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — This could be a breakthrough season for Rogers, which has been overshadowed by defending Class 7A state champion Fayetteville the past two years.

Rogers has won 44 of its past 58 games, but that hasn’t been good enough to supplant Fayetteville, which has appeared in consecutive state championship games and finished 32-0 last year while winning the title.

Rogers went 12-2 in the 7AWest Conference a year ago, with both losses coming against the Lady Bulldogs.

“We know there is an opportunity out there,” Rogers Coach Preston Early said. “We have the best player in the state in Morgan Hook, but she can’t play 1-on-1. Everybody on our team will have to raise their level of play if we are to reach our goals.”

Hook is a senior guard and a three-year starter who is orally committed to Oklahoma. She led the 7A-West in scoring last year with 17.8 points per game and set school records for points andassists.

Her supporting cast includes guard Taylor Murphy, a transfer from Springdale Har-Ber. Hayley Clark, Jasmine Coultas and Sarah Ross also saw significant playing time last season.

“We’ve got an excellent group who’s been through the fire and know how tough it is to win in this league,” Early said. “We like our chances, but there’s a lot of teams out there with good players as well.”

Fayetteville has to replace three starters from a team that set school records for victories (32), assists (527), steals (375), threepoint goals (199) and scoring average (68.2). But the Lady Bulldogs could still be a threat, especially with Calli Berna and Sierra Shipley returning in the backcourt.

Berna, a junior, led the Lady Bulldogs in assists and steals.

Fort Smith Northside could begin its return to prominence after finishing third in the 7AWest last season. The Lady Bears, who’ve won five state championships since 1999, return 15 of their 17 varsity players.

“We don’t have a home-run hitter like Morgan Hook, but we’ve got players who can hitdoubles and triples,” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “I like this team, I really do. Injuries to key players have really hurt us the last two years. But if we can stay healthy I’m confident we’ll be on our way back.”

Three-year starter Brianna Cole will lead Northside after averaging 12 points per game last season. She should get help on the inside from 6-1 Charmaine Whitmore and 6-2 Hannah Ware and outside from guards Ryneka Church and Manasha Bell.

Bentonville hopes a full recovery by junior Montana Lewis will help the Lady Tigers produce another winning season after finishing 17-11 last season. Lewis played the final 18 games last year and averaged 7.7 points while recovering from an injured shoulder.

Bentonville’s other returning starter is Amanda Coughlin, who is recovering from a knee injury and won’t be back until December. Senior Stephanie Maxwell will take over at point guard while Blakelee Sanders, Jessica Stout and Jessi Murch are expected to contribute in the front court.

“There’s some question marks because we never had the whole team together during the summer,” Bentonville Coach Tom Halbmaier said. “I know these girls, collectively, hate losing more than they love winning. They’re going to play hard and leave everything they have out there on the court.”

Springdale will have one ofthe top players in the league in forward Tiffany Wisely, who averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds as a sophomore. The Lady Bulldogs also will be bolstered by the return of senior guard Bailey Ott, who played in only nine games before she suffered a broken leg.

Bailey averaged 12 points per game as a sophomore.

7A-CENTRAL CONFERENCE Van Buren bigger

Van Buren will have some height this year with 6-1 sophomore Mallory Brown, 6-0 senior Shae Johnson and 5-10 senior Jammi Jones.

“We’ve got some size this year, and that should really help,” Van Buren Coach Merrill Mankin said. “Physically, we look like we can play with anybody, but it all depends on how well we mesh.”

Kerri Arnold is the lonereturning starter for Van Buren, which finished 14-13 overall and 6-8 in conference play.Arnold started at guard and averaged 8.0 points per game as a sophomore.

Special, Pages 84 on 11/08/2009

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