Rogers White Overwhelms Blue Team

COACH SIZES UP ROSTER IN SCRIMMAGE

By Paul Nielsen

Posted: November 12, 2009 at 5:10 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

ROGERS — Rogers High’s annual girls Blue-White basketball scrimmage wasn’t really a fair fight Wednesday night in King Arena.

But that is how Lady Mounties coach Preston Early wanted it.

Early loaded up the White squad with his top players so it was no surprise that the White team defeated the Blue team 51-30.

Senior Morgan Hook signed her national letter of intent with Oklahoma before the game and then went and scored a game-high 15 points for the White team. Jazmin Coultas backed Hook up with 13 points while junior Madeline Fusillo added 10.

Sophomore Sarah Grace Groves scored eight points for the White team on 3-of-5 shooting while Hayley Clark finished with five points. Move-in Taylor Murphy would have played with the White team but missed the game with the stomach flu.

“We wanted to see what that group looked like,” Early said. “One of the things we wanted to see is how people did in those positions.”

Mickey Brown led the Blue team with eight points while Cameron Harris scored seven. Early only dressed 11 for the scrimmage and he expects all 11, plus Murphy, to contribute valuable minutes this season.

“We showed that we have some depth,” Early said. “We are going to have more than a six-man rotation, which we have had the last couple of years. I’m pleased with them.”

But Early said there is plenty of room for improvement before the season starts. The White team hit just 19 of 44 floor shots (43 percent) while the Blue team was 10 of 24 (41 percent). The two teams also combined for 23 turnovers in the 40-minute scrimmage that featured a running clock.

“We are going to have to be a ton better,” Early said. “We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we can.”

Coultas scored six points and Hook added five points as the White team raced to a 16-0 lead. The Blue team turned the ball over six times on its first seven possessions and didn’t score in the first 10 minutes of the 20-minute first half.

The Blue team managed to cut the White halftime lead to 21-12 behind five points by Lydia Wilkerson.

Hook opened the second half with a layup for a 23-12 lead and the White team would then hit its next five shots, including a 3-pointer by Groves that upped the lead to 35-22.

Both Rogers teams will host Prairie Grove in a benefit scrimmage Saturday night. The Mounties and Lady Mounties open the regular season Nov. 21 in Pea Ridge.

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.