ROGERS — Kevin Ramey has seen a little growth already this season from his Rogers Heritage Lady War Eagles, but they still don’t have a win to show for it.
Heritage dropped to 0-3 after a buzzer-beating 29-28 loss to North Pulaski on Saturday in the Heavenly Hoopfest in Little Rock. North Pulaski hit a driving layup at the buzzer for the win.
Ramey said his team must protect the basketball better and find a way to get more offense. The Lady War Eagles are averaging just 25 points per game through three games.
“We’ve turned it over at some crucial times,” Ramey said. “When we’ve needed a possession to score and either separate ourselves or needed one to get back in it. We just kinda missed a couple of those opportunities and it ended up being the difference.”
Ramey said had his team cashed in on one or two of the those chances earlier in the game, things could have turned out differently. He also pointed out the Lady War Eagles made just 4 of 11 from the free throw line.
“We really should have had an eight- or 10-point lead with two minutes left,” Ramey said. “Instead, we’re in a dogfight.”
One thing Ramey has been pleased with has been the team defense. Heritage is holding teams to an average of only 40 points per game.
“We haven’t been able to do enough offensively thus far,” Ramey said. “We’re going to try to manufacture more points from our defense and take some pressure off. We’ll continue to work at it and see if we can work inside more and get to the foul line more.”
Junior guard Yalile Johnson leads Heritage in scoring, but the Lady War Eagles have had a different leading scorer in each of their first three games. Johnson led the way in an opening-game loss to host Mount St. Mary, but senior Danielle Schillinger was the top scorer in a nine-point loss to Forrest City.
Hannah Hickman led with 12 points against North Pulaski, but the senior guard did so coming off the bench Saturday, after starting the first two games.
Ramey said Hickman, who was one of the team’s top scorers a year ago, looked to be pressing a bit so he decided to take some pressure off her.
“She didn’t look like herself,” Ramey said. “She’s usually real calm. I thought she was rushing everything. She looked like she had a bunch of weight on her shoulders.”
Heritage definitely needs more offense from Hickman for it to be successful, Ramey said.
“If we can get her and Danielle and Yalile, get them going night in and night out, our offense will pick up,” he said. “We’ve adjusted a couple of things to try not to rely as much on the perimeter.”
Heritage will try to get that first win today when it hosts Harrison. The junior varsity game tips off at 5:30 p.m.
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