Mounties Put The Clamps On War Eagles

Rogers High’s Collin James takes the ball to the basket during the second half Friday against Rogers Heritage in War Eagle Arena in Rogers.
Rogers High’s Collin James takes the ball to the basket during the second half Friday against Rogers Heritage in War Eagle Arena in Rogers.

— Rogers High boys basketball coach Marty Barnes had seen his team lose focus and a few leads this season, but the Mounties made sure that didn't happen Friday night.

Rogers used its suffocating defense to hold Rogers Heritage to single digits through three quarters and pounded the ball inside early for easy baskets. That translated into a dominating 39-14 victory over the War Eagles in War Eagle Arena.

"This is the first game where we actually started and ended well," Barnes said. "We were up 11-0 at Bentonville and let that one slip away, and we were up 7-0 in another game and had to battle."

Instead, the trio of Josh Anderson, Graham Parker and Nathan Musso combined for 30 of Rogers' 39 points, mostly inside the lane to keep the Mounties (14-9, 5-5 7A-West Conference) in control from the start.

Rogers shot 69 percent (11-of-16) from the floor on its way to a 27-5 halftime lead and never looked back. Parker, a 6-foot-3 senior, outscored Heritage (9-15, 1-9) by himself with a team-high 15 points.

Anderson chipped in nine.

Heritage made just 2 of 9 field goals (22 percent) and didn't shoot a free throw in the first half.

Zac Stewart's 3-pointer with less than a minute left in the first quarter was Heritage's first points of the night, and Mac Olinger's baseline jumper with 4 minutes, 57 seconds left before halftime accounted for the War Eagles' only points in the second quarter.

The Mounties put things away in the second quarter, outscoring Heritage 18-2. Parker keyed the run with seven points in the quarter, all inside the lane. Anderson and guard Cameron Carroll sandwiched 3-pointers around Musso's 3-point play for the 27-5 advantage.

Barnes said the win was a huge one as far as the postseason is concerned.

"It forces Har-Ber to win out," Barnes said. "This was a very big win for us (Friday) night."

Rogers Heritage coach Tom Olsen said he and his team, which knocked off the Mounties a month ago on the road, never really had an answer. He also thought his War Eagles might still be thinking about losing in overtime to Springdale High on Tuesday.

"They really executed well both offensively and defensively," Olsen said. "They shared it and shot the ball well. Obviously, that wasn't our best effort. I think we're still kinda licking our wounds from the other night.

"But that's my fault, I got to get them ready to play better against coach Barnes and the Mounties.

"It just seemed we were a step slow and a day late in everything we tried to do. All the credit goes to them."

Rogers won the junior varsity game 34-15. Trevor Hampton finished with a game-high 11 points for Rogers. Jacob Robbins and Luke Oldham led Heritage with four points each.

Boys Prep Basketball

7A-West Conference

Rogers High 39, Rogers Heritage 14

Rogers 9 18 7 5 -- 39

Heritage 3 2 4 5 -- 14

Rogers (14-9, 5-5): Parker 15, Anderson 9, Musso 6, Carroll 6, Jones 3.

Rogers Heritage (9-15, 1-9): Stewart 5, Oldham 5, Olinger 2, Warner 2.

Upcoming Events