FORT SMITH — FORT SMITH - Fort Smith Southside’s boys seemed a bit flustered through the first three quarters Saturday night at Southside Gymnasium.
No matter what the Rebels did, they couldn’t find the offensive rhythm they established Friday in a lopsided victory over Springdale.
Despite the early problems, however, Southside corrected its mistakes late in the second half and turned a close game into a blowout. Southside outscored Rogers Heritage 30-7 to end the game as it pulled away for a 62-42 victory.
Senior Drew Miller and junior Jonathon Hawley scored 11 points each to lead Southside (22-2, 10-1 7A-West).
“You have to give Heritage credit. They had a tough loss [Friday] and came back and played hard for three quarters,” Southside Coach Charles Cooper said. “It took us a little while to get going, but we finally woke up in the fourth quarter.”
Before the fourth quarter, Heritage (9-17, 1-11) tested Southside’s players by being aggressive on both sides of the court. The War Eagles were patient on offense while waiting for open shots and came up with a few stops on defense.
Heritage was led on defense by senior Jonathan Warner, who finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocks. Two of Warner’s blocks came on dunk attemptsby Southside senior forward Cameron Adams, who was held to five points.
“I thought we had [Southside] on their heels for awhile,” Heritage Coach Tom Olsen said. “[Warner] played an outstanding game on the boards and blocking shots. When he plays aggressively like that, I think he’s one of the best around defensively.”
Heritage, which lost 39-14 to Rogers on Friday night, fell behind in the fourth when Southside’s experience and depth took control. The Rebels started their big run with a layup by Kolten Henning to start the fourth quarter before junior Jonathon Hawley hit a three-pointer from the right wing.
HERITAGE (42) Olinger 12, Warner 10, Moreland 9, Stewart 5, Macy 3, Murray 3.
SOUTHSIDE (62) Miller 11, Hawley 11, Meares 7, Nolte 6, Henning 6, Massey 5, Adams 5, Hillian 5, Harris 4, Ross 2.
Heritage ................ 10 14 13 5 - 42 Southside .............. 13 14 15 20 - 62 Girls
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 52, ROGERS HERITAGE 34
Senior Emillie Gray scored 17 points and Southside (14-9, 7-4 7A-West) pulled away in the second half to defeatRogers Heritage (6-18, 2-9).
Gray scored nine points in the second half by getting several open looks underneath the basket. Sophomore Calli White contributed 12 points.
Heritage couldn’t find any rhythm on offense in the second and third quarters, when it managed a combined 10 points.
Junior Julie Whitlow led Heritage with 12 points.
Southside maintained its lead in the second half by converting at the freethrow line. The Lady Rebels made 17 of 22 free throws.
HERITAGE (34) Whitlow 12, B. Ward 9, Johnson 8, A. Ward 3, L. Wood 2.
SOUTHSIDE (52) Gray 17, White 12, Jones 10, Hamilton 4, Briggs 4, Moore 3, Kimbrough 2.
Heritage ................ 12 3 7 12 - 34 Southside .............. 14 9 10 19 - 52
Sports, Pages 32 on 02/20/2011