ROGERS — Rogers High got off to a hot start and never cooled down Tuesday night.
The Lady Mounties hit their first eight shots, including five straight 3-pointers, and Sarah Grace Groves led four players in double figures with 17 points to defeat Fort Smith Southside 68-50 in a 7A-West Conference game in King Arena.
The win was the third straight for Rogers (18-7, 6-6), which endured a five-game losing streak before winning three games over the past five days.
“It’s the nature of the game that you are going to have some hot streaks, some cold streaks,” Rogers girls basketball coach Preston Early. “We went through that three-week period there with the losses, and I am so proud of the kids for working out of it.
“We went to work, and I think it all that came out against Southside.”
Madeline Fusillo finished with 16 points for Rogers, while Taylor Strickland added 15 and Lydia Wilkerson had 14.
Rogers was 25 of 42 from the floor, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range. The Lady Mounties made 13 of 20 shots in the first half while taking a 39-31 lead.
“We were relentless for 32 minutes,” Early said. “Southside is so good offensively that you know that you are going to have to score some points. The focus was there.”
Rogers’ five game skid started on Jan. 25 with a 73-62 loss to the Lady Rebels, and Southside coach Sherry White knew she would see the Lady Mounties at their best. Both teams are battling for the No. 3 seed from the West in next week’s Class 7A State Tournament.
“We knew Rogers would come out hot, but not that hot,” White said. “We hung in there for a little bit, gosh, I don’t know how. Rogers did a great job and we had too many defensive breakdowns.
“It looked like we were beat before we ever went out there.”
Wilkerson had four of Rogers’ nine 3-pointers, including three in the first 2 minutes, 54 seconds of the game. But her fourth 3-pointer stopped a Southside run and gave the Lady Mounties a 57-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“That was big,” Early said. “Things got a little wobbly, but we get a turnover and then we make that shot. We pushed through it.”
Rogers won the junior varsity game 43-27. Paige McCullough led three Lady Mounties in double figures with 13 points. Nancy Diaz added 11, and Sydney Walsh had 10.