7A-WEST BASKETBALL: Northside Wears Down Heritage

28 TOTAL TURNOVERS HURT LADY WAR EAGLES

— Rogers Heritage managed to handle Fort Smith Northside’s full-court press for a little while, but the Lady Bears defense eventually wore down the Lady War Eagles on Tuesday night.

Northside forced 12 of Heritage’s 28 turnovers in the second quarter and pulled away for a 58-29 win over Heritage in 7A-West Conference basketball in Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.

“At times we handled the pressure well, but at times we didn’t,” Rogers Heritage girls basketball coach Kevin Ramey said. “We knew they weren’t going to let us sit and play at a pace that’s comfortable to us.

“They were going to push the pace. ... They were quicker to the ball than we were and more active with their hands.”

Northside coach Rickey Smith agreed Heritage was much better than the first time the two teams played, a 55-26 Northside win. Ultimately, the defensive pressure was too much.

“Give Kevin and Heritage credit, they handled our press for a while,” Smith said. “But it’s kinda like the dam sooner or later is going to break.

“Those kids get after it. It doesn’t look like there’s five out there. It looks like there’s seven or eight. We went with a smaller, quicker lineup.”

Senior Chauntel Terry led all scorers with 16 points for Northside, while Mannasha Bell added 12. Brittany Ward led Heritage (6-19, 2-10) with 15.

Northside (24-3, 12-1) held Heritage to just three field goals in the second quarter and slowly pulled away thanks to intense defensive pressure and relentless offensive rebounding.

The Lady Bears put together a 22-6 run to end the first half and begin the second half to take control.

Smith credited sophomore Bria Caldwell with getting his team going on Senior Night.

“Bring a sophomore more in and she scored seven points in a matter of minutes,” Smith said. “She really gave us a spark.”

Northside won the junior varsity game 43-15. Ellen Lundy led Heritage with seven points.

Heritage finishes the season with two games on the road. The Lady War Eagles play at Springdale Har-Ber on Friday, then close the season at Bentonville on Saturday.

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