FORT SMITH — Fort Smith Northside’s Dushaun Rice didn’t start on Senior Night in Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse, but the 5-foot-11 junior sure made his presence was known.
Rice keyed a 22-4 run in the third quarter to help Northside roll to a 69-47 win over Rogers Heritage in 7A-West Conference boys basketball action on Tuesday night.
Heritage (9-17, 1-11) scored the first four points of the second half to pull within 28-26, but the Grizzlies cranked up the defensive pressure and the fast break to pull away.
“Their athleticism was too much for us,” Rogers Heritage coach Tom Olsen said. “We had a couple of bad breaks that I thought went against, maybe some things I didn’t agree with.
“But that’s part of the game of basketball.”
Northside (15-12, 10-3) fueled its big run with six Heritage turnovers in the third quarter, and Rice led the charge by doing practically everything.
“We feed off him a lot,” Grizzlies coach Eric Burnett said. “That’s why the ball’s in his hands 95 percent of the time. He makes things happen.”
Rice’s three-point play after a Heritage turnover started Northside’s big run, and his floater in the lane capped it to give the Grizzlies a 50-30 lead with under one minute left in the third quarter.
“He’s versatile,” Burnett said. “You name it he can do it. He can rebound. He had two blocks (Tuesday night). He can rebound. He’s a great passer. Of course, everybody knows he can score.
“He’s a big part of our team.”
Rice finished with 13 points, but he had plenty of help from his teammates Tuesday with three other Grizzlies finishing in double figures. Junior Josh Berard led the way with 14 points, while Shaquille Jones added 13 and Biton Triplett had 11.
Thomas Moreland finished with a game-high 16 points for Heritage, while Garrett Macy was also in double figures with 10.
Northside won the junior varsity game 48-25. Jacob Robbins led Heritage with nine points.
Heritage finishes the season with two games on the road. The War Eagles play at Springdale Har-Ber on Friday, then close the season at Bentonville on Saturday.