SPRINGDALE — A game too close to call between Rogers High and Springdale Har-Ber through three quarters turned one-sided in the final eight minutes Thursday.
The Lady Wildcats and Lady Mounties battled back and forth for the first 24 minutes with neither team having the upper hand. Then in the fourth quarter, Rogers hit one big shot after another, while Har-Ber went stone cold from the floor in a 61-52 Lady Mounties’ win in Wildcat Arena.
“We told our kids at halftime to just keep battling,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “We got some back-to-back stops on defense and hit some shots.
“Really, this is a lesson of sticking to your guns and just hanging in there.”
Har-Ber was playing its first game since senior post Maggie Gartner was lost for the season with a torn right ACL, MCL and meniscus injury in Tuesday’s 57-49 loss at Fayetteville.
But in Gartner’s absence, Caroline Eubanks and Summer Morgan appeared more than ready to pick up the slack in the paint for the Lady Wildcats, scoring a combined 27 points through the first three quarters.
With Eubanks and Morgan controlling the post game for Har-Ber, the Lady Mounties (19-7, 7-6 7A-West Conference) found themselves trailing 45-43 through three quarters. But two quick 3-pointers by Taylor Strickland and Sarah Grace Groves set off a 10-0 Rogers run to open the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t do a very good job on defense in the fourth quarter and we quit rebounding on offense,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. “I thought we played pretty good for three quarters, but we just weren’t hitting our shots in the fourth quarter and they hit theirs.”
Har-Ber (12-16, 4-9) finished 1-for-13 from the floor in the final quarter and got just three points from Eubanks and Morgan in the last eight minutes.
On the other end, Strickland scored seven of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter for Rogers, which secured either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed from the 7A-West Conference for next week’s Class 7A State Tournament.
“We told Taylor at halftime to just stay aggressive and the shots will fall,” Early said. “Even Ray Allen has those times where the shots aren’t falling, but you keep looking for your shot and it will come. I thought Taylor and Sarah Grace hit some big shots for us.”
Har-Ber hosts Rogers Heritage in the regular-season finale today and the Lady Mounties visit Bentonville tonight.
Girls Prep Basketball
7A-West Conference
ROGERS HIGH 61, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 52
Rogers 13 16 14 18 — 61
Har-Ber 11 17 17 7 — 52
Rogers (19-7, 7-6): Strickland 22, Fusillo 15, Groves 9, Wilkerson 8, Scott 7.
Har-Ber (12-16, 4-9): Eubanks 16, Morgan 14, Wolf 9, Wright 6, Murr 4, Olson 3.