ROGERS — Late turnovers and poor shooting again spelled defeat for Rogers High.
The Mounties let a third-quarter lead slip away and turned the basketball over two times in the final 1 minute, 30 seconds as Fort Smith Southside posted a 32-27 win Friday in a consolation game at Arvest Hoopfest.
Rogers (2-5) will face Hot Springs today at 1:30 p.m. in the seventh-place game. Southside (3-4) plays Pea Ridge in the fifth-place game at 3 p.m.
Rogers led 23-20 with 3:56 left in the third quarter, but the Mounties made just one of 11 shots in the final 12 minutes of the game. They also had four turnovers during that span, the final coming with 5.8 seconds left and the Rebels leading 30-27.
“This is two games in a row where we had a shot to get the win or tie, and we didn’t get a shot off,” said Wayne Herren, Rogers basketball coach.
Freshman Jake Killingsworth led Rogers with 11 points. His 3-pointer with 2:09 remaining cut the Rebels lead to 30-27. Rogers’ leading scorer, Hunter Hill, was held scoreless.
“Jake has been one of the positives,” Herren said. “Hunter didn’t get his usual points tonight, but a lot of that was because of Southside’s defense. We had a hard time getting shots against Southside’s defense. This game will make us better come conference time.”
Clayton Pankey was the only Southside player in double figures with 10 points, but coach Charles Cooper isn’t too concerned about the Rebels’ lack of scoring.
“Defensively, we played well,” Cooper said. “Our biggest problem right now is we can’t score. A lot of that is because we just got kids in the gym from football a week or two ago. I believe they will get better shooting the ball.”
Fort Smith Southside 32, Rogers High 27
Rogers 4 8 11 4 — 27
Southside 7 10 8 7 — 32
Rogers (2-5): Killingsworth 11, Holt 6, Jones 5, Gentz 3, Smith 2.
Southside (3-4): Pankey 10, Strickland 8, Jackson 4, Wolfe 3, Hindman 3, Harpenau 2, Hunton 2.
Pea Ridge 61
Hot Springs 55
With less than three minutes remaining, Hot Springs coach Rodney Echols yelled, “Corner! Corner!” to his players.
Standing alone in the corner was Pea Ridge senior Jacob Hall.
Echols’ instructions came too late as Hall drained a wide-open 3-pointer that snapped a 51-51 tie. The Blackhawks went on to defeat Hot Springs 61-55 in a consolation bracket game.
Hall finished with a game-high 22 points, including 10 in the final 4:30 of the game. Evan Tillman added 13 points for Pea Ridge (6-1), while Isaac Mangrum finished with 11 for the Blackhawks, who trailed 25-21 at halftime..
“We definitely needed that shot,” said Charley Clark, Pea Ridge coach. “They were all big shots there at the end. We did a better job in the second half, and the scoreboard reflected it. We did a much better job of passing the basketball.”
Anthony Goffigan led Hot Springs (1-6) with 16 points.
Pea Ridge 61, Hot Springs 55
Pea Ridge 13 8 20 20 — 61
Hot Springs 15 10 10 20 — 55
Pea Ridge (6-1): Hall 22, Tillman 13, Mangrum 11, Pitts 8, DeLeon 6, Rose 1.
Hot Springs (1-6): Goffigan 16, Nero 11, Blackmon 10, Counts 8, White 5, Morrow 3, Stringer 2.