Rogers Heritage Holds Off Subiaco Academy

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

— Rogers Heritage struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the first half, but a quick surge to start the third quarter proved to be just what the War Eagles needed to earn a season-opening victory Tuesday night.

Boys Nonconference

ROGERS HERITAGE 56, SUBIACO ACADEMY 48

Subiaco Academy 7 9 11 21 — 48

Heritage 10 12 17 17 — 56

Subiaco Academy (0-1): Krueger 22, Hurst 10, Hollis 5, Reed 5, Vines 4, Post 2.

Rogers Heritage (1-0): Kinnamon 15, Greenway 10, Thomas 8, Fryauf 7, Hirsch 6, Olsen 5, Robbins 4, Jones 1.

Wyatt Kinnamon’s steal and layup, followed by Jacob Robbins’ layup off an alley-oop pass from Xavier Thomas after another Subiaco Academy turnover keyed a 7-0 spurt to start the second half as Heritage went on to a 56-48 victory at War Eagle Arena.

Heritage boys basketball coach Tom Olsen was pleased with his team’s overall effort, but particularly his guards, who combined for 38 points and helped limit the War Eagles to just 10 turnovers.

“We beat a pretty good team tonight,” Olsen said. “I thought in the second half we executed better, got better shots. But really I thought our guards did a good job. The game had a good flow.

“I think we can be pretty good when our guards play that well.”

Kinnamon, a 5-foot-10 junior, led Heritage with 15 points off bench, while senior point guard Hayden Greenway added 10. Thomas and junior Crist Olsen combined for 13.

The four guards, who split playing time pretty equally, keyed the third-quarter surge, then made big plays late when Subiaco Academy (0-1) tried to rally.

Kinnamon’s 3-pointer with seven second left in the third quarter pushed Heritage’s lead back to double digits at 39-27. The Trojans trimmed a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to six, but got no closer.

Cash Krueger’s 3-pointer pulled Subiaco within 48-42, but Heritage beat the Trojans’ full-court pressure and Thomas found Luke Fryauf under the basket for an easy score. The Trojans got within 50-44 and looked to have a Heritage turnover with two minutes left, but Kinnamon again poked the ball away and hit a driving layup to keep Heritage in control.

Subiaco Academy coach Tim Tencleve said the Class 4A Trojans, which start five underclassmen and two sophomores, struggled at times to match up against a more physical 7A opponent.

“We missed a ton of free throws and shots early when we could have set the tone,” Tencleve said. “We played (Fort Smith) Southside the other day and it wasn’t physical like this. Our kids are young and not really ready for it. But in the fourth quarter we had some kids grow up quite a bit.”

Krueger, a 6-5 sophomore, poured in a game-high 22 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for Subiaco.