ROGERS — DaShaun Stark skied high for a rebound, then put the ball on the floor and raced down the court.
SPRINGDALE HIGH 56, ROGERS HIGH 43
Springdale 14 11 13 18 — 56
Rogers 6 10 8 19 — 43
Springdale (14-7, 6-2): Scharlau 20, Eckwood 11, Tutt 8, Gause 8, Stark 5, Wymer 4.
Rogers (7-14, 1-7): H. Hill 12, Holt 10, R. Hill 9, Killingsworth 5, Jones 5, Gentz 2.
JUNIOR VARSITY SCORE: Springdale 40, Rogers High 38.
He looked right, then whipped a pass across his body to teammate Alex Scharlau, who was cutting to the basket. Scharlau caught the no-look pass in stride and easily laid the ball in the bucket.
The play came early in Springdale High’s 56-43 win over Rogers High in 7A/6A-West Conference action, but it set the tone for the Bulldogs in a double-digit win at King Arena on Friday.
“We like the ball in his hands,” Springdale boys basketball coach Brad Stamps said. “I think he does some good things.”
Although Stark scored just five points, his presence on the floor was key for the Bulldogs (14-7, 6-2 7A/6A-West). When he picked up his second foul in the second quarter and was forced to the bench, Stamps said it affected his team.
“He picked up that second foul when he didn’t come to a complete stop on that jump-stop, but we love the ball in his hands in transition,” Stamps said.
Friday night’s game was almost a complete reversal from the earlier meeting when Rogers was mercy-ruled in a lopsided loss. The Mounties employed a 1-2-2 zone defense that forced the Bulldogs to shoot over it, and the strategy kept the game much closer, Mounties coach Wayne Herren said.
“I’m very, very proud of the way our guys fought tonight,” Herren said. “We lost by 30 to them the first time we played them. I thought we battled hard and played hard.”
Springdale led just 25-16 at halftime as Scharlau, who scored a game-high 20 points, scored 10 in the first half. For Rogers (7-14, 1-7), Hunter Hill scored seven of his 12 points in the first half.
But the Bulldogs seized control with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, taking a 32-16 lead with 4 minutes, 12 seconds left in the third quarter on Scharlau’s layup.
“That was probably the difference in the game,” Herren said. “We kept chipping away and chipping away, but they kept that 6-7 point lead.”
The 16-point lead was Springdale’s largest of the game, but the Mounties fought back to get within single-digits several times in the fourth quarter and had a 3-pointer rattle in-and-out that would have closed the gap even more.
Springdale closed the game out at the free-throw line as sophomore Tereke Eckwood hit clutch shots down the stretch and finished with 11 points. He was also a force on the boards for the Bulldogs, keeping several possessions alive.
“I thought he did a great job on the offensive glass,” Stamps said. “For a while it seemed like he was the only one getting rebounds.”
The Bulldogs will host Rogers Heritage on Tuesday, while Rogers High will travel to Siloam Springs.