Rogers Holds Off Lady Bulldogs

Saturday, February 2, 2013

— Rogers High escaped with a win Friday night.

The Lady Mounties forced Springdale High into a five-second call with 5.5 seconds left and Taylor Strickland hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining to lift Rogers to a 50-47 victory in a 7A/6A-West Conference game.

ROGERS HIGH 50, SPRINGDALE HIGH 47

Springdale 17 6 11 13 — 47

Rogers 13 12 15 10 — 50

Springdale (6-15, 1-7): Daniels 12, Perez 11, Jurgens 8, Dederich 8, McPherson 5, Wood 3.

Rogers (15-7, 6-2): Strickland 20, James 11, King 9, Warren 5, Hawley 5

JUNIOR VARSITY: Rogers High 46, Springdale High 4.

Springdale’s Brittany Jurgens’ long 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the front of the rim as Rogers (15-7, 6-2 7A/6A-West) avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Bulldogs (6-15, 1-7).

“We talk about making winning plays, and our players rose to the occasion,” Rogers girls basketball coach Preston Early said. “It was great recognition by our players to know where Springdale’s best players were to deny them the inbounds.

“We made just enough plays.”

Strickland finished with 20 points, including eight in the fourth period. McKinzie James was also in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Sophomore Callie King also came up big for Rogers with three 3-pointers for nine points. Her 3-pointer that beat the third-quarter buzzer gave Rogers a 40-34 lead.

“That was big because Springdale had cut it to a one-possession game,” Early said. “McKinzie also had a couple of tough baskets when the pressure was on.”

Rogers led by 10 late in the third quarter, but sophomore Javonda Daniels hit four 3-pointers to help give the Lady Bulldogs a 45-44 lead with 4 minutes, 42 seconds remaining. But the Lady Bulldogs scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting the rest of the way.

“This team is made of something,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “There are teams that get down by 11, and it turns into 25. But there are teams that get down by 11 and make a run. We did a good job of making a run of our own. We just came up short.”

Daniels finished with 12 points, while Karen Perez scored the Lady Bulldogs’ first nine points and finished with 11 points.