ROGERS —  Rogers High stayed in the thick of the girls 7A/6A-West Conference title race with a 50-47 win Friday night against Springdale High.

Leading 48-47, Rogers, after two Springdale timeouts, forced the Lady Bulldogs into a five-second violation on an inbound pass. Taylor Strickland then put the game away with two free throws with 3.6 seconds showing.

Rogers (15-7, 6-2) remains tied with Rogers Heritage for second place and a game behind league-leading Bentonville. Rogers plays both Heritage and Bentonville at home the second half of the conference schedule.

The Lady Mounties led 25-23 at halftime after ending the second period with a 4-0 run. They then opened the second half with an 11-0 run for a 36-23 lead with 5:11 remaining in the third period. Taylor Strickland scored seven of her 20 points during a 90 second span in the third.

And Rogers needed every point as Springdale roared back for a 45-44 lead with 4:42 left in the game. But Strickland scored the Lady Mounties final six points — including four straight free throws — as they held off the Lady Bulldogs.

The Mounties cut a 15-point Springdale lead to eight late in the game but they could get no closer in a 56-43 loss.

PLAY OF THE WEEK: Springdale used an 11-1 run to cut the Lady Mounties lead to 37-34 in the closing seconds of the third period. But Rogers sophomore Callie King hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lady Mounties a 40-34 lead while halting the Lady Bulldogs’ momentum.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Strickland made 6-of-12 shots from the floor and all six free throws for her 20 points against Springdale. She now needs 48 points to become the all-time girls scoring leader at the school.

Mounties senior Reed Hill had his best conference game of the year with nine points against Springdale. Hill had seven points in the second half as Rogers cut the Bulldogs lead to eight, 48-40, with 1 minute, 58 seconds left in the game.

NOTABLE: Friday’s game will be the first for both Rogers teams in Fayetteville’s new gym. Fayetteville is hosting the Class 7A State Tournament. ... Strickland is 18-of-18 from the free throw line in the Lady Mounties last two games — 12-of-12 against Springdale Har-Ber and 6-of-6 against Springdale High. ... The Lady Bulldogs made three more field goals than Rogers but the Lady Mounties were 11-of-16 from the free throw line.

THE LINGO: “We are lucky we made enough plays offensively. We lost control of the game, but I’m proud of the kids that we could stabilize it. This time of year there are no style points, you just have to pick up wins.”

Preston Early

Rogers High girls coach

UP NEXT: Rogers hits the road for a pair of conference road games this week. The Mounties and Lady Mounties are at Siloam Springs Tuesday and at Fayetteville Friday. The Lady Mounties defeated the Lady Panthers (64-54) and the Lady Bulldogs (45-39) the first half of the conference season. The Mounties lost to Siloam Springs (68-49) and Fayetteville (73-23) last month. Rogers returns home Feb. 12 when Bentonville visits.