Neal, Watkins Take Honors

Players Tops For Week In League 7A/6A-West Report

Taylor Strickland made Lady Mountaineer history against Van Buren on Friday, becoming the teams all-time leading scorer at 1,533, topping the previous record of 1,516 set by Morgan Hook from 2008 through 2010. Strickland moved into fourth place on the all-time leading girls' scorers in conference history with 732 points.
Taylor Strickland made Lady Mountaineer history against Van Buren on Friday, becoming the teams all-time leading scorer at 1,533, topping the previous record of 1,516 set by Morgan Hook from 2008 through 2010. Strickland moved into fourth place on the all-time leading girls' scorers in conference history with 732 points.

Springdale Har-Ber made the battle for second place and a first-round bye in the state tournament an interesting one Friday when it beat Rogers Heritage 53-48.

Thanks to a three-game winning streak, Har-Ber is in the mix.

Tayleah Neal scored 10 points Friday to help the Lady Wildcats and has scored 43 points during the three-game winning streak.

She scored 22 points Tuesday in Har-Ber's 48-34 win over crosstown rival Springdale High.

Neal's teammate, Bailey Schalk scored 27 points Friday to set a single-game team record for points scored in a conference game.

Neal and Schalk are a formidable scoring tandem, averaging 20.9 points per game combined, and have put the Lady Wildcats in position for the runner-up spot in the conference.

Fayetteville's Manuale Watkins continues to be a jack-of-all trades player for the Bulldogs.

Watkins scored 46 points in two Fayetteville wins last week. He scored 25 points Friday when the Bulldogs received their biggest challenge of the conference season in a 64-58 win against longtime rival Springdale High.

At Siloam Springs on Feb. 12, he scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 69-52 road victory.

Watkins fills several roles for the Bulldogs. Two weeks ago against Van Buren, he played post when Van Buren took its 6-foot-8 post player out above the 3-point line in an attempt to draw Tyler McCullough out.

“He'll do whatever it takes to win ball games,” Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. “We posted him up some because they were so conscious of Ty out on the blocks, they were fronting him. Then sometimes the guy that threw it in there would double down, too, sometimes so he'd have three guys on him. We tried to post Manny a little bit, and that worked out for us. He's so versatile.”

Watkins played a forward position at Columbia, Mo., Rock Bridge before he moved to Fayetteville.

“Before he came here, he played the four at Columbia Rock Bridge,” Adams said. “He's no stranger to playing the blocks.”

STRICKLAND RECORDS HISTORY

Rogers High's Taylor Strickland set the team record for career scoring Friday in the Lady Mountaineers' 48-34 win at Van Buren.

She scored 18 points and has scored 1,533 points in her three-year career, breaking the previous record of 1,516 points held by Morgan Hook from 2008 through 2010.

“She's a special, special player who had done a lot of good things for us,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “She has played with a lot of good teammates for three years. She's played with people that have kept defenses honest, and she's played with people that have gotten her the ball. She has delivered and has been so productive for three years.”

By The Numbers

Girls’ Top Scorers

Following are the all-time leading girls' scorers in conference history, in conference games only:

Point Player School Seasons Games

871 Chelsea Jones Fort Smith Southside 2006-2008 44

796 Krista Sanchez Springdale High 2003-2001 42

752 Tara Treat Fort Smith Southside 1994-1996 42

732 Taylor Strickland Rogers High 2011-2013 40

701 Morgan Hook Rogers High 2008-2010 42

699 Wendy Scholtens Fort Smith Southside 1987-1985 30

698 Melissa Thompson Southside/VanBuren 1999-2001 42

679 Cari Tanneberger Fayetteville 1994-1992 41

Strickland set the record with two free throws with 4:48 remaining in the first quarter. She also set a record last week when she eclipsed the 700-point mark in career scoring in conference history.

“She has for three years had to take on defensive game plans, bodies on her and physical play,” Early said. “She produces anyway. It's her character, her strength and her team's resolve that we have to run the offense through her.”

Strickland has scored 733 points in 40 career conference games, which ranks her fourth all-time. Only Fort Smith Southside's Chelsea Jones, who scored 871 points, Springdale High's Krista Sanchez, who scored 796 points, and Southside's Tara Treat, who scored 752, have scored more than Strickland

Just in the past few weeks she has passed some of the most prolific scorers in conference history, including Fayetteville's Cari Tanneberger, Southside's Wendy Scholtens and Melissa Thompson, who played at Van Buren for two years before moving to Southside for her senior season.

“Those are some elite kids,” Early said. “I would put her right up there in that class with them. Obviously, with what she has accomplished she deserves to be in the same sentence with those kids. Those are great players. I know she's honored to be mentioned with those kids. They were super players for their teams.”

Strickland still has two games remaining against crosstown rival Rogers Heritage and Springdale Har-Ber so she stands an excellent chance of passing Treat and moving into third all-time.

FINAL WEEK

A lot of playoff scenarios will play out during the final week of conference play.

The Bentonville Lady Tigers have already wrapped up their first conference championship since being elevated to the state's largest classification and into the 7A/6A-West in the 1989-90 season. They hold a three-game lead with two games left.

The Fayetteville Bulldogs also have secured the conference championship with a three-game lead with two games remaining.

In girls' play, Rogers, Heritage and Har-Ber are vying for the second playoff seed with 8-4 conference records. Even Fayetteville, at 7-5, is still in the mix.

Rogers plays Heritage on Tuesday.

“It's big,” Early said. “Van Buren was big for us. Every game for us is a dogfight. It sets up for a big game. We have a win over them, and they have a win over us. We have to show up and resemble our best selves, and we'll be fine.”

The top two teams in conference play earn a first-round bye in the state tournament, which isn't necessarily a good thing since those teams don't play its first game in the state tournament until Friday.

“No, not at all,” Early said. “I've had it three times. It's tough to sit around until Friday and play. Actually, the team that we have now needs to be in the state tournament and play that first game. We don't need to wait around for a week. Whatever happens will happen for us, but if I had my preference, I would rather start the tournament on Wednesday and go.”

In boys' play, Bentonville and Springdale meet Tuesday to decide the second seed behind Fayetteville. Bryant of the 7A/6A-South will likely earn the fourth seed. Van Buren is probably the fifth while Har-Ber currently has the final playoff spot. Har-Ber will clinch a playoff spot with a win or a loss by Rogers. The Mountaineers could seize the final spot but will have to beat Heritage on Tuesday and Har-Ber by at least nine.

7A/6A-West Conference Leaders

Boys

Team Offense

Team G PTS AVG

Fayetteville 12 724 60.3

Bentonville 12 704 58.7

Springdale High 12 680 56.7

Siloam Springs 12 671 55.9

Springdale Har-Ber 12 669 55.8

Van Buren 12 578 48.2

Rogers Heritage 12 515 42.9

Rogers High 12 503 41.9

Team Defense

Team G PTS AVG

Fayetteville 12 447 37.3

Van Buren 12 573 47.8

Springdale High 12 614 51.2

Bentonville 12 618 51.5

Siloam Springs 12 652 54.3

Rogers High 12 689 57.4

Rogers Heritage 12 704 58.7

Springdale Har-Ber 12 747 62.3

Scoring Leaders

Player, School G PTS AVG

Payton Henson, Siloam Springs 12 295 24.6

Nick Smith, Bentonville 12 264 22.0

Manuale Watkins, Fayetteville 12 195 16.3

Alex Scharlou, Springdale High 12 181 15.1

Dashaun Stark, Springdale High 12 163 13.6

Hunter Hill, Rogers High 12 161 13.4

Alex Rice, Springdale Har-Ber 12 160 13.3

Austin Heard, Bentonville 12 154 12.8

Jawan Smith, Fayetteville 12 131 10.9

Ryan Pearson, Van Buren 12 123 10.3

Tereke Eckwood, Springdale High 12 123 10.3

Reece Goddard, Siloam Springs 12 121 10.1

Dylan Gray, Siloam Springs 12 118 9.8

Crist Olsen, Rogers Heritage 12 117 9.8

Tyler McCullough, Fayetteville 12 109 9.1

Quinton Ray, Van Buren 12 106 8.8

Justin Malott, Springdale High 12 106 8.8

Zach Jones, Rogers High 12 103 8.6

Caleb Waitsman, Fayetteville 12 101 8.4

Austin Haggard, Bentonville 12 101 8.4

Mitchell Smith, Van Buren 12 98 8.2

Austin Fox, Springdale Har-Ber 12 88 7.3

Hayden Greenway, Rogers Heritage 12 86 7.2

Jason Harms, Van Buren 12 85 7.1

Keifer Holt, Rogers High 12 81 6.8

Nick Pagel, Van Buren 12 78 6.5

Brandon Buccheri, Springdale Har-Ber 12 77 6.4

Ricky Jones, Springdale Har-Ber 12 76 6.3

Tyler Tutt, Springdale High 12 70 5.8

Luke Fryauf, Rogers Heritage 12 70 5.8

Xavier Thomas, Rogers Heritage 12 63 5.3

Cameron Paschke, Fayetteville 12 63 5.3

Hirsch, Rogers Heritage 12 58 4.8

Wyatt Kinnamon, Rogers Heritage 12 58 4.8

Aaron Ward, Bentonville 12 56 4.7

Girls

Team Offense

Team G PTS AVG

Bentonville 12 616 51.3

Springdale Har-Ber 12 600 50.0

Rogers Heritage 12 589 49.1

Rogers High 12 585 48.8

Siloam Springs 12 570 47.5

Fayetteville 12 533 44.4

Springdale High 12 495 41.3

Van Buren 12 421 35.1

Team Defense

Team G PTS AVG

Bentonville 12 484 40.3

Fayetteville 12 487 40.6

Rogers Heritage 12 502 41.8

Rogers High 12 513 42.8

Springdale Har-Ber 12 541 45.1

Springdale High 12 613 51.1

Siloam Springs 12 633 52.8

Van Buren 12 636 53.0

Scoring Leaders

Player, School G PTS AVG

Taylor Strickland, Rogers High 12 251 20.9

Taylor Lee, Bentonville 12 166 13.8

Brittany Jurgens, Springdale High 12 155 12.9

Kaylee Sheppard, Van Buren 12 150 12.5

Ashley Ward, Rogers Heritage 12 148 12.3

Morgan Miller, Siloam Springs 12 141 11.8

Maria Santillana, Van Buren 12 136 11.3

Bailey Schalk, Springdale Har-Ber 12 135 11.3

Brittany Ward, Rogers Heritage 12 129 10.8

Baily Cameron, Siloam Springs 12 125 10.4

Tayleah Neal, Springdale Har-Ber 12 115 9.6

Emilie Jobst, Rogers Heritage 12 104 8.7

Javunda Daniels, Springdale High 12 103 8.6

Caylee Wright, Springdale Har-Ber 12 99 8.3

Aubrey Edie, Fayetteville 12 94 7.8

McKinzie James, Rogers High 12 89 7.4

Kindal Coleman, Bentonville 12 88 7.3

Ellen Lundy, Rogers Heritage 12 86 7.2

Bailey Owens, Siloam Springs 12 85 7.1

Mayse Pippin, Siloam Springs 12 80 6.7

Rashaun Casey, Bentonville 12 78 6.5

Karen Perez, Springdale High 12 76 6.3

Julia Garrard, Bentonville 12 76 6.3

Lacey Murray, Rogers Heritage 12 71 5.9

Samantha Weber, Springdale Har-Ber 12 69 5.8

Brooke Mabeus, Bentonville 12 68 5.7

Callie King, Rogers 12 66 5.5

Cassandra Trexler, Rogers High 12 61 5.1

Jaylah Prude, Fayetteville 12 58 4.8

Ellie Breden, Fayetteville 12 56 4.7

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