That Figures
2 — Number of 3-pointers Little Rock Central made out of 17 attempts against Bentonville.
25 — Number of turnovers Fayetteville had in a 58-35 loss to North Little Rock.
32 — Number of free throws Rogers High attempted against Cabot in a 50-45 win.
Freshman Sensation
Kyra Collier broke out onto the scene during Wednesday’s Class 7A State Tournament in Bulldog Arena.
A 5-foot-9 freshman guard at North Little Rock, Collier was the worst nightmare for Fayetteville in the Charging Wildcats’ 58-35 win over the Lady Bulldogs.
“She looked extremely well,” North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple said. “That’s the one we were nervous about and we talked to her about it (Tuesday). Of course when you’re talking to a 15-year old, you don’t always know what that means.”
In her first state tournament game, Collier finished with 23 points — hitting 10 of 21 field goal attempts and two of six 3-point attempts — and added 11 rebounds, two assists and one steal to lead a Charging Wildcat attack that never let up once it got rolling against Fayetteville on Wednesday.
“It really frustrated me and made me mad, but at the same time I was in awe that she was doing that as a freshman,” Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. “Here we are in the first round of the state tournament at Fayetteville High School and I had heard how good of an athlete she was. But when she’s hitting shots like that she’s untouchable.”
VERNON TARVER
Har-Ber Playing Slower, Smarter
The Springdale Har-Ber girls will enter state tournament play as one of the hottest teams after winning six of its final seven games.
Two factors during the surge have been Har-Ber’s ability to maintain good position on defense and make better decisions with the basketball.
“We’ve been playing less reckless,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. “For instance, you don’t always have to try and threat the needle with spectacular passes. Just make the good, solid passes and avoid trying to do too much.”
Har-Ber (19-10) will play at 7 p.m. on Friday against the winner between West Memphis and Bryant.
RICK FIRES
Springdale Waits Its Turn
Springdale High boys basketball coach Brad Stamps has tried to keep his players focused as they wait to learn which team they’ll face Friday night.
The week-long layoff is both an advantage and disadvantage of earning a first-round bye in the Class 7A State Tournament.
On The Court
Class 7A State Tournament
At Fayetteville
GIRLS
Wednesday’s Scores
GAME 1: C4 North Little Rock 58, W5 Fayetteville 35
GAME 2: W3 Rogers High 50, C4 Cabot 45
GAME 3: C5 Fort Smith Southside 59, W4 Rogers Heritage 58 (OT)
Today’s Games
GAME 4: C3 West Memphis vs. W6 Bryant, 1 p.m.
GAME 5: W1 Bentonville vs. North Little Rock, 4 p.m.
GAME 6: C2 Fort Smith Northside vs. Rogers High, 7 p.m.
BOYS
Wednesday’s Scores
GAME 1: W5 Van Buren 52, C4 Conway 49
GAME 2: W3 Bentonville 73, C6 Little Rock Central 38
GAME 3: W4 Bryant vs. C5 Cabot, 8:30 p.m.
Today’s Games
GAME 4: C3 West Memphis vs. W6 Rogers High, 2:30 p.m.
GAME 5: W1 Fayetteville vs. Van Buren, 5:30 p.m.
GAME 6: C2 Fort Smith Northside vs. Bentonville, 8:30 p.m.
Aside from nursing the usual sicknesses, Stamps said his team is healthy entering the postseason. But he wants the second-seeded Bulldogs to avoid getting complacent and losing a step as they wait their turn to play.
So Stamps has made them run quite a bit in practice. He’s also used the extra practices to try to clean up a few areas with his team before they face either Rogers High or West Memphis at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
“Other than you got to wait a week to play, it gives us a chance to go back and see kind of where we need to be and get ready for our opponent,” Stamps said. “Obviously, not knowing who your opponent is, you got to continue to keep your guys in shape. So we’ve been running each day.”
ALEX ABRAMS
Finally ...
Cabot had defeated Rogers High the last three times the two schools had met in the Class 7A Tournament, but the Lady Mounties turned the tables on the Lady Panthers Wednesday.
Rogers seniors Taylor Strickland (25) and McKinzie James (13) combined for 38 points as the Lady Mounties posted a 50-45 victory.
Cabot had previously ousted Rogers from the quarterfinals in 2006, 2007 and 2011.
“It feels good to finally get those guys,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “When you do have a history with someone, it motivates you.”
PAUL NIELSEN
Scorebook Error Doesn’t Cost Tigers
A clerical mistake in the official scorebook almost led to a technical foul on Bentonville’s boys during the Tigers’ game against Little Rock Central.
Bentonville normally dressed out 19 players during the regular season, but it can only put 15 names into the scorebook during the Class 7A State Tournament. It led to senior Johnny Drechny being incorrectly listed, and the referees blew a technical foul on the Tigers when it was spotted during a timeout in the third quarter.
“You’re gong to laugh, but it was a penmanship error,” McMahan said. “Coach (Brandon) Cole checked it out. Johnny is number 33, and they wrote him in as number 35. He’s not 35, and we have him in our book as 33.
“I just didn’t do a good enough job of drawing the last three.”
The technical foul, however, was waived off moments later because the error was caught while there was a break in the action. Drechny also hadn’t entered the game and did not play in Bentonville’s 73-38 victory.
HENRY APPLE
The Double-Double
McKinzie James, Rogers High
1). Nike or Adidas: Adidas
2). Favorite NBA player: Michael Jordan
3). What’s on your iPod: Skillet
4). Free-throw ritual: I shake my pants off my legs, then I do three dribbles.
5). If you could play in any arena, where would it be?: North Carolina
6). Frosted Flakes or Fruity Pebbles: Frosted Flakes
7). Could Brittany Griener play in the NBA?: Maybe
8). Miami Heat or OKC Thunder: OKC Thunder
9). I’d like to hang with ...: Elvis Presley ... if he were still here.
10). Should there be a shot clock for high school basketball?:
No