SPRINGDALE — Brittany Jurgens attacked the basket, and she showed she wasn’t afraid to shoot from long range, either.
Springdale High’s players took a cue from their senior point guard and were relentless Friday, whether it was getting to the free-throw line or defending Rogers High’s post players.
And after a few last-second shots for Rogers came up short, Springdale’s coaches and players celebrated a 54-49 win inside Bulldog Gymnasium that they’ve wanted for years.
SPRINGDALE HIGH 54, ROGERS HIGH 49
Rogers 13 14 9 13 — 49
Springdale 11 17 10 16 — 54
Rogers (8-6, 0-1): James 13, Trexler 11, Strickland 9, Hawley 7, Warren 6, Davis 3.
Springdale (6-8, 1-0): Jurgens 19, Daniels 12, Taylor 8, Perez 7, McPherson 3, Dederich 3, Long 2.
“I thought they came out in the game and were the aggressive team,” Springdale girls basketball coach Heather Hunsucker said of her players. “And a lot of times when you’re aggressive, it pays off for you — more physical on defense, taking it to the basket more on offense.”
Jurgens was tenacious from the opening minutes, scoring eight of Springdale’s 11 points in the first quarter and finishing with a game-high 19 points. She also found her teammates for open looks around the basket.
Springdale (6-8, 1-0 7A/6A-West Conference) used a 14-1 run to turn a 36-36 game toward the end of the third quarter into a 13-point advantage over Rogers (8-6, 0-1) with less than five minutes remaining.
Taylor Strickland, who finished with nine points, managed only two points in the second half. And the Lady Mounties had trouble shooting, particularly from the free-throw line.
“I thought we had a horrible time shooting the ball tonight,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “We just didn’t have a good night. I thought we got outplayed.
“I want to give credit to Springdale for doing what they needed to win.”
Springdale’s 3-point shooting, largely from Jurgens and Javonda Daniels, helped hold off a late rally by Rogers.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 8 of 18 from 3-point range, and they played enough defense over the final minute to prevent the Lady Mounties from knocking down a game-tying shot from long range.
Daniels finished with 12 points, while McKinzie James led Rogers with 13 points.
“Confidence in shooters is a huge issue, and you see our shooters now starting to have confidence in their shot,” Hunsucker said. “And the second thing is we took open shots instead of forcing shots.
“And when you take open shots and you have confidence, the percentages do go up.”