Pointers Shutdown Mounties

Saturday, January 19, 2013

— Rogers High surprised Van Buren with a zone defense, but it didn’t take long for the Pointers to adjust.

VAN BUREN 53, ROGERS HIGH 27

Van Buren 17 15 8 13 — 53

Rogers 11 6 6 4 — 27

Van Buren (9-9, 2-3): Ray 16, Pearson 8, Smith 8, Pagel 6, Harms 6, Tucker 4, Poole 3, Eversole 2.

Rogers (6-12, 0-5): Street 9, Jones 6, Gentz 3, H. Hill 3, Holt 3, R. Hill 2, Smith 1.

Van Buren hit four 3-pointers in the first half and Quinton Ray led a balanced offensive attack with 16 points as the Pointers defeated the Mounties 53-27 in a Class 7A/6A-West Conference game in King Arena.

“They surprised us. We thought Rogers was going to be in man defense,” Van Buren boys basketball coach Randy Loyd said. “Once we figured it out and got settled down a little bit, we started making some shots, that’s for sure.”

Ray scored 10 points in the first half and the Pointers made 13 of 25 shots while building a 32-17 halftime lead. Mitchell Smith and Ryan Pearson finished with eight points each for Van Buren.

“We have to have balanced scoring,” Loyd said. “If we can do that and defend and rebound, we have a chance.”

Sophomore Zach Street hit three 3-pointers and led Rogers with nine points, while Zach Jones finished with six. But Rogers made just three field goals in the second half while going 3-of-26 from the field.

“The last three games, we have really picked our intensity up,” Loyd said. “Defense and rebounding, we have really done a good job of that the last few games.”

Rogers (6-12, 0-5 7A/6A-West) got off to a fast start as Keifer Holt and Street hit 3-pointers for a 6-3 lead. But Van Buren (9-9, 2-3) went on a 14-0 run for a 17-6 lead with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first period.

Pearson and Ray keyed the Pointers run with back-to-back 3-pointers while Smith had a pair of layups.

Street cut the Van Buren lead to 17-11 with a 3-pointer, but the Pointers used a 9-0 run in the second period for a 15-point lead at halftime. Rogers scored just two field goals in the second period while committing six turnovers.

Van Buren scored 10 points off nine Rogers turnovers the first 16 minutes.