Lady War Eagles Tied For League Lead

Brandon Buccheri, left, and Austin Fox, right, both from Springdale Har-Ber High School trap Crist Olsen of Rogers Heritage High School Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 in Springdale. The Wildcats beat the War Eagles, 65-51
Brandon Buccheri, left, and Austin Fox, right, both from Springdale Har-Ber High School trap Crist Olsen of Rogers Heritage High School Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 in Springdale. The Wildcats beat the War Eagles, 65-51

—   The Lady War Eagles basketball team bounced back in a big way this week, after suffering its 7A/6A-West Conference loss to Bentonville.

Rogers Heritage (14-4, 4-1 7A/6A-West) picked up two wins in convincing fashion, including a key 56-38 win Friday at Springdale Har-Ber.

That Figures

0 — Conference wins by the War Eagles this season

6 — Points by the War Eagles in the third quarter Friday against the Wildcats; 3-pointers made Friday by the Lady War Eagles

5 — Consecutive War Eagles losses

It wasn’t such a good week for the War Eagles, dropping both league games to remain winless in the 7A/6A-West.

Heritage girls coach Kevin Ramey said it was important for his team to put the Bentonville loss behind them and they did that.

“We didn’t want that loss to linger,” Ramey said. “But we went down to Van Buren and played very well defensively. The flipside was true Friday as I thought we played as well offensively as we’ve played in quite a while.

“We shared the ball. We were unselfish. We didn’t care who scored.”

Play of the Night: The Lady War Eagles turned up the defensive pressure early, forcing 12 turnovers on their way to a 32-6 lead Tuesday against Van Buren. But it was all about offense in the Lady War Eagles’ win Friday over Har-Ber.

Sophomore Emilie Jobst hit three first-quarter 3-pointers to set the tone as Heritage got out front early and went on to the win.

Players of the Week: Senior Ashley Ward had two strong games this week, scoring 15 in a blowout win against Van Buren. She followed that up with 16 points in a dominating win against Har-Ber. Jobst gets a mention with her game-high 17 points against Har-Ber, including five 3-pointers.

On the boys’ side, Heritage struggled to score in two lopsided losses, but junior Crist Olsen managed double figures in both games. The War Eagles are now 9-8 overall and 0-5 in the league.

Notable: The Lady War Eagles managed their first win in school history against Har-Ber on Friday. ... The Heritage girls team also surpassed the school record for wins in a single season with the win Tuesday against Van Buren. ... The Lady War Eagles have now won 10 of its last 11 games.

The Lingo: ”Without a doubt this was a week we needed to win at least one and we didn’t get it done.”

Tom Olsen

Heritage boys coach

Up Next: Heritage will play host to Rogers High with a variety of ramifications in both games, not the least of which is bragging rights between the two rivals.

The two girls teams have already met once this season with that matchup going to the Lady Mounties 53-46 in the third-place game of the Great 8 Classic at King Arena. But both teams are tied for the conference lead with Bentonville heading into Tuesday night.

“The two teams are so familiar with each other and the coaching staffs, too,” Ramey said. “It’s exciting for our program to playing for the league lead at this point in the season for a second time.

“The first time we didn’t react very well. We’ll see if we’ve grown and learned from that experience. Playing in big ball games shows the growth of our program.”

The boys teams will be looking to escape the league cellar as both have identical 0-5 conference records.

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