Weber Brings Consistency To Lady Wildcats

Friday, January 25, 2013

— Springdale Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright had a surprise for her girls basketball team following last Friday’s disappointing home loss to Rogers Heritage.

She scheduled a practice for the next morning, beginning at 6:30 a.m.

PROFILE

Samantha Weber

SCHOOL: Springdale Har-Ber

CLASS: Junior

HEIGHT: 5-4

POSITION: Guard

NOTABLE: Led the Lady Wildcats with 14 points in Tuesday’s 43-28 victory at Fayetteville. ... Currently stands fourth on the team in scoring (8.4 points per game), second in assists (2.0) and first in steals (2.7) per game. ... Also plays soccer for the Lady Wildcats.

“I had to get up at 5:45 to make it to that practice, but I totally understand why coach Wright would be upset,” Har-Ber junior guard Samantha Weber said. “She talked about how we needed to work more together as a team and that we needed to put all our effort into each game.”

Har-Ber got the message and bounced back with a 43-28 victory at Fayetteville on Tuesday. Weber scored 14 points to lead Har-Ber (13-8, 4-2 7A/6A-West Conference), which held Fayetteville to just two field goals in the first half.

The performance was quite an improvement from the previous game when Har-Ber was blown out 56-38 on its home court by Heritage.

“It was like a new team that played against Fayetteville,” Weber said. “We had more positive energy and more fun in that game that we probably had all season.”

Weber has been one of Har-Ber’s most consistent players this year while sharing the guard position with senior Caylee Wright. Weber is fourth on the team in scoring (8.4 points per game), second in assists (2.0 apg.) and first in steals (2.7 spg.) while playing both the point and off-guard positions.

“Samantha is like a little sparkplug for us,” Sandy Wright said. “You never have to worry about her not playing hard, even when her shots aren’t falling. She’s going to give you all she has every minute of every game and every practice.

“It’s a pleasure to coach a kid like her.”

The 5-foot-4 Weber was thrust into a starting role last season after Ashley Gray tore her anterior cruciate ligament about halfway through the year. Weber performed well enough and showed enough leadership during the summer workouts to be named co-captain along with Caylee Wright.

“Ashley is such a great player, and I knew I had some big shoes to fill,” Weber said of Gray, a senior who is still with the team. “She gives me inspiration to work that much harder each game.”

Weber is an unselfish player who puts team goals ahead of individual accomplishments. That attitude was evident when asked about her top highlight this season.

“That has to be when we beat Springdale (42-40),” said Weber, who had only two points in the game. “We had the best student section backing us, and it was a close game that came down to the last seconds. We pulled it out and it was a great win.”

Har-Ber hopes to continue its momentum at home tonight against Rogers (12-7, 4-2), which is coming off a 44-33 defeat to Heritage. The Lady Mounties are led by Taylor Strickland, an NCAA Division I signee who scored 37 points in a win over Bentonville.

“Taylor Strickland is a really good player,” Weber said.” She’s the one we’ll probably have to worry about the most, but hopefully we’ll be able to stop them. We can do it if we just keep working together as a team.”