Rogers High coach Preston Early pulled a play deep out of the Lady Mounties playbook Friday night against Springdale Har-Ber.
ROGERS HIGH 61, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 58
Rogers 13 18 7 14 9 — 61
Har-Ber 8 16 8 20 6 — 58
Rogers (14-7, 5-2): Strickland 24, King 12, Trexler 9, Hawley 8, James 8.
Har-Ber (13-9, 4-3): Schalk 19, Weber 16, Neal 8, Wright 7, Redmond 2, McCarver 2, Gray 2, Montgomery 2.
And to the surprise of no one, the play had Taylor Strickland’s name on it.
Strickland got open off a double screen with 23 seconds left and hit a 3-pointer to force overtime and she then hit six free throws in overtime as the Lady Mounties held off the Lady Wildcats 61-58 in a 7A/6A-West Conference game.
Strickland finished with 24 points behind a 12-of-12 effort at the line and four 3-pointers.
“The 3-pointer by Strickland is not one of our regular draw ups,” Early said. “We’ve probably run that three or four times this year, but it is a good set for us. Our kids executed it perfectly and we hit the shot.
“It’s a play we save for one of those situations.”
Har-Ber trailed by 11 with five minutes left in the game and they missed running layups at the end of regulation and overtime that would have given the Lady Wildcats a victory. Bailey Schalk led Har-Ber (13-9, 4-3) with 19 points while Samantha Weber added 16 points.
“I’m proud of the kids because we could have folded so many times,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. “We put ourselves in position to win it at the end, but the shots didn’t fall.”
Har-Ber used an 11-0 run to tie the game at 44-44 and they took a 48-46 lead after two free throws by Paige Redmond.
Weber gave Har-Ber a 52-49 lead with two free throws with 36.4 seconds but Strickland tied the game with her fourth 3-pointer of the game. Weber missed a running layup at the buzzer.
Strickland then hit 4-of-4 free throws the final 14.1 seconds after Caylee Wright gave Har-Ber a 58-57 lead with 45.5 seconds left. Haley McCarver then missed in the lane with two seconds left and Strickland was fouled after getting the rebound with one second showing.
“Clutch free throws by Strickland,” Early said. “So clutch.”
Rogers (14-7, 5-2) led by 10 early in the second period and Har-Ber cut the lead to 20-16. But sophomore Calli King came off the bench and scored nine of her 12 points the final two minutes to give Rogers a 31-24 lead at halftime.