ROGERS -- A battle of two undefeated teams turned into a no-contest quickly Friday night in the semifinals of the Great 8 girls basketball classic.
Greenwood's suffocating 1-3-1 defense took Rogers Heritage completely out of its offense, forcing 10 first-quarter turnovers, en route to an easy 59-25 victory at Rogers High's King Arena.
Greenwood 59, Rogers Heritage 25
Heritage^6^6^8^5^—^25
Greenwood^21^24^9^5^—^59
Rogers Heritage (4-1): Giesen 8, Seiler 5, Tiles 5, Moore 2, L. Thompson 2, S. Thompson 2, Lakis 1.
Greenwood (6-0): Hartness 22, Elkins 7, Branum 7, Goodner 7, Crase 7, Brown 4, Jewell 3, Clements 2.
First National Bank of NWA
Great 8 Classic
At King Arena, Rogers High
Thursday
Game 1: Greenwood 59, Camdenton, Mo., 35
Game 2: Rogers Heritage 49, Beebe 37
Game 3: Webb City, Mo. 49, Rogers High 29
Game 4: Fort Smith Southside 60, Ozark, Mo. 56
Friday
Game 5: Camdenton, Mo. 64, Beebe, 48
Game 6: Ozark, Mo. 53, Rogers High 47
Game 7: Webb City, Mo. 64, . Fort Smith Southside 59
Game 8: Greenwood 59, Rogers Heritage 25
Today
Game 9: Beebe vs. Rogers High, 12 p.m.
Game 10: Camdenton, Mo. vs. Ozark, Mo. 1:30 p.m.
Game 11: Fort Smith Southside vs. Rogers Heritage, 3 p.m.
Game 12: Webb City, Mo. vs. Greenwood, 4:30 p.m.
Greenwood (6-0) will now face Webb City, Mo., a 64-59 winner over Fort Smith Southside, in today's title game at 4:30 p.m. The Lady War Eagles (5-1) will take on Southside in the third-place game at 3.
Heritage scored the first basket of the game, but the Lady Bulldogs, the defending Class 6A state champions, took command with a 17-0 run keyed by their defense. Greenwood held Heritage scoreless for more than five minutes in the first quarter to take command.
The Lady War Eagles managed just two shots from the floor, making one, in the first six minutes. They turned the ball over eight times during that span and 18 times in the first half. Heritage managed only three field goals in the first half and trailed 45-12 at halftime.
Heritage coach Kevin Ramey acknowledged his team was just overwhelmed.
"That's a team that was better than us in every phase of the game," Ramey said. "They did everything better than us. That's a championship team that's been there and done that. They showed us what it's like to play at a high level and we didn't respond."
Ramey said the Lady Bulldogs defense was dominant, holding Heritage's leading scorer Emilie Jobst scoreless.
"We didn't execute, but they dictated the entire game," Ramey said. "They controlled everything from start to finish."
Megan Hartness, a 5-10 senior who entered the tournament averaging more than 30 points per game, poured in a game-high 22 points, all in the first half. She scored eight in Greenwood's big 17-0 knockout punch early and 10 in the first quarter.
No other Greenwood player reached double figures. Sara Giesen led Heritage with eight points.
Sports on 12/06/2014