Basketball: Rogers Heritage Pulls Away From Pea Ridge

ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage used a fourth quarter surge to pull away from pesky Pea Ridge and go on to a 56-44 victory in the opening round of the 10th annual Arvest Hoopfest boys basketball tournament Thursday night.

The War Eagles turned up the defensive pressure with a 12-2 run early to pull away for the double-digit win. Heritage (7-0) will now take on Waynesville, Mo., in one semifinal at 8:30 p.m. today. Pea Ridge (3-4) will take on Fort Smith Southside in a consolation round game at 5:30 p.m.

Rogers Heritage 56, Pea Ridge 44

Pea Ridge^7^13^11^13^—^44

Heritage^8^17^13^18^—^56

Pea Ridge (3-4): Church 11, Trundle 11, Davis 8, Shepherd 5, Hall 5, Caudill 4.

Rogers Heritage (7-0): Hirsh 21, Hobbs 17, Olsen 11, Jensen 4, Coover 3.

At A Glance

Arvest Hoopfest

at War Eagles Arena, Rogers Heritage

Thursday

Game 1: Mount Vernon, Mo. 78, Tulsa Edison 68

Game 2: Rogers High 48, Webb City, Mo., 45

Game 3: Waynesville, Mo. 61, Fort Smith Southside 39

Game 4: Rogers Heritage 56, Pea Ridge 44

Today

Game 5: Tulsa Edison vs. Webb City, Mo., 4 p.m.

Game 6: Fort Smith Southside vs. Pea Ridge, 5:30 p.m.

Game 7: Mount Vernon, Mo. vs. Rogers High, 7 p.m.

Game 8: Waynesville, Mo. vs. Rogers Heritage, 8:30 p.m.

Senior Connor Hirsh poured in a game-high 21 points, while Lexus Hobbs added 17 and Dane Olsen chipped in 11 for Heritage.

Hirsh got the run going with a steal and a deflection that ended in a layup. Heritage coach Tom Olsen said Hirsh definitely gets the War Eagles going with his energy. The War Eagles also turned up the heat defensively during that fourth quarter.

"Connor is the definition of nose for the ball," Olsen said. "The best way to keep them from shooting 3-point shots is not letting them have the ball. It seemed like the only way we could keep those suckers from shooting it. They are good shooters. They got open and made some shots."

Pea Ridge (3-4) pulled within 38-33 on Westin Church's short jumper to open the fourth quarter, but managed just two points over the next five minutes as Heritage took control.

Hobbs started the run with a driving layup and Hirsh followed with a steal and layup to push the Heritage lead to nine. Chris Coover then fed Julian Jensen inside for a layup before Church scored to end the drought. But the War Eagles responded with six more and a 50-35 advantage with 3 minutes, 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Tristan Trundle and Church led Pea Ridge with 11 points each.

Heritage tried to pull away in the first half, opening the second quarter with seven straight, but Pea Ridge answered with a 9-0 run for its only lead of the night 16-15. Joey Hall's 3-pointer gave the Blackhawks the lead.

Sports on 12/12/2014

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