The home opener for North Little Rock's Lady Charging Wildcats quickly turned into a rout.
Senior guard Malica Monk scored 13 points and freshmen Yo'Marris Morris and Amber Hawkins combined for 19 more as North Little Rock trampled visiting Rogers 61-21 on Friday night.
"It was a good way to get into the [holiday] break," said North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple, whose team played its first nine games away from the Charging Wildcats' arena. "I thought we shot the ball real well.
"Rogers does some different things on defense, and I thought our kids reacted real well to that. I liked our defensive effort. I think we made them work on offense."
Rogers (5-5) took a 2-1 lead on Samantha Brown's point-blank shot 70 seconds into the game, but North Little Rock (9-1) scored the next 15 points. Playing mostly against North Little Rock reserves early in the second quarter, Rogers pulled to within 16-9, but the home team scored the final 14 points of the first half and the first 11 points of the third quarter.
North Little Rock held a 31-17 advantage on the boards, connected on 25 of 44 shots from the floor and made 8 steals. Rogers was 7 of 34 from the floor and only 2 of 10 from three-point range.
Sophomore reserve Maddi McKinney wound up as the Lady Mounties' leading scorer with five points. Senior Brooke Sagely led Rogers in rebounding with five, all of which came in the first half.
Morris, a 6-2 freshman forward, scored eight of her 10 points in the second half. She also collected four rebounds and blocked two shots. Hawkins, a 5-6 freshman guard, collected seven of her nine points in the first half. She also good for four rebounds.
"They're really getting better," Fimple said. "We've started [Hawkins] from Day One and she can flat shoot it. You can tell she's getting more comfortable. ... And [Morris], the sky's the limit."
Brogan Jones scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds for North Little Rock while teammate Kyra Collier scored 7 points, handed out 4 assists and made 3 steals.
ROGERS (21)
Turner 0 0-0 0, King 1 0-0 3, Randels 0 0-0 0, Sagely 1 1-2 3, Brown 2 0-0 4, McKinney 1 2-2 5, Richmond 0 0-2 0, Wisdom 0 0-1 0, Sherrill 0 2-2 2, Repella 1 0-0 2, Williams 1 0-0 2. Totals 7 5-9 21.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (61)
Hawkins 4 0-0 9, Monk 6 0-0 13, Hill 1 2-2 4, Collier 3 1-1 7, Jones 3 1-2 7, McDaniel 2 0-0 6, Morris 5 0-2 10, Ewing 1 0-0 3, Neasley 0 0-0 0, Hendricks 0 0-0 0, Settles 0 2-2 2, Boone 0 0-0 0, Love 0 0-0 0, McGhee 0 0-0 0, Sadler 0 0-0 0, Couch 0 0-0 0, Ford 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 6-9 61.
Rogers (5-5);4 5 4 8 -- 21
North Little Rock (9-1);16 14 14 17 -- 61
Three-point goals -- Rogers 2 (King, McKinney); NLR 5 (McDaniel 2, Ewing, Hawkins, Monk). Team fouls -- Rogers 6, NLR 12.
Sports on 12/20/2014