ROGERS - Springdale Har-Ber couldn’t buy a fi eld goal in the second half but the Lady Wildcats hit just enough free throws to hold on to first place in the 7A/6AWest Conference standings.
The Lady Wildcats made 7-of-10 free throws during a late stretch in the fourth period and Rogers High missed a 3-pointer with fi ve seconds left as Har-Ber held on for a 39-37 victory over the Lady Mounties.
Har-Ber seemed in command at halftime with a 24-9 lead but they didn’t hit a field goal the final 13 minutes, 38 seconds of the game as the Lady Mounties stormed back for a 34-32 lead with 2:28 left.
Har-Ber’s Carlye Bohannan tied the game at 35-35 with two free throws with 1:38 left and Marleeya Montgomery gave the Lady Wildcats thelead for good at 37-35 with two free throws with just over a minute left. Paige Redmond led Har-Ber with 14 points while Bailey Schalk added eight. Schalk left the game late in the fourth period and did not return after suffering an apparent back injury.
“It wasn’t pretty in the second half, and we knew that we would have to play in the second half,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. “We didn’t think it was over.Rogers played good defense on us, and we had a hard time getting in any fl ow. We can’t make any excuses. We did just good enough from the free throw line to win.”
Rogers didn’t score the final 13 minutes, 20 seconds of the first half after Callie King hit two 3-pointers and Ruth Davis added another trey for a 9-2 lead. Rogers trailed 30-22 going to the fourth period and used two layups by Libby Ganoung, a 3-pointer by King and two free throws by Brooke Sagely to take a 34-32 lead.
Ganoung cut the Har-Ber lead to 38-37 with a layup with 33 seconds left, but Samantha Weber put the game away for Har-Ber (16-4, 6-1) with two free throws. King led Rogers (6-12, 3-4) with 14 points while Ganoung added 12.
“It was a shame by the way we started,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “The fi rst half, we were as bad as we have ever been. But we are proud of the kids because we fought back and took the lead. But we let it slip through our fi ngers.”HOW THEY SCORED GIRLS
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 39 ROGERS HIGH 37
Har-Ber 12 12 6 9 - 39
Rogers 9 0 13 15 - 37
HAR-BER (16-4, 6-1):Redmond
14, Schalk 8, Bohannon 6,
Collins 4, Montgomery 4,
Weber 2, Higgins 1.
ROGERS (6-12, 3-4): King 14,
Ganoung 12, Sagely 8, Davis 3.
Sports, Pages 9 on 02/01/2014