FAYETTEVILLE - Rogers Heritage earned another program first Friday night. The War Eagles hope it’s a step toward another at the end of the season.
Heritage shook off a sluggish first half and dominated play over the final two quarters to notch a 51-44 win over Fayetteville, the first in school history in 7A/6A-West Conference boys basketball.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Heritage boys basketball coach Tom Olsen said. “This is win No. 14 for us, which ensures us a winning season. And to beat a team like Fayetteville, let’s be honest, that’s my fi rst win ever at Fayetteville other than maybe a JV/sophomore game back in the early ’90s. I never won down here as a player. This win is really special.”
Heritage, which trailed by 11 points at halftime, also now has fourth place all alone in the league as Siloam Springs knocked off Springdale Har-Ber on Friday. The War Eagles, Har-Ber and Fayetteville started the second round of league play in a three-way tie for fourth.
The War Eagles (14-7, 4-4 7A/6A-West) did it with a huge second half, outscoring Fayetteville 17-4 in the fourth quarter. Austin Prince, a 6-foot-5 senor, played a key role with a team-high 14 points off the bench.
P rince gave Heritage the lead for good when he chased down a rebound and took it coast-to-coast for a layup and drew a foul. The free throw completed the three-point play and put the War Eagles ahead to stay 43-42 with 3 minutes, 57 seconds left.
“Austin Prince made some humongous plays tonight that helped us win,” Olsen said. “He stepped up and made the huge play in transition. He made free throws and got on the boards in the second half.
Heritage then put the game away, making 10 of 12 free throws over the final 2:42 and held Fayettevillewithout a field goal for the fi nal fi ve minutes.
Crist Olsen and Connor Hirsh were also in double figures for Heritage, scoring 13 and 12, respectively.
Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said the key was that Heritage was def initely the more aggressive team in the final two quarters. That showed up in the battle of the boards. Fayetteville dominated the glass in the first half, outrebounding Heritage 18-14. However, the War Eagles won that battle in thesecond half, 16-13, despite being outsized.
“The game changed when they became the more aggressive team,” Adams said. “They were the more aggressive team in the second half and I thought we were the more aggressive team in the fi rst half.”
C.J. O’Grady led Fayetteville (10-11, 3-5) with 14 points. Sophomore Payton Willis added 11, but just two in the second half.
Heritage will play host to Springdale High onTuesday, while Fayetteville travels to Van Buren.
HOW THEY SCORED BOYS
ROGERS HERITAGE 51 FAYETTEVILLE 44 Heritage 15 9 10 17 - 51 Fayetteville 16 19 5 4 - 44 ROGERS HERITAGE (14-7, 4-4): Prince 14, C. Olsen 13, Hirsh 12, Kinnamon 4, D. Olsen 4, Sams 2, Jensen 2.
FAYETTEVILLE (10-10, 3-5): O’Grady 14, Willis 11, Renner 7, Mathews 6, Adams 3, Murphy 3.
Sports, Pages 9 on 02/08/2014