ADKINS, PEARSON NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

FILE PHOTO DAVID J. BEACH 
Deanna Adkins of Bentonville dribbles Jan. 7 as Rogers Heritage’s Emily Seiler defends at Tiger Arena in Bentonville. Adkins is the Girls NWA Media 7A/6A-West Player of the Week.

FILE PHOTO DAVID J. BEACH Deanna Adkins of Bentonville dribbles Jan. 7 as Rogers Heritage’s Emily Seiler defends at Tiger Arena in Bentonville. Adkins is the Girls NWA Media 7A/6A-West Player of the Week.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Bentonville guard Deanna Adkins was on target even before the Lady Tigers' game against Siloam Springs started Friday.

After a solid pre-game warmup, Adkins did miss her first 3-point attempt of the game but proceeded to hit eight in a row after that and set a single-game team record for 3-pointers. Adkins finished with 24 points to lead the Lady Tigers to a 70-64 win. Adkins is the NWA Media 7A/6A-West Player of the Week.

That Figures

Van Buren, Siloam Springs and Heritage each have three players averaging double-digits in scoring in conference play.

40.5 — scoring average for Siloam Springs trio of Reece Goodard, Avery Benson and Dylan Gray

40.0 — scoring average for Heritage trio of Crist Olsen, Connor Hirsch and Wyatt Kinnamon

38.6 — scoring average for Van Buren trio of Jason Harms, Mitchell Smith and Ryan Pearson

7A/6A-West Conference Basketball Leaders

THROUGH FRIDAY'S GAMES (CONFERENCE GAMES ONLY)

BOYS

TEAM OFFENSE^G^PTS^AVG

Springdale High^12^749^62.4

Bentonville^12^724^60.3

Fayetteville^12^631^52.6

Rogers Heritage^12^624^52.0

Siloam Springs^12^605^50.4

Van Buren^12^602^50.2

Springdale Har-Ber^12^599^49.9

Rogers High^12^565^47.1

TEAM DEFENSE^G^PTS^AVG

Van Buren^12^535^44.6

Bentonville^12^592^49.3

Fayetteville^12^616^51.3

Springdale High^12^620^51.7

Springdale Har-Ber^12^641^53.4

Rogers Heritage^12^651^54.3

Siloam Springs^12^698^58.2

Rogers High^12^746^62.2

LEADING SCORERS

BOYS^G^PTS^AVG

Malik Monk, Bentonville^12^276^23.0

Dylan Gray, Siloam Springs^12^211^17.6

Payton Willis, Fayetteville^12^185^15.4

Crist Olsen, Rogers Heritage^12^182^15.2

Chris Owens, Springdale High^12^175^14.6

Jason Harms, Van Buren^12^172^14.3

Hunter Hill, Rogers High^12^171^14.3

Connor Hirsch, Rogers Heritage^12^168^14.0

Mitchell Smith, Van Buren^12^164^13.7

Luke Renner, Fayetteville^12^160^13.3

Avery Benson, Siloam Springs^12^140^11.7

Zach Street, Rogers High^12^137^11.4

Reece Goddard, Siloam Springs^12^134^11.2

Wyatt Kinnamon, Rogers Heritage^12^129^10.8

D.J. Evans, Springdale High^12^128^10.7

Ryan Pearson, Van Buren^12^127^10.6

Mason Cline, Springdale Har-Ber^12^126^10.5

Josiah Wymer, Springdale High^12^119^9.9

Tereke Eckwood, Springdale High^12^112^9.3

Tyrik Dixon, Bentonville^12^100^8.3

Rickey Jones, Springdale Har-Ber^12^99^8.3

J.P. Brandon, Springdale Har-Ber^12^96^8.0

Jake Caudle, Bentonville^12^94^7.8

Edgar Martinez, Rogers High^12^91^7.6

C.J. O’Grady, Fayetteville^12^90^7.5

Mason Adams, Fayetteville^12^85^7.1

Bradley Eversole, Van Buren^12^69^5.8

Brandon Buccheri, Springdale Har-Ber^12^69^5.8

Tyler Robinson, Bentonville^12^68^5.7

Brendan Cook, Springdale High^12^66^5.5

Quashaun Kursh, Van Buren^12^65^5.4

Treshawn Gause, Springdale High^12^64^5.3

Ben Smith, Bentonville^12^63^5.3

Austin Fox, Springdale Har-Ber^12^60^5.0

Andrew Davis, Springdale Har-Ber^12^60^5.0

Landon Jones, Springdale Har-Ber^12^59^4.9

GIRLS

TEAM OFFENSE^G^PTS^AVG

Siloam Springs^12^685^57.1

Springdale Har-Ber^12^638^53.2

Bentonville^12^635^52.9

Fayetteville^12^596^49.7

Springdale High^12^594^49.5

Rogers High^12^508^42.3

Rogers Heritage^12^461^38.4

Van Buren^12^420^35.0

TEAM DEFENSE^G^PTS^AVG

Fayetteville^12^457^38.1

Springdale High^12^546^45.5

Rogers High^12^566^47.2

Springdale Har-Ber^12^569^47.4

Van Buren^12^570^47.5

Rogers Heritage^12^579^48.3

Bentonville^12^591^49.3

Siloam Springs^12^659^54.9

LEADING SCORERS

GIRLS^G^PTS^AVG

Baily Cameron, Siloam Springs^12^192^16.0

Paige Redmond, Springdale Har-Ber^12^164^13.7

Kierra Lang, Springdale High^11^150^13.6

Dashundra Morgan, Fayetteville^7^92^13.1

Jordan Martin, Bentonville^12^151^12.6

Emilie Jobst, Rogers Heritage^12^143^11.9

Morgan Miller, Siloam Springs^12^138^11.5

Peyton Taylor, Bentonville^12^137^11.4

JaVonda Daniels, Springdale High^12^136^11.3

Bailee Owens, Siloam Springs^12^134^11.2

Libby Ganoung, Rogers High^12^134^11.2

Bailey Schalk, Springdale Har-Ber^12^126^10.5

Sydney Crockett, Fayetteville^12^119^9.9

Mayse Pippin, Siloam Springs^12^117^9.8

Maria Santillana, Van Buren^12^111^9.3

Kindal Coleman, Bentonville^12^107^8.9

Sara Giesen, Rogers Heritage^12^99^8.3

Lani Snowden, Van Buren^12^92^7.7

Brooke Sagely, Rogers High^12^92^7.7

Chasidee Owens, Springdale High^12^88^7.3

Callie King, Rogers High^12^87^7.3

Desiree Mack, Springdale High^12^86^7.2

Marleeya Montgomery, Springdale Har-Ber^12^81^6.8

Gina Britton, Rogers Heritage^12^81^6.8

Danae Goodwin, Van Buren^12^80^6.7

Carlye Bohannan, Springdale Har-Ber^12^79^6.6

Ryann Goodsell, Springdale High^12^77^6.4

Emily Sieller, Rogers Heritage^12^77^6.4

Lauren Schuldt, Fayetteville^12^75^6.3

Deanna Adkins, Bentonville^12^68^5.7

Madison Brittain, Bentonville^12^61^5.1

Lauren Krissman, Fayetteville^12^61^5.1

Lauren Hargus, Bentonville^12^60^5.0

Cassandra Trexler, Rogers High^12^59^4.9

Jacie Higgins, Springdale Har-Ber^12^58^4.8

Samantha Weber, Springdale Har-Ber^12^56^4.7

7A/6A-West Conference Standings

BOYS

^Overall^Conf.

^W-L^Pct.^W-L^Pct.^Pts.*

xy-Bentonville^18-3^.857^12-0^1.000^166

x-Springdale High^18-5^.783^10-2^.833^135

x-Van Buren^19-4^.826^9-3^.750^115

x-Rogers Heritage^15-10^.600^5-7^.417^66

Fayetteville^12-13^.480^5-7^.417^62

Siloam Springs^10-13^.435^4-8^.333^—

Springdale Har-Ber^11-13^.458^3-9^.250^41

Rogers High^6-17^.261^0-12^.000^0

Friday’s Scores

Bentonville 72, Siloam Springs 51

Rogers Heritage 57, Springdale Har-Ber 54

Springdale High 60, Fayetteville 51

Van Buren 46, Rogers High 34

Today’s Games

Rogers High at Rogers Heritage

Siloam Springs at Van Buren

Springdale Har-Ber at Fayetteville

Springdale High at Bentonville

GIRLS

^Overall^Conf.

^W-L^Pct.^W-L^Pct.^Pts.*

xy-Fayetteville^18-5^.783^11-1^.917^147

x-Springdale Har-Ber^19-6^.760^9-3^.750^128

x-Springdale High^14-9^.609^8-4^.667^115

x-Bentonville^17-7^.708^8-4^.667^108

Siloam Springs^15-9^.625^5-7^.417^—

Rogers High^7-16^.304^4-8^.333^60

Rogers Heritage^7-14^.333^3-9^.250^37

Van Buren^5-18^.217^0-12^.000^0

Friday's Scores

Bentonville 70, Siloam Springs 64

Fayetteville 41, Springdale High 35

Rogers High 43, Van Buren 30

Springdale Har-Ber 63, Rogers Heritage 34

Today's Games

Rogers High at Rogers Heritage

Siloam Springs at Van Buren

Springdale Har-Ber at Fayetteville

Springdale High at Bentonville

x-has clinched a state tournament berth

y-has clinched a first-round bye in the state tournament

— * Ratings points used to determine seedings for Class 7A State Tournament

Siloam Springs jumped out to a 19-9 lead late in the first quarter before Bentonville went on a 21-2 run, starting with a basket to end the opening quarter. During the run, Adkins knocked down five 3-pointers. Adkins added two more treys in the second quarter to help lead Bentonville to a 34-28 lead at the half.

Adkins added three more 3-pointers in the third quarter, including two straight that bumped Bentonville's lead to 49-42.

The win extended Bentonville's win streak to five. The Lady Tigers avenged January losses with consecutive wins against Rogers High and Siloam Springs.

PEARSON ON FIRE

Van Buren's Ryan Pearson is on fire.

"He really is," Van Buren coach Randy Loyd said. "He jammed his thumb on his shooting hand and was in a slump there for four or five games. He's really played well these past four games."

Pearson has scored 75 points in Van Buren's last four games, all wins.

Pearson scored 16 points in Van Buren's 46-34 win at Rogers on Friday and scored 22 points in a 53-36 win against Rogers Heritage.

The week before Pearson scored 12 points in a 57-48 win at Har-Ber and had 25 points in a 59-55 win against Fayetteville.

"It's perfect timing," Loyd said. "We're down to the last two games this week, and then the state tournament is next week. We've had a hard time getting to where we are without him so this is perfect timing for him to get his game going and his confidence going again."

Friday, the Pointers rode Pearson to a spectacular shooting night, hitting 18 of 26 from the floor for 69 percent.

Pearson is now averaging 10.6 points per conference game with his recent run of scoring and is part of a three-pronged attack for the Pointers along with Jason Harms, who is averaging 14.3 points per league game, and 6-9 post Mitchell Smith, who is scoring 13.7 points per night.

"Those three guys, when they play well we have a chance to play with anybody," Loyd said. "Jason and Mitchell did a real good job of carrying the team when Ryan was struggling. Now that we have Ryan back, hopefully we can keep this going."

Van Buren is 5-0 in conference games when Pearson scores at least 12 points and 4-3 when he doesn't.

"He's a three-year starter and kind of the guy that we look to as a senior," Loyd said. "It's nice to see him back offensively and in the flow right now."

FINAL WEEK

The final week of the season will be pressure-packed in the conference.

Bentonville, Springdale High and Van Buren have emerged as the top boys teams, and everything will be riding on games this week as to the order they will finish.

Bentonville is 12-0 in the conference and has clinched at least a share of the 7A/6A-West championship but not the top seed yet. They host Springdale today and travel to Fayetteville on Friday. A win in either game will clinch the top seed.

The top seed is important in the 7A-West to be on the opposite side of the bracket from North Little Rock, which is the defending state champion and prohibitive favorite again despite two conference losses.

Springdale sits at 10-2 and visits Bentonville tonight before hosting Van Buren on Friday. If the Bulldogs win out, and Bentonville loses both games this week, then the Bulldogs will be top seed.

Van Buren hosts Siloam Springs tonight and visits Springdale on Friday.

"We had to go into overtime to win at Siloam Springs and had to play well the last three or four minutes of the fourth quarter just to get it to overtime," Loyd said. "Then we go to Springdale, which will be tough for our last game before the state tournament. We need everybody on go and on point. We're practicing well and playing well so we're headed in the right direction."

Van Buren currently is the third seed in the conference, passing Bryant, which plays in the 7A/6A-South with seven Class 6A schools but is placed into the 7A-West for state tournament seedings purposes.

"We've been looking the past week to see how Bryant is doing in the power rankings playing against all 6A schools," Loyd said. "Luckily, they've lost, and we've passed them. I don't think they can pass us."

If Van Buren wins out and Springdale loses both games this week, then the Pointers will move up to the second seed while the Bulldogs drop to third.

Bryant is locked into the fourth seed.

Rogers Heritage is in the state tournament with Fayetteville and Springdale Har-Ber battling for the sixth and final spot.

In the girls race, Fayetteville is 11-1 in the conference and also has clinched at least a share of the conference crown but not the top seed. The top seed is important to be placed on the opposite side of the bracket from Fort Smith Northside, the defending state champion and odds-on favorite again.

The Lady Bulldogs host Har-Ber, which handed Fayetteville's its only defeat in conference, tonight and host Bentonville, which is still in a fight for the second seed in the conference, on Friday.

Har-Ber has that big game at Fayetteville on Tuesday and finishes against Rogers High.

Springdale High, which also can still claim the second seed, visits Bentonville tonight and winds up against winless Van Buren.

Bentonville, which is still in the hunt for the second seed, finishes at Fayetteville in addition to that game tonight against Springdale.

OBEY THY FATHER

Alvy Early is still looking out for his son, Preston.

Alvy will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on Friday while Preston will be coaching the final regular season game of the season as the coach of the Rogers High Lady Mountaineers.

Being a coach for 35 years and knowing Preston would want to be at the induction for one of the most prestigious honors for a coach or a player in Arkansas, Alvy point blank told Preston what to do.

"My dad told me that I have an obligation and that I have to be here," Preston said. "I was really down about it and trying to find some avenues to get our game moved or me not be here, but he was adamant that I need to be doing my job. That's the kind of guy he is."

Rogers plays at Har-Ber on Friday in the final regular-season game. The Lady Mountaineers are still fighting for a state tournament berth. If Rogers beats Heritage tonight, the Lady Mountaineers are assured of a state tournament berth. Otherwise, it will be up to Friday's game against Har-Ber.

"He's looking out for my team," Preston said. "He said 'Hey, this is what a head coach would do: You have to be there.' He's a really unique individual. A lot of people have benefited from him putting the team first."

Alvy is the winningest coach in the University of Arkansas at Monticello history in both softball with a 636-320-2 record and basketball with a 425-211 mark in 35 years at the school. He also served as athletic director at UAM for 13 years before retiring in 2009.

"There aren't a lot of people that have won over 1,000 games coaching two sports," Preston said. "It's an amazing accomplishment. He is my favorite coach. He's been my idol since I was real little. He's the reason why I coach. My whole life has been with him at the ball field or the ball park. Everything he's coached has been gold. He's been a tremendous role model for him."

Preston wanted to be a coach for as long as he remembers.

"I remember in the eighth grade having a class that was goal-oriented and forward thinking, and I remember then wanting to be like my dad," Preston said. "I wanted to coach teams and build teams and help people get better. He could teach techniques, and then you would believe in it. There was something really cool about that, and I wanted to do that myself."

Sports on 02/25/2014