ROGERS — Rogers High picked a good time to play its best game of the year.
Tuesday night's victory against its crosstown rival will extend the Lady Mounties' season into the postseason.
7A/6A-West Conference
Girls
Rogers High 48, Rogers Heritage 30
Rogers^11^13^12^12^ —^ 48
Heritage^9^11^2^8^ — ^30
Rogers (8-16, 5-8): King 14, Sagely 12, Ganoung 10, Repella 8, Trexler 4.
Heritage (7-15, 3-10): Britton 10, Jobst 7, Giesen 5, White 4, Allard 3, Scudder 1.
Rogers broke open a close game with a 15-0 run, and Callie King led a balanced attack with 14 points as the Lady Mounties defeated Rogers Heritage 48-30 in a 7A/6A-West Conference girls basketball game in War Eagle Arena.
The victory gives Rogers (8-16, 5-9) a spot in next week's Class 7A State Tournament in Conway. It will be Rogers' ninth-straight trip to the state tourney.
"In terms of all phases, I really liked what we did," Rogers coach Preston Early said. "We are trying to peak right now. What we did was the result of a couple of good practices. We put it together tonight, and there is no reason why we can't play like that for the rest of the year."
The Lady Mounties closed out the first half with a 3-0 run for a 24-20 halftime lead and King and Tasha Repella then hit 3-pointers as Rogers opened the second half with a 12-0 run for a commanding 36-22 lead. King was 4-of-5 from the field, including making all three 3-point attempts.
Brooke Sagely was also in double figures for Rogers with 12 points while Libby Ganoung added 10 points. Rogers was 15-of-30 from the field in the game, and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
"Offensively, we stayed in control for most of the night," Early said. "We kind of broke it open there in the third, and we gave ourselves some separation. We looked really relaxed tonight. We had been tight, we had been rushed. We were smooth and we were in control."
Heritage led by five early in the second period and they trailed 21-20 late in the first half before the bottom fell out. The Lady War Eagles went 10 minutes, 46 seconds between field goals as Rogers took a 36-24 lead.
Heritage cut the lead to 37-27 on a 3-pointer by Olivia Allard early in the fourth period, but Rogers responded with a 7-0 run to pull away. Gina Britton led Heritage (7-15, 3-10) with 10 points while Emilie Jobst added seven points.
"Rogers did a really good job defensively," Rogers Heritage coach Kevin Ramey said. "We couldn't get a real clean look in the second half, especially in the third quarter. Rogers did a good job keeping us away from the basket, and we didn't get any second chances, either."
Rogers ends the regular season Friday at Springdale Har-Ber, while Heritage is at Siloam Springs.
Sports on 02/26/2014