Springdale High’s Kierra Lang was just getting used to the rigors of playing big-girl basketball when she suffered a patella injury in December against Alma that forced the sophomore guard to miss three games.

After scoring just eight points in a 53-49 loss at Rogers High to open 7A/6A West Conference play, she scored 37 points in two wins last week for the Lady Bulldogs.

Lang is the NWA Media 7A/6A-West Girls Player of the Week.

“When she came back, she was a little timid,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “The knee was kind of still healing up. She wasn’t trusting her knee like she should. She wasn’t attacking, and she was not shooting as aggressively. I did not think at Rogers she was herself. She was about 80 percent.”

The Jan. 12 practice was when Hunsucker was convinced Lang was feeling confident.

“Maybe icing it over the weekend and just playing on it,” Hunsucker said. “This past week, I feel like she’s back to herself.”

On Jan. 14, Lang scored 15 points to pace Springdale’s 49-38 win against Rogers Heritage. On Friday, she turned around and poured in 22 points in a 52-43 win against Siloam Springs.

“Now, we’re seeing an aggressive Kierra again,” Hunsucker said. “As she is driving, people are stepping off of her, and she was able to make some really key 3-pointers for us.”

Against Siloam Springs, Lang hit a career-high four 3-pointers.

“One of the areas of her game that is really under-rated is her 3-point shot,” Hunsucker said. “Before the injury, in our first six games, she almost shot 50 percent from the 3-point line. It’s a part of her game that I really feel confident in as her head coach.”

Lang was the big scorer for Fayetteville Ramay last season, scoring 19 points in the Junior High Regional Tournament championship game against Springdale George and helping Ramay to a 26-1 mark. Lang moved to Ramay prior to her seventh-grade year so she could play up on the junior high team. Lang would have played at Springdale Southwest, but her family moved to Fayetteville. Now, she has moved back to Springdale.

“They wanted to come back to Springdale, and that was good news,” Hunsucker said. “They were Springdale people.”

Now, Lang has teamed up with Chasidee Owens, Desiree Mack and Ryann Goodsell, who all played on that George team, in the starting lineup for the Lady Bulldogs this season.

To prepare her young players for the rigors of 7A/6A-West play, Hunsucker put them through a tough nonconference schedule.

“It was really, really tough,” Hunsucker said. “I did that on purpose so that our young kids and our team, with a lot of new faces, would come together. They really did very well with the speed of the game and the level of physicality of the game.”

Lang prepared for the rigors long before the season started, though.

“This young lady is a gym rat,” Hunsucker said. “She spent a lot of time playing summer basketball and a lot of time in the gym on her own. She shoots extra. She plays in showcase tournaments and AAU events, which really readied her for the speed and level of competition we face.”

With the two wins this week, Springdale matched its win total last year in the conference with two. While Springdale is enjoying life near the top of the standings for a change, the Lady Bulldogs face two road trips this week against their two biggest rivals; at Har-Ber today and at Fayetteville on Friday.

HARMS’ WAY

Van Buren put two opponents in Harms’ way last week with guard Jason Harms scoring 37 points in two wins.

Harms scored 21 points Jan. 13 in a 60-55 win at Fayetteville. On Friday, Harms scored 16 points in a 48-39 win at home against Springdale Har-Ber.

Harms is the 7A/6A-West Boys Player of The Week.

Both were hard-fought wins and needed wins after the Pointers, a preseason favorite, dropped a home decision to Bentonville to begin the conference slate.

Against Fayetteville, Harms canned 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range in leading the Pointers’ shooting assault. Van Buren was 8-for-11 in all from beyond the threepoint arc and 18 of 24 from the floor.

STATE TOURNAMENTS

The Class 7A state tournament will not be held in North Little Rock, which was the only school to submit a bid.

North Little Rock High School is undergoing part of a $223 million rebuilding of the entire school district, and the construction has made parking a major problem. After consulting with the construction company, the school withdrew its bid to host the state basketball tournament.

When a bid is rescinded and is the only bid submitted, the Arkansas Activities Association assigns the new site. With the 7A-Central scheduled to host the event this season after the 7A-West held it last season, Conway was asked to host it at Buzz Bolding Arena, which held the state tournament in its first season in 2008.

Conway’s first home 7A/6A-Central game against Russellville on Jan. 10 was moved to the old Wampus Cats Arena due to a roof leak in Buzz Bolding Arena. No damage to the floor was done, and the leak has now been repaired.

Conway will also host the 7A state softball tournament and is in the second year of hosting the annual Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star games in June.

Siloam Springs lost out in its bid to host the Class 6A state tournament. Jonesboro, which was the only other school to submit a bid, will host the event.

Greenwood held the Class 6A state tournament last year, so it was no surprise that Jonesboro won the site this season.

Next season, Siloam Springs will be a favored site for the Class 6A state tournament. However, with Alma moving up to 6A next season, the Airedales may submit a bid as well. Alma is hosting the Class 5A state tournament this season and has hosted it four of the last five seasons.

State tournaments will be held March 4-7 with the championship games being held at Hot Springs’ Summit Arena the following weekend.

TIP-INS

The Fayetteville Bulldogs trailed 9-0 but rallied for a 56-48 win against Rogers on Friday. … Fayetteville sophomore Payton Willis notched the first 30-point game in conference play this season with 30 points in a 60-55 loss to Van Buren last Monday, hitting 6-of-8 attempts from 3-point range. … Springdale’s Josiah Wymer earned his second double-double of the season on Tuesday in a 69-51 win with 15 points and 13 rebounds. … Har-Ber jumped to a 16-0 lead against Van Buren and went on to win 62-45 spurred by six points by Paige Redmond. … Van Buren had a 13-0 lead against Har-Ber and went on to win 48-39. … Bentonville’s Ben Smith came off the bench and notched a double-double with 18 points and 13 boards in a 58-55 win against Heritage.