ROGERS -- Before the start of the season, Rogers High girls basketball coach Preston Early said several sophomores would need to step up and produce for the team to be successful.
Sophomore guard Elise Randels didn't waste any time Thursday night.
How They Scored
Girls
Rogers High 59, Pea Ridge 40
Pea Ridge^7^10^11^12^ — ^40
Rogers^18^13^12^16^ — ^59
Pea Ridge (2-2): Cochran 12, Skaggs 10, Anthony 9, Fletcher 6, Cotton 3.
Rogers (1-0): Randels 16, Ganoung 15, Sagely 12, Brown 4, Repella 4, Sandor 3, Sherrill 3, Wisdom 2.
Boys
Rogers High 63, Pea Ridge 58
Rogers^20^14^17^12^ –^ 63
Pea Ridge^13^7^21^17^ —^ 58
Pea Ridge (0-1): Davis 18, Hall 16, Church 10, Sheppard 10, Roughton 2, Buttry 2.
Rogers (1-0): Freeland 16, Salvador 13, Allen 8, Boaz 7, Black 6, Crawford 6, McCullough 5, Benninghoff 2.
Randels scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half to help lead Rogers to a 59-40 victory over Pea Ridge in the season opener for the Lady Mounties in King Arena. Rogers seniors Libby Ganoung and Brooke Sagely added 15 and 12 points, respectively.
"I thought we did a good job of playing together," Early said. "This group is going to have to manufacture points."
Randels (5-foot-10) came off the bench and scored seven points in a two-minute span in the first quarter to help Rogers to a 18-7 lead going to the second quarter. Randels then had a stickback and a 3-pointer in a span of 35 seconds right before halftime as the Lady Mounties took a 31-17 lead.
"We need Elise to be like that," Early said. "You have to be consistent to be a really good player, and I thought she had good focus. She did what she needed to do to help us. Elise is very versatile."
Pea Ridge (2-2) seemed to gain some momentum in the second period after a 3-pointer by Kealy Skaggs cut the Rogers lead to 22-15. But Rogers' Samantha Brown hit a layup off a long pass from Amber Turner that started a 9-0 run as the Lady Mounties pulled away.
Pea Ridge coach Larry Walker said playing a Class 7A school will help the Class 4A Lady Blackhawks come conference play. Mikhaela Cochran led Pea Ridge with 12 points while Skaggs added 10.
"You are not going to get better by playing the Sisters of the Blind," Walker said. "We didn't get back a couple of times, and we gave up cheap baskets. But the difference in the game was that we got pounded on the boards."
Rogers returns to action Monday when it travels to Huntsville. The Lady Mounties return home next Tuesday to play Prairie Grove.
Boys
Rogers 63, Pea Ridge 58
Rogers dodged a bullet.
Pea Ridge hit eight 3-pointers in the second half to help cut a 19-point Rogers lead down to two late, but the Mounties hit key free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory. The win in the season opener snapped a 14-game losing streak by the Mounties.
Pea Ridge had a chance to take the lead with 10 seconds left and trailing 60-58. But a 3-point shot by Dylan Roughton was off the mark and Rogers hit three free throws the final 8.3 seconds. Milacio Freeland led Rogers with 16 points while Daniel Salvador added 13 points.
"We faced some adversity tonight, and I was proud of the way our guys hung in there," said Rogers coach Wayne Herren. "We were able to hold them off at the end. Last year,these games went the other way on us. We are hoping that this is a sign we can handle adversity and finish games."
Zach Davis led Pea Ridge with 18 points and the senior hit three 3-pointers in the second half, including a trey that cut the Rogers lead to 60-58 with 1:36 left. Joey Hall added 16 points behind three 3-pointers in the second half. Pea Ridge was without eight players who are still playing football.
"We fought our tails off in the second half and I am extremely proud how we fought in the second half," said Blackhawks coach Trent Loyd. "It was a tale of two halves for us. We are looking at three, four, five of those guys (football players) that are going to help us. But I am just extremely proud of the guys we had."
.
Sports on 11/21/2014