ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage held on to a share of third place in the 7A-West Conference by slimmest of margins Friday night in War Eagle Arena.
The War Eagles withstood a final flurry by Springdale High in the waning seconds to earn a tough 43-42 victory.
How They Scored
Girls
Springdale High 63, Rogers Heritage 57
Springdale^16^19^13^15^—^63
Heritage^8^17^15^17^—^57
Springdale (11-10, 2-6): Mack 18, Owens 16, Goodsell 14, Daniels 13, Brown 2.
Rogers Heritage (9-12, 2-6): Giesen 21, Jobst 11, Tiles 9, Scudder 8, Seiler 6, Lakis 2.
Boys
Rogers Heritage 43, Springdale High 42
Springdale^6^11^16^9^—^42
Heritage^10^16^9^8^—^43
Springdale (8-12, 3-5): Owens 15, Gause 13, Tutt 7, Mahar 7.
Rogers Heritage (14-7, 5-3): Hirsh 16, Hobbs 14, Jensen 7, Macy 3, Olsen 3.
Senior Connor Hirsh drained two free throws with 23 seconds left to give Heritage the lead, then held on as Springdale (8-12, 3-5) never got a clean look at the basket as time ran out.
Heritage coach Tom Olsen was pleased with his team's execution in the final seconds on both ends of the floor, after Springdale's Treshawn Gause canned a 3-pointer to give his team a one-point lead.
"The kids really made some good plays late," Olsen said. "We held our composure in the last 25 seconds and got Connor the ball down low. He gets to the foul line and makes the free throws and we shored up and played great defense at the end to get the win.
"Our kids are tough as nails. It was a big win for our program. It clinches our second straight winning season and likely clinches our second straight state tournament berth."
Hirsh finished with a game-high 16 points, while Lexus Hobbs chipped in 14 for Heritage. Chris Owens led Springdale with 15 and Gause added 13.
Springdale coach Brad Stamps said his team needs to start the game with the same urgency it plays with in the second half.
The Bulldogs made their first six shots of the second half to erase a nine-point halftime deficit, but ultimately fell short.
"We made a shot to take the lead," Stamps said. "They come down and attack the basket like they're supposed to. They get to the foul line and the kids makes two free throws. They made the play at the end. But the biggest thing for us is we have to learn to play four quarters to win in this league."
Girls
Springdale High 63, Rogers Heritage 57
The Lady Bulldogs built a lead on strong inside play, but senior guard Ja'Vonda Daniels came up big to snap a six-game losing streak.
Daniels canned a huge 3-pointer, then made 5 of 6 free throws in the final two minutes to give Springdale (11-10, 2-6) the win.
Heritage (9-12, 2-6) sliced a double-digit deficit to one with 4:05 left, but Daniels, who finished with 14, went to work.
Springdale executed an inbounds play perfectly and Daniels drilled the 3-pointer for a 56-52 lead with 3:17 left. Heritage missed three free throws on back-to-back possessions and Springdale made free throws to put the game away.
Springdale placed four players in double figures led by Desiree Mack's 19 points. Chasidee Owens added 16, while Ryann Goodsell and Daniels had 14 each.
Sara Giesen led all scorers with 21 for Heritage, while Emilie Jobst chipped in 11.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulB.
Sports on 02/07/2015