ROGERS -- Springdale Har-Ber has its sights set on the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West Conference in next week's Class 7A state tournament.
The Wildcats moved closer to that goal thanks to a stellar defensive effort in a 72-64 win over Rogers Heritage on Friday night at War Eagle Arena.
How They Scored
7A-West Conference
Girls
Springdale Har-Ber 64, Rogers Heritage 48
Har-Ber^18^13^17^16^—^64
Heritage^13^14^5^16^—^48
Springdale Har-Ber (19-9, 8-6): Schalk 20, Redmond 16, Higgins 12, Whaley 6, Horner 6, Collins 2, Bohannan 2.
Rogers Heritage (10-17, 3-11): Jobst 21, Giesen 18, Le 5, Tiles 4.
Boys
Springdale Har-Ber 72, Rogers Heritage 64
Har-Ber^11^18^18^25^—^72
Heritage^10^12^11^31^—^64
Springdale Har-Ber (19-7, 10-4): Eckwood 23, McNee 13, Brandon 13, Cline 11, Benson 10, Knght 4.
Rogers Heritage (15-12, 6-8): Hirsh 34, Hobbs 16, Breedlove 6, Belnap 5, Coover 3.
Har-Ber (19-7, 10-4 7A-West) will have to wait to see if it gets the No. 2 seed, and the first-round by in the Class 7A state tournament that comes with it, since the Bentonville-Fayetteville game slated for Friday was postponed until Monday because of wintry weather.
If Bentonville defeats Fayetteville, Har-Ber gets the No. 2 seed. A Fayetteville win, and Har-Ber is the No. 3 seed.
The Wildcats took control with a 13-2 run over the final three minutes of the second quarter and first two minutes of the second half. They also held Heritage (15-12, 6-8) without a field goal for more than nine minutes.
Har-Ber coach Scott Bowlin said his team did what it needed to do to win.
"I thought our defense was very good," Bowlin said. "This time of the year, it's survive and advance. I thought the last three games we played pretty good defense. We won. Now we'll wait Monday and see what happens."
Har-Ber finished the first half with a 7-0 spurt to lead 29-22 spurred by a pair of buckets by Mason Cline.
Heritage sliced a 16-point deficit all the way down to five in the final minute, but the Wildcats went 6-of-6 from the foul line late to seal the deal.
Senior Tereke Eckwood led five Wildcats in double figures with 23 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. J.P. Brandon and Mason McNee had 13 each, Cline chipped in 11 and Avery Benson had 10.
Connor Hirsh led all scorers with 34 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter. Lexus Hobbs was also in double figures with 16.
Heritage coach Tom Olsen said the strong fourth quarter could give his team a spark heading into the state tournament.
"I thought we played with a little more urgency in the fourth quarter and made a valiant effort at the end of the game," Olsen said. "That's a positive to take with us."
Heritage advances to the state tournament for the second consecutive year. The War Eagles will be the No. 5 seed and play Wednesday evening at 8:30.
Girls
Springdale Har-Ber 64, Rogers Heritage 48
The Lady Wildcats finally shook off the smaller Lady War Eagles and pulled away in the second half for the win.
Heritage (10-17, 3-11) stayed close in the first half mainly on the strength of Emlie Jobst's outside shooting. But Har-Ber (19-9, 8-6) started the second half with a 14-0 run to take command.
The Lady Wildcats, who led just 31-27 at halftime, held Heritage scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the third quarter to pull away. Har-Ber used its superior size to take control as six of Har-Ber's seven field goals to start the half were from point-blank range.
Bailey Schalk led three Har-Ber players in double figures with 20 points, while Paige Redmond added 16 and Jacie Higgins chipped in 10.
Jobst led Heritage with 21 points, including 5 3-pointers, while Sara Giesen added 18.
The Lady War Eagles needed to win in order to earn a state tournament berth. Har-Ber advances to the state tournament next week as the No. 4 seed from the 7A-West.
Sports on 02/28/2015