ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage girls basketball coach Kevin Ramey said his team must find more scoring heading into 7A-West Conference play. But his Lady War Eagles turned up the defense to knock off cold-shooting rival Rogers High on Tuesday night.
Heritage held the Lady Mounties to just 25 percent shooting (9 of 35) from the floor, including an incredible 3-for-20 in the middle two quarters, en route to a 42-29 7A-West win at War Eagle Arena.
How They Scored
Girls
Rogers Heritage 42, Rogers 29
Rogers^8^4^6^11^—^29
Heritage^14^9^13^6^—^42
Rogers (6-9, 0-2): Sagely 11, McKinney 6, Randels 3, Sandor 3, Williams 3.
Rogers Heritage (8-7, 1-1): Jobst 16, Giesen 13, Tiles 7, Seiler 6.
Boys
Rogers Heritage 55, Rogers High 44
Rogers^8^7^13^16^—^44
Heritage^24^6^8^17^—^55
Rogers (5-10, 0-2): Freeland 16, Heffley 7, Benninghoff 5, Salvador 5, Black 4, Allen 4, Mayer 3,
Rogers Heritage (10-5, 1-1): Hirsh 18, Jensen 11, Coover 7, Menendez 6, Olsen 5, Hobbs 4, Breedlove 2, Belnap 2.
Seniors Emilie Jobst and Sara Giesen combined for 29 points for Heritage (8-7, 1-1 7A-West) to equal all of Rogers' offensive output, but Ramey couldn't stop talking about his team's defense in the matchup zone.
"I thought our kids were just outstanding on the defensive end," Ramey said. "I know they didn't have a good night shooting the ball. But I've harped and harped on them about communication and it kind of all came together. They moved. They were fluid and they did it together.
"We gave up too many offensive rebounds, but to hold them to 29 points and 12 in the first half, I thought was just outstanding."
The Lady War Eagles held Rogers (6-9, 0-2) to just three field goals in the second and third quarters combined and outscored the Lady Mounties 22-10 in that span. Heritage led 36-18 entering the fourth quarter.
Rogers coach Preston Early had no comment following the loss.
Jobst led all scorers with 16 points, including a 3-pointer from about 27 feet to end the first half. Giesen chipped in 13, despite sitting out all of the second quarter with foul trouble.
Brook Sagely was the only Rogers High player in double figures with 11.
Boys
Rogers Heritage 55, Rogers High 44
The War Eagles got off to a red-hot start and held off a late Rogers charge to earn the victory.
Heritage (10-5, 1-1) hit 4-of-4 3-pointers to build a 24-8 first-quarter lead. Chris Coover and Irvin Menendez hit two 3-pointers each off the bench in that quarter.
But the Mounties (5-10, 0-2) clawed back in the second half, getting within seven with six minutes, 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
But Connor Hirsh scored on a free-throw line jumper and a layup, then fed Julian Jensen for a layup to push the Heritage lead back to 13.
Heritage coach Tom Olsen said his team finally got off to a good start, after falling behind 12-2 in a loss at Springdale on Friday.
"I think we finally showed our potential tonight," Olsen said. "We get a little bit of a lead and then we come in with Menendez and Coover and they just kind of broke it open. But Rogers played hard and came back. We had to play our guts out just to salvage it."
Hirsh led all scorers with 18 points, while Jensen chipped in 11. Milacio Freeland was the only Mountie in double figures with 16.
Paul Boyd can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulB.
Sports on 01/14/2015