ROGERS -- Milacio Freeland may not be 100 percent healthy, but the 5-foot-8 senior still gave Rogers High the spark it needed to pull away for a 58-45 season-opening win over Gravette on Saturday afternoon in King Arena.
Freeland keyed a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to help the Mounties take control. He had a steal and layup, along with a couple of assists on baskets.
Boys
Rogers High 58, Gravette 45
Gravette^8^15^9^13^—^45
Rogers^10^17^15^16^—^58
Gravette (0-2): Soule 15, Crawford 9, Duke 7, Fox 7, Pierce 6, Trembly 1.
Rogers (1-0): Allen 17, Freeland 12, Mincks 10, Cooper 9, Heffley 5, Young 3, Wilkinson 2.
Girls
Rogers High 48, Gravette 39
Gravette^3^9^6^21^—^39
Rogers^13^13^16^6^—^48
Gravette (0-2): Hicks 14, Walker 8, Branscum 7, A. Pinter 6, Chalk 2, S. Pinter 2.
Rogers (1-0): Brown 11, Richmond 10, Randels 10, McKinney 6, Sandor 6, Williams 5,
Rogers coach Wayne Herren acknowledged Freeland is still trying to shake off a shoulder injury that plagued him throughout the football season. But he's still a big key for the Mounties' success.
"He's banged up a little bit right now coming out of football, but it's no secret when Milacio gets to the rim good things happen for us," Herren said. "We talked at halftime about trying to make a more concerted effort to get to the rim and finish."
Gravette (0-2) pulled within 30-27 on a driving layup by Trace Crawford, but Rogers then took over with 10 consecutive points, including six by 6-1 senior Isaac Mincks. Harrison Heffley finished off the run with a stick back for a 40-27 lead. The 6-3 senior was limited because of foul trouble, which also affected the Mounties, Herren said.
"Him being in foul trouble played a big role in what we normally did inside," Herren said. "I think that's one of our strengths this year is post play. And he was in the game when we made the run."
Senior Will Allen led all scorers with 17 points, while Mincks chipped in 10 to give Rogers three players in double figures.
Gravette coach Greg White admitted he wanted to speed up the pace of the game, which helped them stay close until the third quarter.
"We controlled the pace early, but the third quarter's still getting us," White said. "A lot of that is our depth and our youth, but we're continuing to get better. That's the second game in a row that the third quarter's got us. We're going to have to make some adjustments."
Jackson Soule was Gravette's only player in double figures with 15.
Girls
Rogers High 48, Gravette 39
The Lady Mounties put three players in double figures and held off a late rally to notch the victory.
Rogers (1-0) outscored the Lady Lions (0-2) 16-6 in the third quarter to take a commanding 42-18 lead into the fourth quarter. Gravette outscored Rogers 21-6 in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Lions never got closer than the final score.
Samantha Brown, a 5-10 senior, led Rogers with 11 points, while guards Elise Randels and Kelsey Richmond chipped in 10 each as the Lady Mounties got balanced scoring, something that pleased Rogers coach Preston Early despite the less than strong finish.
"That's really a key for us," Early said. "It's a key that we get multiple positions scoring. It's also a byproduct of us harping daily on moving the ball and being willing passers. We feel like we have seven starters really."
"We put ourselves in some bad spots, and obviously like everybody in the country, we're a team that's growing. We built ourselves such a good lead we had some margin for error. We saw flashes of good stuff. A lot of spurts where we look like we know what we're doing. We look like we can play."
Sydney Hicks, a 5-11 senior, led all scorers with 14 points for Gravette, which trailed 26-12 at halftime.
Sports on 11/22/2015