ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage's girls built a 10-point lead with a fourth-quarter flurry, then held on for their first 7A-West Conference win of the season, 51-47, over Fort Smith Southside on Tuesday night in War Eagle Arena.
The Lady War Eagles (6-11, 1-3) overcame foul trouble with solid post play to pick up the win.
Girls
Rogers Heritage 51, Fort Smith Southside 47
Southside^9^14^10^14^—^47
Heritage^13^13^13^12^—^51
Fort Smith Southside (3-15, 0-4): Carson 13, Rainwater 12, Meares 10, Rogers 5, Sanford 3, Sobier 2, Hernandez 2.
Rogers Heritage (6-11, 1-3): Menke 13, Tiles 11, Scudder 10, Turner 6, Seiler 5, Lakis 4, Kinnamon 2.
Boys
Rogers Heritage 55, Fort Smith Southside 40
Southside^3^7^18^12^—^40
Heritage^12^7^19^17^—^55
Fort Smith Southside (10-8, 2-2): Hawley 12, Sheppard 10, Mahoney 9, Smith 3, Hilliam 2, Releford 2, Mays 2.
Rogers Heritage (9-8, 1-3): S. Stanley 21, Hobbs 11, Breedlove 11, Olsen 10, M. Stanley 2.
Brooke Menke had a team-high 13 points off the bench, while seniors Hailey Tiles and Dehring Scudder chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. All three were also instrumental on the boards to help the Lady War Eagles avenge an earlier nonconference loss to the Lady Rebels.
Heritage used a 7-0 spurt, keyed by Scudder's three-point play, to grab a 46-36 lead with 5 minutes, 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Southside charged back to get within 48-46 on Kelly Carson's 3-pointer, but the Lady War Eagles made enough free throws in the final minute to put the game away.
Heritage coach Kevin Ramey said rebounding was the top priority for his team, and the Lady War Eagles came through in a big way.
"Our number one key on the board before the game was 'Win the glass,'" Ramey said. "Brooke was tremendous. I really thought she did a great job. Hailey did a great job early and really got us settled. I thought Brooke had a big second half, was terrific at the foul line.
"I'm proud of them. I told them sometimes you've just got to gut one out. We were able to do that. In the second half, we wanted to rebound the ball and keep them out of transition. I thought we did really well in those two areas."
Carson led Southside (3-15, 0-4) with 13 points, while Hannah Rainwater added 12 and Lani Meares 10. Meares fouled out with more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, which was big, Southside coach Steve Brown said.
"They just killed us on the boards," Brown said. "I just got through telling her, 'Lani, you did a great job cheering on the bench, but that's not where I need you. I've got to have you on the floor.' She's got to understand, when that fourth foul comes, you don't do those things. You back off, get back and live to fight another day."
Boys
Rogers Heritage 55, Fort Smith Southside 40
The War Eagles got off to a strong start, limiting the Rebels to just 10 first-half points, then made free throws in the fourth quarter to claim their first 7A-West win.
Sophomore Seth Stanley poured in a game-high 21 points, but he had lots of help. Lexus Hobbs and Marcus Breedlove added 11 each, and Dane Olsen chipped in 10 for Heritage (9-8, 1-3).
Heritage led 19-10 at halftime and kept the Rebels at arm's length throughout the second half. The War Eagles made 10 of 14 foul shots in the final three minutes to put the game away.
Heritage coach Tom Olsen was proud of his team's leadership to come back from three consecutive losses.
"I just can't say enough about them getting themselves together after three straight losses," Olsen said. "Great meeting on Saturday. I don't know that we've played a better game all year. We played and shared it and took care of the ball.
"Our guys didn't get beat off the dribble much, which didn't create any long close-outs to shooters. When you've got the lead and keep them out of the lane, it puts some pressure on those 3-point shooters."
Seth Hawley led Southside (10-8, 2-2) with 12 points.
Sports on 01/20/2016