SPRINGDALE -- Jack Lindsey didn't have to shoot. Springdale High had the ball with a one-point lead and less than a minute left.
But Rogers High gave the senior sharpshooter a sliver of an opening. And he took advantage.
Girls
Springdale High 55, Rogers High 37
Rogers^4^13^12^8^—^37
Springdale^9^18^14^14^—^55
Rogers (9-11, 2-5): Sandor 10, Brown 10, Richmond 6, Wisdom 6, McKinney 5, Randels 1.
Springdale (13-6, 6-1): Mack 13, Lang 10, Owens 10, Goodsell 8, Gadison 6, Dougan 4, Hood 4.
Boys
Springdale High 40, Rogers High 34
Rogers^8^10^10^6^—^34
Springdale^14^2^14^10^—^40
Rogers (7-13, 1-6): Benninghoff 12, Freeland 10, Dake 5, Allen 5, Young 2.
Springdale (12-7, 3-4): McFarlane 17, Young 6, Lindsey 6, Mahar 6, Elkar 3, Carachure 2.
Lindsey swished the 3-pointer to extend Springdale's lead to four and give the Bulldogs the separation they needed to earn a big 40-34 home win to end the first half of conference play on a high note.
"We were trying to run some clock even though we just had a one-point lead, but Jack Lindsey always has the green light," Springdale coach Jeremy Price said.
Lindsey wasn't the only player to produce clutch plays down the stretch for Springdale (12-7, 3-4). Before his shot, Kyler Mahar scored back-to-back buckets on hook shots. After the 3-pointer, Ishine McFarlane again extended the lead with an and-one bucket, two of his game-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds as the Bulldogs closed strong to win in yet another tight game, their sixth close finish in seven conference games.
"We really want to be an inside-out team and we've found that late in games, Mahar's been very effective playing with his back to the basket and he's very good when he's able to come back to his strong hand," Price said. "... (McFarlane) allows us to play inside-out. He's crafty around the basket."
Rogers (7-13, 1-6) trailed by six after a quarter but outscored Springdale 10-2 in the second to take an 18-16 lead into intermission. The Mounties, typically a good shooting team, only trailed by two heading into the fourth, but struggled to score late and dropped a second straight game in which they played well after hanging with conference-leading Fayetteville on Tuesday.
"The last 10 quarters we've started to play better," Rogers coach Wayne Herren said. "We've talked to the guys about peaking at the right time and improving. Even though we haven't won these last two games, we're improving."
Rogers still had its chances late after it cut it to 34-33 on two free throws from Jake Benninghoff, who scored a team-high 12, with 1:33 left. But the Mounties briefly lost Lindsey, one of the conference's best shooters on one of the conference's best-shooting teams. The Bulldogs hit 7 of 16 3-pointers on Friday, even with Lindsey hitting 2 of 7. He'd missed five straight shots, but that didn't stop him from taking and making the biggest shot of the game.
"That's what you worry about-- I've watched him all year," Herren said.
Girls
Springdale 55, Rogers 37
Haley Dougan only scored four points, but her on-ball pressure at the front of Springdale High's press helped the Lady Bulldogs pull away for an impressive win to wrap up the first half of 7A-West Conference play.
Springdale (13-6, 6-1) forced 12 second-half turnovers, led by Dougan's four steals, which helped break the game open as the Lady Bulldogs won for the eighth time in nine games.
"The end of the second quarter I thought you saw some signs of her and Anna (Gadison) really wearing on the legs," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. "In the second half, I thought they were fantastic. Haley's energy and effort on defense were phenomenal. It really disrupted what they wanted to do."
The defense coupled with a scoring outburst from seniors Desiree Mack and Kierra Lang allowed Springdale to pull away for the win. Mack hit two 3-pointers and Lang scored at the first-half buzzer for a quick 8-0 run to put Springdale up by 10 at halftime. The duo continued to assert themselves in the third as Mack finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Lang added 10 points and four assists.
Matters only got worse for Rogers (9-11, 2-5) when standout Madison Sandor, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, went down with an undiagnosed injury and was taken to Washington Regional Hospital in the second half.
Sandor and Samantha Brown both scored a team-high 10 for Rogers, which fell behind by double digits after shooting just 18 percent in the first half.
Sports on 01/30/2016