ROGERS -- Fort Smith Southside appeared to grab a little momentum at the end of the third quarter Thursday evening, but Rogers Heritage had an answer.
The Lady War Eagles opened the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run to take command en route to a 67-53 win in the First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic at War Eagle Arena.
At A Glance
First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic
at War Eagle Arena, Rogers Heritage
Girls Basketball
Thursday’s Scores
Fort Smith Northside 70, Siloam Springs 35
Webb City, Mo. 43, Rogers High 13
Rogers Heritage 67, Fort Smith Southside 53
Camdenton, Mo. 65, Ozark, Mo. 60
Today’s Games
Rogers High vs. Ozark, Mo., 4 p.m.
Fort Smith Southside vs. Siloam Springs, 5:30 p.m.
Rogers Heritage vs. Fort Smith Northside, 7 p.m.
Camdenton, Mo. vs. Webb City, Mo., 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Seventh-place game, noon
Fifth-place game, 1:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 3 p.m.
Championship game, 4:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Rogers Heritage 67, Fort Smith Southside 53
Southside^12^16^13^12^—^53
Heritage^16^13^16^22^—^67
Rogers Heritage (2-1): Seiler 20, Menke 15, Rohrbough 7, Kinnamon 7, Combs 6, Richardson 5. Dickerson 4, Brooks 3.
Fort Smith Southside (0-4): Schmidt 19, Carson 14, Graham 11, Kleck 4, Jones 2, Rice 2, Rainwater 1.
Heritage will now take on Fort Smith Northside in the semifinals tonight at 7. Southside will play Siloam Springs in a consolation bracket game at 5:30.
Heritage (2-1) led 45-41 after three quarters, but Southside (0-4) was held scoreless for more than 4 1/2 minutes to start the fourth quarter. The Lady War Eagles put together a 19-1 run for a commanding 64-42 lead.
Sophomore guard Pam Seiler poured in a game-high 20 points, including seven of Heritage's first nine of the fourth quarter. Senior Brooke Menke added 15, including 13 in the second half.
Lady War Eagles coach Scott Moore said his team showed it wanted to wipe away those final couple of minutes of the third quarter when Southside cut an 11-point lead to four.
"They took their foot off the gas at the end of the third and let them back in," Moore said. "We came into that timeout and they looked at each other and said 'No, that's not how we want to play.' They came out in that fourth quarter and made a run. We said 'Let's put it away early and see how they react to it.'
"Just super proud of how Pam Seiler and Brooke Menke played the second half. Pam played pretty consistent the first half, but the second half really got into her groove. Brooke was really disappointed in herself at halftime. I looked at her and said 'That wasn't your best half of basketball. But the best thing about basketball is what? She said 'there's a second half" and she smiled at me and I said 'Go have a half.'"
Seiler's 3-pointer from the corner 10 seconds into the fourth quarter started Heritage's big run. It finally ended when Hannah Schmidt made a free throw with 3 minutes, 27 seconds left pulled the Mavericks within 60-42.
Schmidt led Southside with 19 points, while Kelly Carson added 15 and Erin Graham 11.
Southside coach Steve Brown said his team's inexperience showed up in the fourth quarter.
"We're really still trying to figure some things out," Brown said. "Everything that collapsed on us out there is fixable. We've got to take better shots. We've got to be more patient with the ball. We really want to play fast, but it's teaching them how to do it and letting them learn."
Webb City, Mo. 43, Rogers High 13
The Lady Cardinals held Rogers to just one field goal over the middle two quarters en route to the big win.
Webb City (1-1) led 13-4 after one quarter and held the Lady Mounties (2-1) without a field goal in the second quarter and was in control 23-7 at halftime. The Lady Cardinals used pressure defense to force 30 Rogers turnovers.
Junior guard Ali Vanzant led a balanced Webb City scoring attack with nine points, while junior Madeline Hayes added eight. Ally Figenskau and Caroline Larkin had four points each for Rogers. The 6-foot Figenskau also had seven rebounds and six blocked shots.
Fort Smith Northside 70, Siloam Springs 35
The Lady Bears outscored the Lady Panthers 27-5 in the second quarter and cruised to the win.
Northside (4-0) led 50-19 at halftime behind a balanced scoring effort. Juniors Deairah Mays and Sara Bershers led the Lady Bears with 13 points each. Morgan Vaughn led Siloam Springs (1-3) with 10.
Camdenton, Mo. 65, Ozark, Mo. 60
The Lady Lakers (2-0) outscored the Lady Tigers 19-6 in the third quarter and held off a late rally to advance.
Senior Abbie Miller led three in double figures with 17 points. Natalie Basham added 13 and Coley Rezabek chipped in 10.
Macey Putt, a 6-1 senior, led all scorers for Ozark, which led 34-33 at halftime.
Sports on 12/01/2017