BENTONVILLE -- Rogers High's girls needed Elise Randels to provide some last-second heroics on both ends of the court Friday night.
The senior guard hit one of two free throws with 10.4 seconds remaining in regulation, then denied Bentonville's Lauren Hargus a clean shot near the buzzer as the Lady Mounties claimed a 45-44 7A-West Conference victory in Tiger Arena.
Girls
Rogers High 45, Bentonville High 44
Rogers^9^12^14^10^—^45
Bentonville^17^7^11^9^—^44
Rogers (11-7, 3-2): Randels 15, Richmond 12, McKinney 7, Loyd 5, Sandor 4, Wisdom 1.
Bentonville (9-9, 2-3): Clark 16, Hargus 8, Hughes 7, Roberts 7, Palasak 2, Kash 2, Cochran 2.
Boys
Bentonville High 69, Rogers High 37
Rogers^12^11^8^6^—^37
Bentonville^18^12^11^28^—^69
Rogers (7-11, 0-5): Jones 9, Benninghoff 8, Casey 8, Gilmer 7, Greear 5.
Bentonville (9-9, 4-1): Hemphill 21, Shanks 12, Estrada 10, Costantini 7, Smith 7, Jarrett 6, Akbar 4, Cranna 2.
"It was a lot of pressure on me, but the rest of our team had got us to that point," Randels said. "I was just excited to have the opportunity to win with that last shot."
Bentonville (9-9) didn't hit a field goal in the entire fourth quarter, but Krista Clark's two free throws at the 2:08 mark tied the game at 44. Both teams missed an opportunity to score before Rogers coach Preston Early elected to hold the ball for the last shot with 1:40 left.
The Lady Mounties (11-7, 3-2) then milked the clock down until Randels got the ball inside and was fouled, but she missed the first free throw. She then had to wait through a Bentonville timeout before she calmly sank the second one.
"That's something we have done in practice," Early said. "I felt comfortable doing that because we've worked on taking 90 seconds off the clock.
"If we had to critique this when we look at film on Sunday, the only thing I would critique is we got into our play too soon. When you're tied, you want the last shot. She had pressure on her, and she did execute. At least we got her to the free-throw line."
Bentonville quickly put the ball back into play and worked the ball back to Hargus near the top of the key. The senior guard then drove to the basket and fired up a shot over Randels, but the ball hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
"It just came down to that possession," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "We had the opportunity, and the ball just didn't fall in for us.
"That last shot wasn't the reason we lost. We missed some opportunities in the first three quarters. Randels played a really good game, and she was a load keeping her off the boards. If I had to point at one thing, they got more offensive rebounds and putbacks."
Randels had 15 to lead Rogers while Kelsey Richmond added 12, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a 35-35 tie after three quarters. Clark was the only Bentonville player in double figures, finishing with 16.
Boys
Bentonville High 69, Rogers High 37
Jordan Hemphill scored Bentonville's first 11 points and finished with 21 as the Tigers won for the fifth time in their last six games and raised their record to the .500 mark for the first time this season.
The Tigers (9-9, 4-1) turned the game into a rout in the fourth quarter, outscoring Rogers (7-11, 0-5) 28-6 over the last eight minutes after forcing the Mounties into a number of turnovers.
Michael Shanks added 12 and Aaron Estrada 10 for Bentonville. Amonta Jones had nine points for Rogers, while Jake Benninghoff and Tony Casey each chipped in eight.
Sports on 01/21/2017