VAN BUREN — Rogers Coach Preston Early stressed defense as the key to victory in Thursday’s Class 7A tournament opener and his Lady Mounties got the message loud and clear.
Rogers held Mount St. Mary without a field goal for almost 12 minutes to start the game. The Lady Mounties also held the Belles to ice-cold 18 percent shooting from the floor (8 of
45) en route to a 51-25 victory at Clair Bates Arena.
Rogers (18-10) advanced to play Little Rock Central, the No. 2 seed from the Central, in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. today.
“That was the first key we had on the board, defense first, and I thought they really established that,” Early said. “I think we made everything difficult for them. We always tell our guys team defense is the stabilizer and I thought we had tremendous focus and our effort was there. That allows us to relax and get in a flow of the game.
“We like to say they can’t beat ya if they can’t score on you.”
The Lady Mounties, the No. 3 seed from the 7A-West, didn’t allow the Belles to score much at all. Rogers raced to an 11-0 lead and didn’t allow a field goal until Valerie Kauffman hit a runner in the lane with 4 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half. However, by that point Rogers led 18-4. The Lady Mounties held a 25-9 halftime lead and pushed the advantage to as much as 29 midway through the fourth quarter.
Mount St. Mary (10-18) didn’t break into double figures until the third quarter with less than three minutes left. The Belles hit just 3 of 29 shots from the floor through the first three quarters. Lizzie Allgood, a 5-10 senior, led the Belles, the No. 6 seed from the Central, with eight points.
Elise Randels, who poured in a game-high 19 points on 9 of 13 shooting, dished out 4 assists and blocked 2 shots, acknowledged there were a few nerves before the game, but they went away quickly.
“Mostly nervous as a senior, just thinking that every game we go into could potentially be our seniors’ last game,” Randels said. “That’s just nerve-wracking, the last time getting to play with these girls and our coaches. A few of us were talking that we were nervous, but as soon as the game started, the nerves went away.
“We were playing defense very well, especially at the beginning, and that helped us a lot. That was our biggest strength and they weren’t able to get anything other than free throws.”
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 72,
SPRINGDALE 45
The top seed from the 7A-Central jumped to an 18-4 lead after one quarter, holding Springdale without a field goal, and never looked back.
North Little Rock (27-2) will face Van Buren at noon Saturday in the semifinals.
The Lady Charging Wildcats had four in double figures, led by junior guard Amber Hawkison’s 13 points. Demyla Brown and Yo’Myris Morris chipped in 12 each and Mackenzie Tillman added 10. Marquesha Davis led all scorers with 17 points for Springdale (14-15).
VAN BUREN 43,
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 37, OT
The Lady Pointers outscored the Lady Bears 6-0 in overtime to grind out a tough win and advance to the semifinals.
Jamilyn Kinney and Halie Jennen scored 12 points each to lead Van Buren (22-5). Topazia Hawkins led all scorers with 18 for Northside (18-11).. The Lady Pointers led 37-32 with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter, but Northside rallied to force overtime.
Taylar Sutton’s putback with 2:42 left in overtime gave Van Buren the lead for good.
Sports on 03/03/2017