ROGERS -- Harrison's boys have not shied away from quality competition during the early stages of the season, and they have had their share of ups and downs to go with it.
Cole Cecil and Ryder Scribner made sure Harrison finished on the up side during the opening night of the 18th annual Arvest Hoopfest. They put together a 12-0 run and led the Goblins to a 68-62 victory over the Rogers Mounties at War Eagle Arena.
"We have taken on some big boys, and we're a young team," said Harrison Coach David Stahler, whose team played Bentonville in a scrimmage and has already taken on the likes of Farmington and Springfield (Mo.) Glendale. "We don't have a senior on the team, so we've having to grow up and grow up fast and raise our level to play with these teams.
"We're hoping that will help us come January and February -- to be playing at a higher level."
The Goblins (4-4) led 30-26 at halftime and enjoyed a 39-30 cushion on Jackson Criner's bucket with 4:55 left in the third quarter before the Mounties made their move. Rogers (3-2) went on a 14-2 run and took a 44-41 lead on Graycen Cash's bucket with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
Scribner, however, tied the game at 44 when he drained a three-pointer in front of the Harrison bench just before the third quarter ended. Cecil and Scribner then teamed up to score the next nine points, with Scribner's free throw giving the Goblins a 53-44 lead with 6:45 remaining.
"Both of those guys saw significant minutes for us last year," Stahler said. "They supposed to step up in that situation, and they did. That broke their momentum, and you have to do that against quality teams. You have to stop the bleeding, and I thought that 3 stopped the bleeding.
"They started feeling a little confident at that point. They were putting pressure on the ball, so we were trying to take advantage of that with our cuts and second cuts."
Rogers pulled within 53-49 after Jansen Garner's bucket with just under 5 minutes remaining, but Harrison regrouped and eventually took its biggest lead, 67-55, on Maddox Bell's bucket with 53 seconds left to play.
Cecil finished with 24 points to lead the Goblins, who will play Waynesville, Mo., at 4 p.m. today. Scribner was next with 19, while Hayden Martin added 12.
Aiden Chronister had 17 points and was the only player in double figures for Rogers, which will play Conway in a 5:30 p.m. game. Conway opened Thursday's play with a 58-27 victory over Waynesville.
Rogers Heritage 54, Nettleton 47
Jordan Dipley's three-point play with 2:40 remaining gave Heritage the lead for good as the War Eagles closed out the final 4 minutes with a 16-4 run and rallied to defeat Nettleton.
Heritage (5-4) trailed 35-29 to start the fourth quarter, but Ryan Wassman's layup tied the briefly tied the game 35 with 6:39 remaining. Wassman tied the game at 41 on another bucket at the 3:26 mark before Dipley scored to give the War Eagles a 44-41 cushion.
Ben Manuel added two three throws to give Heritage a five-point cushion, and Nettleton (6-2) didn't get any closer than three again.
Manuel scored 11 of his 20 points to pace the War Eagles, who will play Springfield (Mo.) Parkview in a 7 p.m. game today. Taylor Smith and Kob Jamison each had 14 points for Nettleton, while T.J. Whitney added 10, all in the third quarter.