VAN BUREN -- With their toughest stretch of the regular season about to start, Springdale Har-Ber coach Kimberly Jenkins wanted to see her team give a solid 6A-West road performance.
Mission accomplished.
The Lady Wildcats forced 24 turnovers on the defensive end and got a combined 30 points from Pacious McDaniel and Caylan Koons to defeat Van Buren 54-24 Friday Night at Bates Arena.
Har-Ber (14-4, 4-1) stayed tied with Fayetteville for second place in the 6A-West behind league-leading Bentonville. Next week, Har-Ber hosts Rogers then travels to Fayetteville on Jan. 31.
Four days later, Har-Ber opens up second-half play at Bentonville. In years past, the Bentonville game would have been after an open date, but the 6A-West athletic directors moved the open dates around leaving this tough stretch for the Lady Wildcats.
"Rogers, Fayetteville, Bentonville -- those are our toughest ones -- that is a brutal stretch," Jenkins said. "Hopefully what we have done so far will give us some confidence. These games ahead will see what we are made of."
McDaniel, a freshman, led Har-Ber with 16 points while Caylan Koons added 14. Brooklyn Kannady scored 10 to pace Van Buren (6-12, 0-5).
Against the Lady Pointers, Har-Ber built a 43-18 lead thanks to the defense forcing 21 turnovers in that span.
"We are trying to make (playing good defense) our identity," Jenkins said. "We want to think of ourselves as a defensive-minded team. We're so young, we don't know who is going to show up offensively some night, but like they say, 'Defense Travels.' We have some quickness, but we also face some size mismatches. We have to continue to work on positioning and intensity."
Kannady drained a 3-pointer with 4:23 left in the first quarter to Van Buren a 7-6 lead.
From there, though, the Lady Wildcats took control, using an 11-0 run en route to a 17-9 lead after a quarter. Koons scored the last seven points (while McDaniel added 4) to fuel the run.
Har-Ber increased the advantage to 31-14 at halftime. The Lady Wildcats a 14-3 run to lead by as much as 19 in the quarter.
Baskets by Kania Starks, Koons, McDaniel and Sophie Nelson to start the second half gave Har-Ber a commanding 39-14 lead with 4:21 left in the third period.
The Lady Wildcat defense held Van Buren to just nine points combined in the second and third quarters while forcing 15 turnovers.
Springdale Har-Ber (14-4, 4-1);17;14;12;11;--;54
Van Buren (6-12, 0-5);9;5;4;6;--;24
Springdale Har-Ber (54) -- McDaniel 16, Koons 14, S. Nelson 7, McCrackin 5, Starks 5, E. Nelson 3, Stubbs 2, Banks 2.
Van Buren (24) -- Kannady 10, Grebe 6, Woodard 4, Cope 3, Schmidt 1.
[Don't see the gallery above? Click here to view photos from the game.]
Bentonville 75, Rogers High 36
The Lady Tigers used a massive 26-0 first-half run to take control early and cruised to the 6A-West Conference win.
Bentonville (16-1, 5-0) held Rogers scoreless for more than eight minutes, turning a 6-5 advantage into a 32-5 lead and easily stayed in first place in the conference.
The Lady Tigers hit 11 3-pointers in the game, but had balanced scoring. Natalie Smith led the way with 12 points, while Jada Brown and Maryam Dauda added 11 points each.
Dauda, a 6-4 junior, added seven rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Lady Tigers, who led 44-19 at halftime. Kate McConnell led Rogers (12-6, 3-2) with 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Aubrey Treadwell added 11.
Rogers Heritage 50, Bentonville West 45
Pam Seiler scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lady War Eagles rally for the win.
Bentonville West (5-14, 1-4) led 26-23 at halftime and 34-32 after three quarters, but Heritage rallied to pick up the win.
Lanee Knight added 10 for Heritage (11-8, 3-2). Layne Tapp led the Lady Wolverines with 14, while Marybeth Dyson added 12.
Fayetteville 79, Springdale High 41
Coriah Beck led three Lady Bulldogs players in double-figures as Fayetteville rolled to a 6A-West Conference win Friday night.
Sasha Goforth added 19 points for Fayetteville (13-4, 4-1) and Loren Lindsey finished with 10 points.
Chloe Joyner scored 10 points for the Lady Red'Dogs (3-15, 0-5).
FS Northside 63, North Little Rock 55
The Lady Bears kept their 6A-Central record perfect with a road win Friday.
Jersey Wolfenbarger scored a game-high 23 points for Northside and Tracey Bershers added 22. Jazzlyn Coleman finished with 10 for the Lady Bears.
Arin Freeman scored 13 for North Little Rock.
Preps Sports on 01/25/2020