ROGERS -- Kate Miller spent the past three weeks as a spectator on the Rogers bench after spraining the ACL in her left knee against crosstown rival Rogers Heritage.
She returned to the Lady Mounties' lineup this week and made up for lost time, recording 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 59-41 victory against Heritage in Mounties Arena in the 6A-West Conference regular-season finale.
"At first, I thought it was a torn meniscus, but I had an MRI and it came back with the best news possible," Miller said. "The recovery has been really hard and toward the end of the game tonight my knee was hurting, but I wanted to be there for my team and push through."
The win secured the No. 3 seed in next week's 6A-West Conference tournament by virtue of a tie-breaker with Springdale Har-Ber. Rogers (16-9, 8-6 6A-West) will host the winner of Springdale vs. Heritage on Wednesday. Heritage and Springdale will play Tuesday at Heritage.
The game was close with Rogers claiming a 25-22 halftime lead on Camiran Brockhoff's three-point play. Brockhoff sliced through the lane and flipped a finger-roll off the backboard, then hit a free throw with 26 seconds left in the half.
Carlee Casteel helped Heritage (6-17, 4-8) stay close early in the third quarter, hitting a free throw and a shot high off the glass to pull the Lady War Eagles within 27-25.
That's when Miller took over. The 5-10 junior scored 7 of her 11 points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer with 1:55 left in the quarter to extend Rogers' lead to 39-27.
"Kate was unreal on the glass," Rogers Coach Preston Early said. "Just relentless. I love her confidence, and her positive impact on this team cannot be understated."
Heritage closed the quarter on Casteel's deep three-pointer from the right perimeter to pull within 39-32, but Rogers went back up by double digits when Miller pulled down an offensive rebound and scored for a 50-39 lead, and the Lady Mounties pulled away.
Taylor Treadwell and Aubrey Treadwell, who each scored 12 for Rogers, helped the Lady Mounties extend the lead late.
"I thought tonight we stayed confident in our shooting," Early said. "I thought defensively we were solid all night. We just kept giving ourselves chances and trusting the process. I thought our shooters in the second half hit a couple of threes and that gave us some distance."
Ava Maner added 10 points for Rogers. Lily Stitt led the way for Heritage with 10 points. Casteel and Quiara Jones scored eight points each.
Boys
Rogers 54,
Rogers Heritage 45
The Mounties climbed out of an 8-0 hole to knock off their crosstown rival.
Rogers (9-10, 6-8) will take on Fort Smith Southside at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the 6A-West Conference tournament. Heritage (8-16, 3-10) will host Springdale on Tuesday.
Micah Hill gave the War Eagles a 16-10 lead at the end of the first quarter with a deep three-pointer at the buzzer. Hill scored a game-high 21 points for Heritage.
Will Liddell and Van Rhame led a Mounties' rally in the second quarter, and Liddell's three-pointer gave Rogers a 40-34 lead after three quarters. Rhame had 14 for Rogers and Liddell finished with 12.