Reaching the 1,000-point plateau wasn’t satisfying enough for Caylan Koons.
Koons added to her production by scoring 37 and 31 points in consecutive games after being honored the previous week for reaching 1,000 points for her career at Springdale Har-Ber. The junior guard scored 37 points during a 77-33 victory over Springdale High on Tuesday and 31 in a 59-44 win over Bentonville West on Friday.
For her effort, Koons is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls Player of the Week. Jaylen Lee of Bentonville is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette boys Player of the Week.
Koons is a multi-sport athlete who has committed to play volleyball at Central Arkansas following her high school career. She’s also a basketball standout at Har-Ber (6-6, 3-1) who’s been starting at guard since her freshman year. She knocked down five 3-pointers last week against Springdale then scored 24 of her team’s first 42 points against Bentonville West.
“Caylan has been working very hard to continue to improve her game,” Springdale Har-Ber coach Kimberly Jenkins said. “She is one of the most coachable kids I have ever been around in 24 years of coaching. She has a humble character and a work ethic of a champion. She is still gaining confidence and rhythm with her game this season. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings for her.”
Lee wasn’t needed much on Tuesday when he scored 10 points in limited playing time during a 55-42 victory over Rogers Heritage. But the sophomore guard was needed a lot on Friday and he responded with 28 points when Bentonville beat Fayetteville 79-55 in a showdown between league leaders in the 6A-West Conference. Lee made three 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored 12 points in the third quarter when the Tigers built a double-digit lead.
Bentonville (10-1, 4-0) took sole possession of first place in the 6A-West and moved up to No. 6 in the Overall poll by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“Jaylen had a great week of leading our team,” Bentonville coach Dick Rippee said of Lee, who added 18 rebounds, and 15 assists in the two wins last week. “He sees the floor very well and is taking advantage of the shooters and scorers around him and setting them up nicely for success. Jaylen scores from all three levels and the great part for him and our team is he still has so much room to improve.”