Prep Basketball Report

SPRINGDALE HIGH

Young Bulldogs on the move

Springdale High took over from the outset Tuesday and posted its biggest road win of the season.

Trentez Scales poured in 27 points and Jujuan Boyd scored 15 in a 79-71 victory at rival Fayetteville. The sophomore guards were followed by senior center Carl Fitch, who contributed 12 points.

The victory marked a significant turnaround from early December when Springdale lost 69-61 to Fayetteville on its home court.

"We're trying to play our style, our way," Springdale High coach Jeremy Price said. "The matchup (Tuesday) favored the skill set of some of our kids. They're hungry. They played good basketball and that made for a good outcome for us."

Scales made a layup off a steal then hit a 3-pointer to give Springdale (11-7, 2-3 7A-West) an early 16-4 lead. He and Boyd made 3-pointers in the second quarter to increase the margin to 30-17.

Fayetteville (10-7, 2-3) got within 72-67 but Springdale secured the victory at the free-throw line, where the Red Bulldogs were 25 of 31. The finish was much better than two weeks ago when Springdale had a chance to beat Springdale Har-Ber at home, but the Bulldogs missed three consecutive 3-point attempts in the final seconds and lost 55-49.

The Fayetteville win should provide momentum for Springdale, which continues 7A-West Conference play at home against Rogers High tonight.

"We've got a confident group," Price said. "They don't get scared of too many people."

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

BENTONVILLE HIGH

Freshman embarks on another record

Maryam Dauda broke one Bentonville school record for a second time Tuesday night, and she's on the verge of taking sole possession of another mark.

The Lady Tigers' 6-foot-4 freshman post recorded 13 blocked shots during Tuesday night's game against Rogers Heritage, surpassing the previous school record of 11 she recorded earlier this season against Gravette.

Dauda now has 96 blocks in 18 games this season -- an average of more than five per game -- and her next blocked shot will make her Bentonville's career leader in blocked shots. Julia Garrard also had 96 when she played for Bentonville in 2011-13.

"It's pretty cool," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said of the feat. "She's really beefed up our defense, and she has matured a lot in terms of playing high school basketball. She's become tougher, and she's more confident in her abilities. When she makes a mistake, she doesn't dwell on it too much.

"The team deserves a lot of credit, as well. They are always encouraging her and picking her up. She has a great supporting cast, so it's a really good situation for her."

Dauda also recorded her second triple-double of the season as she finished Tuesday's game with 11 points and 13 rebounds to go with her blocked shots. She completed the feat with 27 seconds remaining when she picked up a steal near midcourt and scored after Halbmaier yelled "Finish it!" to her.

In addition to her two triple-doubles, Dauda also has three double-doubles this season. Her other triple-double came against Gravette, where she also set the school single-game records for total rebounds (24) and defensive rebounds (19).

"A triple-double is a pretty cool thing to do," Halbmaier said. "The one against Heritage was a quiet one, where the one against Gravette caught us in awe. I'm proud of her and what she's done, and she has so much more."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

OZARK

Lady Hillbillies stout on defense

No one should be surprised at the low score in Ozark's 52-22 victory over Waldron on Tuesday. The game was the eighth time this season the Lady Hillbillies have held opponents to 30 points or less.

"Our defense has carried us all year," Ozark girls coach Bret Nagel said. "There's going to be nights when you don't shoot as well, so we spend a lot of time in practice on the fundamentals of defense. This team anticipates well."

Ozark is also efficient on offense led by Hannah Ladd, who averages 16 points per game. Ariel Walker averages 13 points per game and Meagan Harris contributes 9.4 points per game.

Ozark (18-0) is still unbeaten after recent close calls against Paris and Charleston in overtime. Ozark must face Charleston again after finishing this week with Thursday's makeup game against Mansfield and tonight's game against Cedarville.

"We're not worried about our record," Nagel said. "We're trying to get ready for our district tournament and playing back-to-back games this week will give us a feel for that."

-- Rick Fires • @NWARick

DECATUR

Riggles sees positives in Lady Bulldogs

Few high school coaches in Northwest Arkansas can match Ashley Riggles when it comes to their own prep basketball days. Riggles was part of a championship dynasty at Greenland under coach Alan Barton, and the trophy cases are filled with hardware that Riggles contributed significantly to.

In her first year leading the Decatur girls basketball team, Riggles is learning how the other half lives. Decatur is 5-14 on the year heading into tonight's contest at Lead Hill.

"I wish things were better, but we're improving and getting better every day for the most part, so that's a positive," Riggles said.

Riggles was an assistant coach for the Lady Bulldogs last season and took over the program this season with just eight players, and one of those is a foreign exchange student from Thailand who has never played basketball.

She admits that the culture at Decatur is different than what she grew up in at Greenland, but the players are giving it everything they have, she said.

"It's hard coming from a place where girls basketball is everything," Riggles said. "But our work ethic has been good and they are trying to do everything I have asked them to do."

Riggles is also a middle school teacher and she's trying to use that as a way to get to know the younger Decatur students to encourage them to join the program.

She has also helped start a pee-wee program through the boys and girls club, a staple in the Greenland community.

"That has helped," she said. "Our younger teams because of that are seeing better numbers."

Riggles said she is trying to get her players focus on singular goals, like the better shooters putting up more shots, or players drawing a certain number of charging calls.

"I try to emphasize for us to control what we can control," she said. "You can control how you rebound, and you can control how you guard, so let's focus on that and try to improve in those areas.

"Our defense has improved a lot since last year and that is also something that you can control."

Riggles said she talks to Barton at least once a week for advice.

"He gives me a lot of insight and just encourages me to trust the process," she said. "He tells me just to stick with it and keep doing what I'm doing."

Riggles said junior Samantha Skaggs and sophomore Destiny Meija have been bright spots this season.

"Samantha has all the ability in the world," Riggles said. "And Destiny just does everything I ask her to do. She's a little bulldog and she plays extremely hard all the time."

-- Chip Souza @NWAChip

GRAVETTE

Lions hope to build off road win

Gravette needed a big win in a big way, and the Lions were able to do just that on Tuesday night with a 59-57 win at Prairie Grove.

"It was good to see us get over the hump," said Gravette coach Matt Busch. "We've had some heartbreakers lately. I was proud of our seniors and how they played in the fourth quarter. Kelton Trembley and Dayten Wishon were able to handle the pressure well.

"We've had some tough breaks here and there and had some chances that if they went our way, we'd be an 18-2 team right now instead of 15-5."

Two of Gravette's five losses came to Pea Ridge in a pair of games that combined to go seven overtimes.

The Lions (9-4 conference) are in a seeding battle in the 3A/4A District 1 with Prairie Grove and Shiloh Christian, all at 9-4 in league play. When the teams split into the 4A-1 Conference tournament in February, seeding will be very important, Busch said.

"These last four games are big and we need to win out to try to avoid a three-way tie," Busch said. "We just need to hit open shots and take care of the ball."

That run starts tonight with the Orange Out game against Elkins, a team that battled Gravette close in their first meeting this season.

"They have a good team," Busch said. "They play a lot of zone, which not a lot of teams in our league do. They do a good job of staying in front of you on defense. It's a big game and it will be a big night in our gym."

Wishon and Tremley have led the team this season, but Busch said Chris Childress has been a huge factor since the holiday break.

"Chris started out slow coming out of football, but he has really picked it up on both ends," Busch said. "He's like having a third coach. He watched more film than anybody I know. He wants to be a coach, so he's just so valuable. He's the son of a coach so he understands scouting reports."

-- Chip Souza • @NWAChip

ROGERS HIGH

Lady Mounties rebound after tough loss

Rogers High bounced back from a tough 56-22 loss to knock off Bentonville West, but coach Preston Early said the process started way before tip off on Tuesday.

"The best thing about that was the way we responded Sunday and Monday," Early said. "We got humbled Friday night and when we dissected that film on Sunday their pride was hurt a little bit. It was up to the individual what will you do about it. We spent two days work on us and very little working on West.

"I just saw a collective competitive spirit and thought that was a winning response."

The Lady Mounties (10-8, 3-2 7A-West Conference) didn't start well against West, turning the ball over on their first three possessions, but again Early said his team persevered.

"It woulda been so easy for them to give in to thinking 'here we go again,' but the kids stayed persistent and kept good body language and we had three of our better quarters with 16, 14 and 17 and it was nice to get some good balance in scoring," Early said.

The Lady Mounties got big efforts from a lot of different sources. Madison Loyd had a team-high 17, but sophomore London Hatch was eight-of-eight from the free throw line. Courtney Storey finished with nine points, six rebounds and three assists and Caroline Larkin gave good minutes off the bench with starting post player Ally Figenskau in foul trouble, too.

Rogers High is in a three-way third in the 7A-West, but it doesn't get any easier as it travels to second-place Springdale High tonight, then then faces Van Buren on Tuesday next week to finish the first round of league play. The Lady Mounties are tied with Van Buren and Bentonville High.

"They are relentless in their driving and transition and offensive rebounding," Early said. "We'll have to be solid in everything we do."

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

WESTERN GROVE

Young Warriors making progress

Western Grove coach Lendall Martin has seen his team grow up this season and he's hoping that process continues right into the postseason.

The Class 1A Warriors (17-11) have won three of their last four using mostly a seven-man rotation, which includes just one senior. They are much improved from a year ago when injuries hampered their progress, Martin said. But inexperience has showed some as six of their 11 losses have been by six points or less.

"We've started three sophomores, a junior and a senior most of the time," Martin said. "But lately we've reduced turnovers and playing better defense."

Hunter Baker, a 5-11 junior guard, is the team's leader, averaging 25 points per game. He made the all-state tournament team as a freshman, but was one of several slowed by injuries a year ago.

"He does a little bit of everything for us, but I think his best asset is his ball-handling, Martin said. "No question he's the best ball-handler I've ever coached. He's really quick and good in the open court."

Luke Lane also averages in double figures at about 13 points per game, but the Warriors got a boost at semester when 6-2 junior Champ Saylors moved into the district.

"He's really just getting started with us, but he has the potential to score," Martin said. "He had 17 on Tuesday night, but the biggest thing is one more body. He's really helped us with our depth. At a small school like ours, one more is a big deal."

Martin said he also expects to move up a couple of players from a junior high team that's currently 20-2 after their district tournament.

Western Grove is fighting for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament behind league leading Deer. The Warriors travel to Jasper for a huge game on Feb. 2.

-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

Sports on 01/26/2018