ROGERS -- West Memphis made 10 of its first 13 shots and Rogers High never recovered in Thursday's first round of the First National Bank of NWA Great 8 Classic girls basketball tournament.
The Lady Blue Devils ran away with their red-hot start and cruised to a 65-50 win over the Lady Mounties at War Eagle Arena.
First National Bank Great 8 Classic
At War Eagle Arena, Rogers Heritage
Thursday’s Scores
Nettleton 58, Ozark Mo. 57
West Memphis 65, Rogers High 50
Rogers Heritage 61, Fort Smith Southside 38
North Little Rock 68, Camdenton, Mo. 38
Today’s Games
Ozark, Mo. vs. Fort Smith Southside, 4 p.m.
Rogers vs. Camdenton, Mo., 5:30 p.m.
Nettleton vs. Rogers Heritage, 7 p.m.
West Memphis vs. North Little Rock, 8:30
West Memphis 65, Rogers High 50
West Memphis^24^17^16^8^—^65
Rogers^8^13^11^18^—^18^—^50
West Memphis (6-0):: Bradley 19, Hazley 13, Gholson 11, Tucker 10, Hollins 8, Dean 2, Bedford 2.
Rogers (2-1): Carr 10, T. Treadwell 9, A. Treadwell 7, Miller 7, Brockhoff 6, McConnell 6, Risenhoover 3, Hatch 2.
West Memphis (6-0) sank four of its first five shots, including three 3-pointers for the early 12-4 lead. Three different Lady Blue Devils made one 3-pointer each. West Memphis finished the first quarter with a 12-2 spurt and was in command 24-8.
The Lady Blue Devils will take on North Little in one semifinal slated for an 8:30 start tonight.
Rogers coach Preston Early said his team seemed out of sorts to start the game, and the red-hot start by West Memphis compounded his team's issues.
"They were good," Early said. "I think we were already a little anxious for some reason. I could kinda tell in our shoot-around today we were a little uptight. I think when they got off to a start like that I think it intimidated us.
"We didn't look like ourselves, but we'll give them all the credit for that."
West Memphis led 41-21 at halftime and extended it to 57-32 after three quarters. The Lady Mounties held West Memphis scoreless for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and got within 59-48 but got no closer.
The Lady Blue Devils got balanced scoring led by 6-foot-3 senior Tiera Bradley's game-high 19 points. But senior Aryah Hazley added 13, Jamee Gholson 11 and freshman Janiyah Tucker 10.
West Memphis coach Sheila Burns told her team a good start was a necessity and the Lady Blue Devils came through. She also said balance is a strength for her team.
"We had to start out on fire," said Burns, who returned to coaching this season after sitting out last season because of a stroke. "I didn't know if they could do it, but they looked so good in the first half.
"If you want to key on my guards then the bigs can do it. They were trying to double-team my bigs, but my guards did well."
Gracie Carr was the lone double-figure scorer for Rogers (2-1) with 10. Taylor Treadwell added nine.
Rogers Heritage 61, Fort Smith Southside 38
The Lady War Eagles outscored the Mavericks 25-7 in the second quarter and cruised to the big win.
Lanee Knight led all scorers with 28 points for Heritage (4-1), including 23 in the first half. She hit nine of nine free throws and three 3-pointers. Southside (0-3) trailed only 10-8 after a quarter but were down 35-15 at halftime.
Dylon McCord led Southside with 13 points.
Nettleton 58, Ozark, Mo. 57
The Lady Raiders rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit and held on for the first-round win.
Arkansas signee Elauna Eaton poured in a game-high 24 points for Nettleton (5-0), while Briley Parker added 16. Madi Braden led three players in double figures for Ozark (1-1) with 14. Katie Mayes added 13 and Moriah Putt 12 for the Lady Tigers, who led 48-39 early in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Raiders will take on Heritage in the other semifinal at 7 tonight.
Nettleton, which trailed 30-20 at halftime, put together a 17-2 run to grab a 56-50 advantage but had to hold on for the win.
North Little Rock 68, Camdenton, Mo.38
Amauri Williams scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Lady Wildcats to the big win.
Jasirae Vick and Arin Freeman chipped in 10 points each for North Little Rock. The Lady Wildcats (2-4) led 41-27 at halftime but pushed the lead to 53-32 after three quarters. Biance Stocks and Megan Vest led Camdenton (0-1) with eight points each.
Preps Sports on 12/06/2019