Defense helps Rogers hold off Bentonville

Rogers High struggled throughout the night from the free-throw line, but the Mounties got big defensive stops late to come away with a 49-44 6A-West Conference win over Bentonville on Friday night in King Arena. Colton Simmons scored to pull the Tigers within 45-44 with more than two minutes left but never scored again. The Mounties (15-1, 4-1) missed a pair of front ends of one-and-one's in the final 36.3 seconds, but Elliot Paschal came up with a big steal and hit two free throws with 18.7 seconds left to push the Roger lead to 49-44. Rogers' defense ultimately helped them come away with the win. "That's just our guys," Rogers coach Lamont Frazier said. "We preach the whole game about just staying locked in. That's one of those point we could have looked up at the score and saw it was a one-point game and just caved to the fact that we might or might not win the game. "Our guys, they fought. They did what they needed to do to win. I'm proud of them for that." Rogers hit just 12 of 21 free throws in the game, which surprised Frazier. "I was a little taken off-guard by our free throw shooting because we missed quite a few in the first half, then missed some big ones down the stretch that could have really extended the game," Frazier said. "I give Bentonville credit. They hung in there, and they fought. "It was a game tonight of who could survive the adversity." Paschal led all scorers with 17 points for Rogers, while Derek Hobbs added 13. Brayden Freeman led Bentonville (11-6, 2-3) with 12 points, while Simmons, who struggled with foul trouble all night, added 11. Bentonville held a brief 41-40 lead on Thane Spencer's driving layup with a little more than three minutes left. But Paschal drained a 3-pointer to give Rogers the lead for good with 2:59 left. Simmons had a 3-pointer to tie and rebounded his own miss but also missed the putback attempt. Seconds later he picked up his fifth foul with 40.4 seconds left. Rogers 49, Bentonville High 44 Bentonville;9;13;10;12;--;44 Rogers;10;12;14;13;--;49 Bentonville (11-6, 2-3): Freeman 12, Simmons 11, Spencer 7, Hicks 6, Shanks 3, Price 3, Hutchinson 2. Rogers (15-1, 4-1): Paschal 17, Hobbs 13, Miller 7, Liddell 6, Garner 2, Rhame 2, Uecker 2.

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DEFENSE HELPS ROGERS HOLD OFF BENTONVILLE

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 1/25/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Rogers High School Athletics