ROGERS OVERWHELMS MILLS TO SECURE TITLE

Rogers won the championship game of the Hoops for Hunger Cyclone Classic in no-doubt-about-it fashion Monday night at Russellville Arena. The Mounties (11-0) dominated Mills, holding the Comets (11-2) to five baskets through three quarters en route to a 56-41 victory. "We got our pants pulled down tonight," Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. Mills scored first, on a three-pointer by Diogo Tognozzi, but Rogers started grinding on both ends of the court. The Mounties took a 5-3 lead on two baskets by Drew Miller, led 10-5 after one quarter and 26-18 at halftime. Miller scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half. Any thoughts Mills had of making it competitive disappeared in the first 3:19 of the third quarter when Rogers scored the first nine points. Will Liddell (22 points) hit two three-pointers and Elliott Paschal added another, forcing Cooper to call timeout with his team trailing 35-18. "The goal was to come out in the first three minutes and absolutely empty our tanks out," Rogers Coach Lamont Frazier said. The Mounties, with their clock-eating motion offense, exposed several weaknesses Cooper said he knew existed with his team. "But we've been winning, so I couldn't get them to believe it and buy in," Cooper said. "Now, we know." Frazier said he was pleased with the way Rogers played on both ends of the court as it prepares for 6A-West Conference play next week. Rogers, for instance, was 6 of 20 from the field in the first half, but the Mounties were 11 of 11 from the free-throw line. "Our offense is designed to get one of two things -- open looks or get to the free-throw line," Frazier said. "I really thought the first half we did the things we needed to do. In the second half, we did an even better job of making them defend longer than they wanted to." Cooper said he was impressed with just about everything Frazier's team did. "They play defense, they're tough, they're physical, they're disciplined, they're smart," he said. "That's a really good basketball team." Getting humbled could help down the road. "This is the kind of team we'll see in the state tournament," Cooper said. "That's if we get there." Caleb Allen led Mills with 19 points, but Jakari Livingston -- the team's leading scorer -- was held without a point until late in the third quarter and finished with nine. Frazier said Paschal defended well against both Livingston and Allen. "He did a lot of things," Frazier said. "We can play him inside if we want to, we can play him on the point guard, we can play him on the ball." Cooper said he thought the game would come down to which team executed its game plan the best. "And we threw our game plan out the window," he said. "They executed their game plan to perfection. That's how you get your butts spanked."

ROGERS OVERWHELMS MILLS TO SECURE TITLE

JEFF KRUPSAW

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 12/31/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Rogers High School Athletics