ROGERS PULLS AWAY FROM FOUL-PLAGUED FAYETTEVILLE

Rogers High coach Lamont Frazier acknowledged his team doesn't have a match for 6-foot-6 Tamaury Releford, so he wanted to push the pace Friday night. But the Fayetteville big man along with several teammates struggled with foul trouble and the Mounties' defense held tough late to earn a 61-48 6A-West Conference win in King Arena. Rogers (15-7, 7-2) jumped to a tie for second with the Purple Bulldogs but now owns the tiebreaker with the season sweep. Fayetteville pulled within 50-44 on a lay-in by Releford with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But the Mounties held the Purple Bulldogs scoreless for more than three minutes and pushed the lead to double digits. By the time Releford, who had a team-high 12, scored again with 51 seconds remaining the hill was too much to climb. The Mounties picked some easy baskets and fouls at times pushing the pace. That was definitely by design, Frazier said. "We're better when we can run up and down the floor," Frazier said. "That's one of those things in the back of your mind. We don't have an equalizer for Releford, and so we have to do the next best thing, and that's get down the floor as fast as we can." Frazier came away from his team's afternoon shoot-around optimistic. "I thought we were focused," Frazier said. "They showed some maturity and pulled it off. "We have to compete every night. We're not blessed with a lot of talent 1-10, so we have to do it as a group. Every last guy that played tonight played their butt off." Elliot Paschal led all scorers with 18 points, while Will Liddell added 13 and Drew Miller 10 for the Mounties. Releford was Fayetteville's only player in double figures. Rogers had struggled the foul line at times this season but made its first 16 before missing and finished 24 of 30. Fayetteville managed just 4 of 11. Rogers took a double-digit lead into halftime thanks to a similar late dry spell by Fayetteville. The Purple Bulldogs were held scoreless for more than three minutes to end the first half, going 0-for-5 from the foul line in that time. The Mounties scored the final six of the half and led 30-20. Fayetteville^12^8^18^10^--^48 Rogers^15^15^15^16^--^61 Fayetteville (15-7, 7-2): Ta. Releford 12, Wayman 8, Gibbs 7, Williams Jr. 6, Glasper 5, Cox 4, I. Releford 4, T. Releford 2, Rogers (18-2, 7-2): Paschal 18, Liddell 13, Miller 10, Garner 8, Hobbs 4, Park 4, Rhame 4.

ROGERS PULLS AWAY FROM FOUL-PLAGUED FAYETTEVILLE

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/8/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff