Ward Toes Line In Win Over Springdale High

— Brittany Ward won’t need much practice on her free-throw shooting in the immediate future.

Rogers Heritage’s junior guard scored 17 of her game-high 23 points from the line Saturday afternoon, and the Lady War Eagles took fifth place in the Joe Stanton Wampus Cat Invitational with a 56-44 victory over 7A-West Conference rival Springdale High in Buzz Bolding Arena.

Ward was clutch in the final four minutes as she hit seven of eight free throws after Springdale (3-5) had trimmed Rogers Heritage’s 14-point lead to four midway in the fourth quarter.

“I’m really proud of her,” Lady War Eagles coach Kevin Ramey said. “She’s resilient and wanted the ball in her hands. She’s a big leader for us out on the floor.

“A lot of things go through her, especially when we get into crunch time and pressure. She really stepped up at the line.”

Heritage (8-2) hit 27-of-35 free throws, which became beneficial when it went for stretches of time without hitting a bucket. The Lady War Eagles went the final 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal in the first half, but they hit 10 free throws in that time to maintain a 31-23 halftime lead.

“They shot a lot of free throws, and we did foul in some situations,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “I thought the game came down to our turnovers and the number of times we fouled.

“We allowed their best player to get to the free-throw line and make shots. For the next time, we’ll try to shore those things up, and I think we’ll compete.”

The Lady Red’Dogs made it a 31-27 game on buckets by Brittany Jurgens and Daylee Gillard, but Heritage ended the third quarter with a 10-0 run. Springdale then went on a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter and pulled within 43-39 on Courtnie Miller’s 3-pointer before the Lady War Eagles put it away, hitting 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch.

Lindsey Wood was the only other Heritage player in double figures with 10 points. Jurgens led Springdale with 17 points.

ROGERS HERITAGE 56, SPRINGDALE HIGH 44

Heritage 19 12 10 15 — 56

Springdale 9 14 4 17 — 44

Heritage (8-2): Ward 23, Wood 10, Murray 8, Whitlow 7, Lundy 4, Johnson 2, Borman 2.

Springdale (3-5): Jurgens 17, Miller 6, Perez 5, Dickard 5, Taylor 3, Gilyard 2, Feole 2, Ussery 2, Lewis 1, Dederich 1.

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