Season starts tonight in Rogers
Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008
ROGERS — Russellville basketball coach Joe Sitkowski was at W. E. King Arena during the weekend to get a scouting report on the Rogers Mounties. He returns to the venue tonight — Cyclones in tow — hoping to wreck the season opener. The Mounties take on Russellville to begin the regular season, preceded by the Lady Mounties’ season opener against West Fork.
A junior varsity girls’ game begins the schedule at 3: 30 p. m., followed by a JV / sophomore scrimmage between the Rogers boys’ teams at 4: 30 p. m. There’s no JV game, Rogers coach Marty Barnes says, because Russellville is still playing football and doesn’t have enough players to fill its roster. Saturday’s game against Pea Ridge won’t have one either. Mounties Sitkowski watched from the bleachers Saturday night as the Mounties beat Prairie Grove 49-21 in a scrimmage game. All-State forward Aaron Hawley scored 16 points but the team’s overall performance didn’t elicit much praise from Barnes.
“ It wasn’t what I thought we were capable of doing, ” he said afterward. The Mounties played several newcomers who struggled with their basic defense — the matchup zone — and Rogers made an adjustment, something Barnes was reluctant to do with Sitkowski in attendance.
Throughout his career Barnes has made a living off of being able to trot out teams that play good defense — great defense at times. He says if the Mounties don’t improve tonight, the Cyclones will be ready to pounce.
Russellville is traditionally a very good shooting club and Sitkowski’s team made 10 three-pointers in three quarters during a scrimmage win against Hot Springs Lakeside last week.
“ I don’t think we’re playing good defense to be quite honest, ” Barnes says. “ For the last two weeks. Other than (Aaron ) Hawley, (Hunter ) Smeltzer and (Casey ) Caton the rest haven’t played at this level. We’re facing a team that can make some serious runs at you.
“ I’m generally concerned about our defense. It’s the heart and soul of how we play and we’ve had some major breakdowns. ”
Russellville finished 13-14 last season and missed the state playoffs. Their top returnee is All-Conference senior A. J. Broadnax (5-foot-10 ), who averaged a team-high 16 points per game last season.
“ He’s one of the best point guards in the state and they surround him with kids who can shoot the three, ” Barnes says.
The Cyclones won their scrimmage against Lakeside 48-26. Lady Mounties
The Rogers girls should start their season with a no-doubter but they will see one of the top players in northwest Arkansas in West Fork guard Jordyn Ferrell. The 5-foot-10 senior put together a stellar junior season (24. 5 ppg, 9 rpg ) and signed with John Brown University last week.
Her ability alone makes West Fork (1-1 ) capable of an upset. The offense, Rogers coach Preston Early says, will run through Ferrell, who scored 19 points in a 54-53 win at Farmington last week. The Lady Tigers lost at Huntsville on Saturday.
“ If you let her go off she can keep them in the game and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter, ” Early says. “ She’s capable of (scoring ) 35. It’s the key matchup. We’ve got to be sharp defensively and limit her scoring. ”
Rogers was hardly threatened in its 59-23 scrimmage win against Prairie Grove. The Lady Mounties led 33-11 at halftime. Morgan Hook (13 ), Chelsea Anderson (12 ) and Amanda Gibbons (10 ) all scored in double figures and Hayley Clark made three three-pointers. Anderson added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
NOTES: Tonight’s opponents gave both Rogers head coaches their first head coaching jobs at the high school level. Early spent three years as the head coach at West Fork (1996-1999 ) before coming to Rogers. He led the Lady Tigers to a winning season for the first time in 12 years. Barnes coached Russellville High from 1981-1987 and again from 1999-2004, compiling a 211-98 record with one state championship (1985 ). … Early’s father, Alvy Early, was head football and baseball coach at West Fork from 1967-71 before adding duties as girls’ basketball coach. He was there through 1979 before leaving to build the women’s team at Arkansas-Monticello into a national power.
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