Kinney hits mark

The Van Buren Lady Pointers were locked in a 20-20 halftime tie at Rogers on Tuesday night, but gave up just four points in the third quarter and only 12 in the entire second half to win, 47-32.

"They made shots in the first half and did a really good job of being patient," Van Buren head coach Chris Bryant said. "The second half, we came out and just stayed the course. We knew going in there that they're a really good team, and experienced. We knew we were in for a long night."

Van Buren forced five turnovers in the pivotal third quarter, and then hit 11-of-12 free throws in the final four minutes of the game to close it out.

"Just knowing what to expect and staying the course to finish it out," Bryant said. "We really didn't do anything different. We played hard and had great intensity the first half. They just made a lot of the shots that they didn't in the second half."

Van Buren remains undefeated in the 7A-West and tied atop the standings at 4-0 with Fayetteville.

Jamilyn Kinney and Lani Snowden each scored 13 points.

Kinney, a junior point guard, went over the 1,000-point mark in the victory and has now scored 1,004 points in her career, which started as a freshman.

"What she's doing as far as scoring probably pales in comparison as to what she's doing to the assists count," Bryant said. "She's very unselfish with the ball so to put those kinds of numbers up scoring while still making her teammates better around her is the ultimate compliment."

Two in a row

After losing a pair of games in Benton County to start 7A-West play, the Van Buren Pointers evened their conference record with a return trip and a win at Rogers on Tuesday.

Van Buren allowed only four points in the opening quarter and just 11 in the first half.

The Pointers led 13-4 after a quarter and 31-11 at the half. The game was tied at 4-4 early, before Van Buren went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter as part of a 20-2 run that ballooned the Pointers lead to 26-4 with 2:20 left in the first half.

Beau Beckner scored 18 points, and Jordan West added 14 points.

Van Buren hosts Springdale on Friday night.