The 20-21 Pointers will go into their final non-conference contest of the season with a 6-2 overall record after Bentonville West halted a 5 game Pointer win streak prior to Christmas Break.

On December 22 West started off hot and shot the ball well all night as they came away with the win in Van Buren. West shot over 60% from the field and made 14 three point shots on their way to the 78-63 win. The Pointers may have discovered a pattern for their success as this was only the second time on the season their typically stingy defense had allowed more than 60 points to be scored against them. Both of those games resulted in the only two losses on the season for Van Buren.

The Pointers will take a 3-0 road record to Rogers Heritage on Saturday, January 2 for a 4:00 PM tip-off. Heritage is 6-4 on the season with a recent win over Russellville at home prior to Christmas break. This will be the seventh game for the Pointers against 6A competition and the fourth against former 6A West opponents.

Van Buren is led in scoring by Senior Avery Salisbury at 18 points per game. Salisbury has game highs of 29 and 28 points on the season and is also second on the team in both rebounding and assists.

Senior Brandon Miller leads the Pointers in rebounding at a little over 5 per game and has been a huge defensive presence as well. Avery Salisbury and Sophomore Conner Myers are extremely close in rebounding numbers and all three have had impacts both in the interior and perimeter both offensively and defensively.

Seniors Jaiden Henry, Jose Estrada and Trevor Day have all contributed heavily to the early success of the team in a variety of ways. Henry hit a huge go-ahead 3 pt. shot in a win at Springdale and has made play after play defensively. Day leads the team in charges taken on the season and Estrada is second on the team in assists per game and first in defensive deflections. In reality, the entire roster of Pointers has played in critical minutes through the first eight games. Roles have been forced to change through the course of the season as well as positions and rotation minutes. That trend can be expected to continue in a year full of surprises.

The Pointers will close the non-conference season at Rogers Heritage on Saturday and open up 5A West play at home on Tuesday, January 5th as they host defending 5A West champion Russellville at Clair Bates Arena.