FAYETTEVILLE SWEEPS VAN BUREN

Fayetteville won the game, but lost the war. The Bulldogs withstood a late Van Buren rally during a 48-43 win at Clair Bates Arena on Friday night. It was their sixth consecutive win. However, they needed to win by 10 points or more to steal the 7A-West's No. 3 seed from the Pointers for next week's Class 7A State Tournament at Van Buren. Now, fourth-seeded Fayetteville will play Conway at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday while third-seeded Van Buren will play Bryant on Thursday. Fayetteville (12-16, 8-6) led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter and were up 42-31 with 4 minutes, 50 seconds remaining. That's when the Bulldogs began milking the clock, and did so successfully for a full minute before turning the ball over on its next two possessions. That helped Van Buren (15-12, 8-6) put together a 13-2 run that was capped off by Preston Kindrix's 3-pointer to cut the lead to 44-43.Jordan West scored nine of his team-high 21 points to highlight the comeback attempt. But Tyler Roth and Caleb Finney each sank two free throws to cement the win for the Purple'Dogs. Roth scored 11 of his game-high 23 points during the third quarter when Fayetteville took control with a 16-4 scoring advantage. "He didn't play very well on senior night," said Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams. "I told the other coaches that I expect him to come out and really well play well tonight. And he did. He's a constant for us and I expected him to bounce back the way he did." Despite missing the chance at a higher seed, Adams was pleased with his team during the second half of the season. "We just want to win," Adams said. "We put ourselves in the hole to be the seed that we are, but since the second rotation, we've gone 6-1 and our kids have really began to gain confidence and have been stepping up on the defensive end." Girls Fayetteville 47, Van Buren 38 The Lady Bulldogs (27-2, 14-0) scored the final 16 points -- including a 13-0 advantage in the fourth quarter -- to complete the program's ninth perfect conference season. They also were undefeated conference champions in 1993, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012. The Lady Pointers (21-4, 12-2) used an 11-1 run to take a 38-31 lead with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter. That included 3-pointers by Jamilyn Kinney and Jentry Myers, who also completed a traditional 3-point play during the run. But Fayetteville answered with an even bigger run that began with a baseline 3-pointer by Grayce Spangler to close out the third quarter. The Lady Bulldogs blocked five shots -- including two by Jasmine Franklin -- while holding Van Buren scoreless in the fourth quarter. They sank both ends of three, one-and-one trips to the free throw line -- including four by Maya Mayberry -- in the final 1:34 to secure the victory. Fayetteville open the game on fire, hitting 7-of-9 field goals. Franklin had rebound stick-backs on both misses to spot Faytetteville a 14-3 advantage. Still, they only led 17-12 by the end of the first quarter and the Lady Pointers rallied all the way back to take their first lead when Myers' 3-pointer made it 20-19 with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter. Franklin led all scorers with 16 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Goforth had 15 points an Mayberry had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Kinney led the Lady Pointers with 14 points while Myers chipped in 12. Before Friday, Fayetteville (No. 1 seed) and Van Buren (No. 2 seed) already had earned first-round byes for the state tournament.

FAYETTEVILLE SWEEPS VAN BUREN

Photo Credit: Fayetteville High School Athletics

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