BRISTOL, Tenn. — In his words, Fayetteville’s Kikko Haydar was a facilitator during last season’s unbeaten run to a Class 7A state title.
On Monday night, Haydar showed he can be a get-on-my-back, carry-the-load scorer.
Tallying his team’s last 14 points, Haydar led the Bulldogs to a 59-52 win over Kingsport (Tenn.) Dobyns-Bennett in the opening round of the Arby’s Classic in Viking Hall.
“It’s just really confidence, knowing that I can score if I have to,” Haydar said. “I realize there are times this year where I have to look for my shot.”
Trailing 46-45, Fayetteville (9-2) took the lead for good when Haydar swished a fadeaway jumper from the foul line with 3:16 left.
That was followed by a fast-break layup, a driving layup through the lane and the first of eight straight makes at the free throw line to give the Bulldogs a 53-46 edge with 1:15 remaining.
Haydar canned 8-of-14 from the floor, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, and sank 14-of-16 foul shots. He finished with 33 points, 10 more than his previous career high.
“It’s easy as a coach when you have guys like him who know what you want to get done,” Fayetteville coach Barry Gebhart said.
No one else scored more than eight points for the Bulldogs, who trailed by as many as six points early in the third quarter against an Indian team that did a good job punishing them from the 3-point line, where the Indians were 6-of-14.
But the D-B offense fell apart in the last four minutes when point guard Darius Davis fouled out on a charge. Two other teammates followed.
“He’s our leader, so that definitely hurt us,” Indians coach Charlie Morgan said of Davis.
Fayetteville won despite making just 40 percent of its field goal tries and getting only seven points from Taylor Cochran.
“It wasn’t our best game, but I thought the kids did a good job of grinding out a tough win against a very well-coached team,” Gebhart said.
The Bulldogs play at 8:30 p.m. local time today against Miami (Fla.) Palmetto in the quarterfinals.