FAYETTEVILLE — etteville Coach Kyle Adams wanted the inaugural game in the new Bulldog Arena to be special, but it turned out to be almost more than the Bulldogs bargained for Tuesday night.
After building a doubledigit lead in the first half, Fayetteville watched Fort Smith Northside storm back to take a four-point lead with 4:26 left to play before the Bulldogs put together a 7-0 run to pull out a 65-60 victory.
“I was really pleased with it being our first game how we hung in there,” Adams said. “We got down, but we battled back and that was a sign of that senior leadership.”
Fayetteville (1-0) struggled to find its shooting touch in the early minutes, but Ja’Wan Smith led a scoring spree late in the first quarter as the Bulldogs took a 20-14 lead. Northside fell behind 30-19 before a 15-2 run pulled the Grizzlies (1-1) back into the game just before half.
Tyler McCullough and Smith had 17 points each for Fayetteville.
“We did a lot of good things and some not-so-good things,” Northside Coach Eric Burnett said. “Fayetteville has a lot of guys back from that team they had last year, so to come up here and play them like this,it’s a positive.” GIRLS FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 58, FAYETTEVILLE 47
Fort Smith Northside took advantage of a string of turnovers by Fayetteville to put together a 19-4 to open the second half and pull away for a victory.
“I don’t know if they turned up the intensity or we panicked, but I was disappointed for our girls because we played them so hard for the entire game,” Fayetteville Coach Vic Rimmer said. “That was the story right there, that part of the third quarter.”
Brianna Jackson had 14 points for Northside, which missed 17 free throws.
“We’re usually good at free throws,” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “Our girls were disappointed because we didn’t shoot the ball well, but we’re glad we had the opportunity to play Fayetteville in their new place, where they’re going to have the state tournament.”
Sports, Pages 20 on 11/21/2012