Fayetteville Clips Greenwood

LADY BULLDOGS’ HOT SHOOTING GIVES ENOUGH CUSHION AT END

Saturday, December 28, 2013

MOUNTAIN HOME - For the second straight day, the Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs started off shooting the ball well and built a double-digit lead on the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs twice before holding off a furious late rally for a 58-53 victory Friday night in the winners’ bracket semifinals of the First Arkansas Bail Bonds Tournament.

The Lady Purple Dogs will take on North Little Rock for the championship at 4:30 p.m. today. North Little Rock defeated Rogers High 76-43 in the other semifi nal.

Fayetteville scored the fi rst nine points of the game and never trailed. Greenwood had a cold start and never seemed to fully get going off ensively the rest of the way.

“We came out and shoot the ball really well in spots but defensively I thought we did a really good job,” said Fayetteville girls basketball coach Vic Rimmer. “They did miss some shots they might normally make, but I think we kept them out of rhythm for the most part. And when we turned it over, we didn’t give anything up on the other end.”

The Lady Purple Dogs grabbed their 9-0 lead on a 3-pointer by DaShundra Morgan with 5 minutes, 12 seconds left in the opening quarter. Fayetteville was up 12-5 when it finished the fi rst quarter with five straight turnovers although Greenwood only got within 12-9 by the fi rst break.

A bucket by Alyssa Crase a minute into the second got the Lady Bulldogs within 13-11, but Fayetteville scored the next seven and went up 20-11 on another 3-pointer by Morgan. A 3-pointer by Lauren Krissman gave the Lady Purple Dogs their first double-digit lead at 23-13. But Greenwood chipped away at that lead and got within 29-24 when Megan Hartness banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for halftime.

Laurne Schuldt converted two free throws to start the second half for Fayetteville as the Lady Purple Dogs regained a double digit lead at 37-26 on a pair of free throws by Jaylah Prude with 3:42 left in the third.

While Fayetteville fi nished the quarter with six turnovers, Greenwood managed to cut the gap to 39-34 going into the fi nal stanza.

Greenwood closed the gap to a single point when Haleigh Henson converted a layup with 6:42 remaining to make it 39-38. Morgan responded a running jumper for Fayetteville which eventually went back up 44-38 on a free throw by Morgan with 5:05 left.

After Sydney Crockett hit two free throws for Fayetteville at the 3:53 mark, Henson made her first 3-pointer after seven attempts and Greenwood was within 46-43. Another two Crockett free throws made it 52-46 before Lundon Williams converted a 3-point play to make it 52-49 with 44 seconds to play.

Fayetteville committed its 25th turnover of the night but Greenwood missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the score. Fayetteville then converted six free throws in the final 37 seconds to keep its 5-point advantage.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK 76, ROGERS HIGH 43

Rogers High turned the ball over 23 times in a lopsided loss in the other semifi nal.

Callie King, who paced Rogers with 17 first half points, hit three consecutive 3-pointers early in the opening stanza for a 9-8 Rogers’ edge. A 15-footer by King knotted the score at 13-13, but North Little Rock led 17-13 after one quarter.

Rogers went 5:17 without scoring and turned the ball over 10 times in the second quarter and trailed 37-25 at halftime.

Rogers will face Greenwood in the third place game at 2 p.m. today.

BOYS FAYETTEVILLE 46, SYLVAN HILLS 40

The Bulldogs advanced to today’s championship game by holding off a late rally.

Fayetteville led 12-5 after a quarter and 23-12 at the half. Sylvan Hills sliced a couple of points off the lead in the third, but the Bears really began to make their move in the final stanza.

Down by 10 for most of the second and third quarters, the Bears cut the gap to 35-29 on a 3-pointer by Ronnie Hinton with 3:29 left. A trey by Trajan Doss with 3:45 left made it 39-34 and eventually a layup by Cordy Winston cut the gap to 43-40 with one minute left to play.

After a Fayetteville turnover, Sylvan Hills missed a layup with 52 seconds left. Fayetteville turned the ball over again, but this time the Bears missed on two 3-point attempts before the Bulldogs got the rebound and C.J. O’Grady was sent to the free-throw line with 32 seconds left where he made the first but missed the second. Another Sylvan Hills miss led to two free throws by Mason Adams with 22 seconds left that sealed the win.

Adams led Fayetteville with 16 points, while Luke Renner added 10.

The Bulldogs will face Benton in today’s 5:45 p.m. title game.

Sports, Pages 6 on 12/28/2013