FAYETTEVILLE — In recent games, Fayetteville has shown a tendency to get stronger as the contest has wore on. After trailing Springdale High at halftime, the Bulldogs won by 20. And after falling behind to Bentonville in the first quarter, Fayetteville stormed back to defeat the Tigers by 14.
Friday against Rogers Heritage was much of the same.
That Figures
32 — Combined points from Tyler McCullough, Manny Watkins and Caleb Waitsman in Friday’s win
35.9 — Points allowed per game by Fayetteville boys in conference play, best in 7A/6A-West
64.3 — Points scored per game by Bulldogs in conference play, tops in 7A/6A-West
While the Bulldogs didn’t fall behind the War Eagles, their best basketball was definitely saved for the second half, just as it had been against both Springdale and Bentonville. Leading just 27-21 at halftime, the Bulldogs used a 13-2 run in the third quarter to put the game away en route to a 56-31 win.
I came in at halftime and told the kids I'm perturbed, but I don't know why,” Fayetteville boys basketball coach Kyle Adams said. “We played well in spurts and we hit the boards. We did some good things. Caleb (Waitsman) played extremely well. Tyler (McCullough) was his steady self. Manny (Watkins) was his steady self.
“We didn't seem to have a lot of energy, but I think a lot of that had to do with Heritage.”
Play of the Game: Senior guard Cameron Paschke hit a pair of 3-pointers that helped spark Fayettevile’s 13-2 run in the third quarter. In the girls’ contest, it was two 3-pointers against Fayetteville that might have made the difference when Emilie Jobst hit back-to-back 3s to start the fourth quarter to turn a two point lead into a 33-25 lead.
Player of the Game: While McCullough, Watkins and Waitsman combined for 32 points and caused all sorts of problems inside the paint for Heritage, Paschke might have played the biggest role for the Bulldogs on Friday. One of Fayetteville’s top outside shooters, Adams credited his senior guard with always putting the team first.
The Lady Bulldogs have played Heritage very close twice this season, and a big reason why is the size advantage Fayetteville has over the War Eagles in the frontcourt. Senior post Brittany Austin was able to have one of her best games as a Lady’Dog Friday, scoring 15 points in the 43-37 loss.
Notable: Fayetteville’s two wins against the Rogers Heritage boys were close to identical this year. The Bulldogs defeated the War Eagles 59-32 in Fayetteville and 56-31 on Friday in Rogers. ... Both Fayetteville junior varsity teams were victorious Friday. The boys won 56-35 and the girls won 40-29. ... Manny Watkins is averaging 15.3 points in conference games, which ranks third in the 7A/6A-West behind Payton Henson of Siloam Springs and Nick Smith of Bentonville.
The Lingo: “We're blessed with a lot of depth and a lot of athletes. We're hard to match up with because we can go big or we can go small and we're pretty versatile in what we do.”
KYLE ADAMS
Fayetteville boys coach
Up Next: The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will get a head start on the rest of the 7A/6A-West Conference this week, when they host Van Buren on Monday instead of the regular Tuesday night conference schedule. Fayetteville and Van Buren have moved their games up one day to avoid a conflict with Arkansas’ home game against the University of Florida.