VAN BUREN — Just like last month's game in Springdale, Van Buren drained plenty of 3-pointers, but this time, made more than enough two-point baskets and free throws to defeat Springdale Har-Ber.
Har-Ber 10 6 15 22 — 53
Van Buren 10 14 19 23 — 66
Har-Ber (5-16, 3-7): Rice 19, Davis 8, R. Jones 8, Fox 5, Jester 4, Mallot 4, B. Jones 3, Buccheri 2.
Van Buren (11-11, 4-6): Pearson 26, Harms 13, Pagel 12, Smith 9, Ray 2, Tucker 2, Eversole 2.
Ryan Pearson scored 26 points to lead the Pointers to a 66-53 win over the Wildcats in a 7A/6A-West boys basketball game Friday at Bates Arena.
The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Pointers (11-11, 4-6) and moved them into fifth place in the conference standings. Thanks to its margin of victory, Van Buren now owns the tiebreaker over Har-Ber should the two teams finished tied in the standings. The Wildcats won the earlier meeting 56-52 last month.
“It's a big win because we still have not clinched a playoff spot yet,” Pointer coach Randy Loyd said. “We have some big games next week, but this one was important. We are going in the right direction again.”
Though Har-Ber (5-16, 3-7) finished shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor, it was the 6-of-20 shooting (30 percent) in the first half that hurt the Wildcats
“Tonight was not one of our better shooting night, especially in the first half,” Wildcats coach Adam Simmons said. “I thought there was a lid on the basket. We had good shots, but they didn't go in.”
Van Buren led 24-16 at halftime, but opened the second half with a quick 5-0 spurt on a layup by Smith and a 3-pointer from Nick Pagel (12 points) for a 29-16 advantage. The lead ballooned to 39-23 thanks to a 10-4 spurt keyed by five points from Pearson.
After that, the Wildcats never got closer than within 10 points the rest of the night.
Alex Rice's 19-point effort paced Har-Ber.