FAYETTEVILLE — A full-out party was planned in Fayetteville’s Bulldog Arena on Friday.
Rival Springdale High had every intention of crashing the show.
7A/6A-West Conference
Boys
FAYETTEVILLE 64, SPRINGDALE 58
Springdale 15 12 12 19 — 58
Fayetteville 18 16 14 16 — 64
Springdale (16-9, 8-4): Scharlau 16, Tutt 12, Eckwood 10, Stark 8, Wymer 6, Cook 5, Gause 1.
Fayetteville (22-3, 12-0): Watkins 25, Paschke 11, Smith 9, McCullough 7, Williamson 6, Waitsman 6.
With Senior Night festivities on display, former Arkansas Razorback legends in the stands and a chance for Fayetteville to win an outright 7A/6A-West Conference boys basketball championship, the Purple’Dogs had a laundry list of activites and achievements to pursue. And Springdale did its very best to spoil the fun. But despite keeping the game to within three points as the game drew to a close, Fayetteville made the necessary stops in the final possessions to hold on for a 64-58 win.
The Purple’Dogs, who had former Fayetteville standout Ronnie Brewer in attendence and Arkansas all-American Corliss Williamson on hand to escort his son Chasen Williamson on Senior Night, appeared to gain a bit of control in the first half behind the play of Manuale Watkins. The senior guard scored 18 points before intermission and helped his team build an 11-point lead late in the second quarter.
But Springdale (16-9, 8-4 7A/6A-West) locked in on Watkins in the second half and chipped away at Fayetteville the rest of the way. The Red’Dogs still trailed by nine heading into the fourth quarter but got got big baskets from DeShaun Stark and Tyler Tutt to pull within three points on two different possessions.
“We came out of a timeout and cut it to three points there and had a chance,” Springdale coach Brad Stamps said. “More than anything else, though, I thought our kids bought into what we came here trying to do.
“We rebounded well and we got into transition and we kept them off the glass in the second half.”
Fayetteville (22-3, 12-0) shot just 33 percent from the floor in the second half, but managed to secure the win in the closing seconds when Williamson hit one of two free throws for a 62-58 lead. The Purple’Dogs then followed that up with a steal and a Ja’wan Smith dunk just before the horn for the 64-58 final score.
“Brad (Stamps) does a great job and he always gets those kids ready to play us,” Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. “I’m proud of him and what he’s done up there and Springdale is fortunate to have him.
“I’m proud of our kids. I thought they stepped up tonight, but I didn’t think we shot the ball particularly well. We missed some shots inside that we normally wouldn’t miss. But we didn’t turn the ball over and we executed well.”
Watkins finished with 25 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals. But Springdale held Watkins to just two field goals and seven points after halftime.
“Manny is a great, great player,” Stamps said. “There’s not a bigger fan of him than I am. In the first half I felt like he was kind of in control of the game and we kind of changed some things.
“But they’re an unbelievable team.”
For Fayetteville, it’s the first conference championship since 2010. The Bulldogs didn’t lose an actual game on the court last season in league play, but finished second in the conference after four games were forfeited.
Cameron Paschke added 11 points for the Purple’Dogs and Alex Scharlau led Springdale with 16.