Springdale High Outlasts Bentonville

Tereke Eckwood, right, of Springdale High takes a swipe at the ball in the hands of Austin Haggard of Bentonville on Tuesday during the first half of the game at Bulldog Gymnasium in Springdale.
Tereke Eckwood, right, of Springdale High takes a swipe at the ball in the hands of Austin Haggard of Bentonville on Tuesday during the first half of the game at Bulldog Gymnasium in Springdale.

— In a sudden outburst of emotion, Springdale High boys basketball coach Brad Stamps jumped into the arms of assistant coach Greg White as they celebrated on the sidelines.

Stamps then gave several high-fives as he was finally able to exhale Tuesday.

The Bulldogs gave their coach a reason to smile on Senior Night, and in the process, they took a big step in improving their postseason chances.

Forward Alex Scharlau made the most of his final game inside Bulldog Gymnasium, scoring a team-high 26 points and hitting a 3-pointer in overtime that gave his team the lead for good in a 75-71 win over Bentonville.

“This time of year you want to be playing your best basketball going into the state tournament, so I thought this could get us to that next (level),” Stamps said. “I thought we played a good 16 minutes against Fayetteville, the last 16, and it carried over to tonight.

“If we keep fighting and believing in each other, good things could happen.”

The Bulldogs (17-9, 9-4 7A/6A-West Conference) erased a 43-36 halftime defi cit and limited Bentonville’s Nick Smith to only eight points down the stretch after allowing him to score 22 points in the first half.

Heading into Tuesday, the Tigers (19-7, 9-4) stood in sole possession of second place in the 7A/6A-West and could have clinched a first-round bye in the Class 7A State Tournament with a win at Springdale. However, the Bulldogs can now earn the No. 2 seed out of the West with a win Friday at Van Buren.

“I think it was a great game if you were in the stands to watch,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “Obviously, not good from my chair.”

Springdale had a chance to win the game in regulation after point guard Tereke Eckwood held onto the ball and let the clock wind down before attempting a midrange jumper with five seconds remaining. But his shot came up short, and Bentonville’s desperation heave at the buzzer missed its mark.

Scharlau broke a 64-64 tie and gave the Bulldogs a muchneeded lift when he drained a 3-pointer from the right side of the court with 3 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in overtime. Eckwood sank a pair of free throws that extended Springdale’s lead to 69-64 with 2:52 left.

“That was huge. Anytime you can get that in your shooter’s hands, it just lifts everybody else’s spirits,” Stamps said of Scharlau’s shot. “But we had to fight down the stretch. They weren’t going to go away.”

Bentonville missed a jumper in the lane with six seconds remaining that would have forced double overtime, and Springdale center Josiah Wymer sealed the win with a pair of free throws after grabbing the rebound with one second left.

Wymer finished with 16 points as five Springdale players scored at least nine points. Austin Heard added 18 points to go along with Smith’s game-high 30.

•••

Bentonville 26 17 11 10 7 — 71 Springdale 22 14 18 10 11 — 75

BENTONVILLE (19-7, 9-4): Smith

30, Heard 18, Haggard 8, Ward 7,

Bachman 4, Head 2, Dixon 2.

SPRINGDALE (17-9, 9-4): Scharlau

26, Wymer 16, Eckwood 11, Stark 9, Johnson 9, Gause 4

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