Saturday, January 12, 2013
SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber did it the hard way to avoid an 0-2 start at home in conference play.
Har-Ber overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat Van Buren 56-52 Friday in 7A/6A-West Conference play at Wildcat Arena. Har-Ber won the game despite 25 points by Nick Pagel, who finished with eight 3-pointers.
Van Buren 10 21 9 12 — 52
Springdale Har-Ber 13 10 14 19 — 56
VAN BUREN (7-9, 0-3): Harms 6, Ray 7, Pearson 8, Pagel 25, Tucker 1, Smith 5.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER (6-11, 1-2): Rice 9, Buccheri 3, Fox 16, Davis 2, Wright 5, R. Jones 15, L. Jones 6.
Pagel gave Van Buren a 36-26 after making a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. But Har-Ber (6-11, 1-3) chipped away and took the lead in the fourth quarter after a layup by Andrew Davis.
Austin Fox finished with 16 points and Rickey Jones added 15 to lead Har-Ber. Fox had two 3-pointers down the stretch and Alex Rice scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter, when Har-Ber outscored Van Buren 19-12.
Cannon Wright made the first of two free throws with 37 seconds left to give Har-Ber a 55-52 lead. Pagel and Ryan Pearsn each missed 3-pointers and the Pointers were called for an intentional foul after Har-Ber secured a rebound. Brandon Buccheri then added a free throw to set the final score at 56-52.
Pagel finished with 25 points after Nick Smith ripped Har-Ber for 44 points in Tuesday’s conference opener. But the Wildcats were able to withstand Pagel’s scoring surge and earn a home victory to end the first week of conference play.
“My hat’s off to my kids because they didn’t back down,” Har-Ber coach Adam Simmons said. “They continued to battle and we got a lot of production from a lot of different guys. To me, that’s a mark of maturity and it shows how we’re growing up a little bit.”
Pagel took some added pleasure with his performance in the first half and was called for a technical foul after taunting a vocal group of Har-Ber students. But the senior guard regained his composure and continued shooting in the second half, when the Pointers increased their lead to 36-26 after another 3-pointer by Pagel.
Har-Ber got to within 40-37 after three quarters when Wright stole a pass and fed Austin Fox for a layup. Wright also had a basket during that stretch and Fox forced a five-second call in the backcourt to give Har-Ber possession.
Pagel opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and later added another 3-pointer to tie the game at 50-50. But he missed his final attempt to tie the game and Har-Ber secured the victory with Buccheri’s free throw with just seconds remaining.