No Faults In Fayetteville’s Perfect Week
Cameron Paschke, center, Fayetteville, takes the ball to the basket between Rogers High’s Jake Killingsworth, left, and Brett Gentz on Friday at King Arena in Rogers.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE — The Fayetteville boys basketball team seemed to find its perfect groove this past week.
The Bulldogs (13-3, 3-0 7A/6A-West) had already opened up conference play with a 27-point win against Rogers Heritage. But in victories at Van Buren and at Rogers High this week, things seemed to be taken to another level.
That Figures
17 — Manuale Watkins’ points per game average for the Bulldogs in conference play
20 — Consecutive points by Fayetteville to start the game in Friday’s 73-23 win at Rogers High
44 — Average margin of victory in two conference wins for Fayetteville boys this week
Fayetteville first pummeled Van Buren, 68-30, on the Pointers’ home court, Clair Bates Arena. It was a game where the Bulldogs’ offense found their touch early and never let up.
“We were on the other night (against Van Buren),” Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. “We played really good.”
But that wasn’t all for an impressive week. Friday, the Purple’Dogs built a 20-0 lead and simply overmatched Rogers High from start to finish in a 73-23 win.
Player of the Week: Fayetteville senior guard Manuale Watkins can do a little bit of everything to help the Bulldogs win. Defense, assists, scoring, rebounds, you name it and Watkins can chip in.
This week — and in three conference games overall — taking over as a top scorer has been Watkins best attribute. Against Van Buren, he had 12 points and then scored a game-high 20 points in the victory over Rogers.
Watkins is now averaging a team-best 17 points per game in conference play.
Notable: The Fayetteville girls have lost two conference games by a combined eight points, after leading both games against Rogers Heritage and Rogers High in the closing minutes. ... Vanessa Matlock led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 combined points in two games last week. Matlock was the only Fayetteville player to score in double figures in either game. ... In two games last week, the Fayetteville boys allowed five points or less in four of eight quarters, including no points allowed in the fourth quarter Tuesday at Van Buren.
The Lingo: “For us to beat teams in this conference, we have to play well on defense. We are not going to shoot the basketball every game like we did against Van Buren.”
Kyle Adams
Fayetteville boys coach
Up Next: Fayetteville hosts Siloam Springs on Tuesday for the first time since the Panthers have joined the 7A/6A-West Conference. The Siloam boys picked up a big win Friday, 59-57 at home against Springdale High, and the Lady Panthers are also coming off a victory over Springdale.
The Bulldogs and Lady’Dogs then close out the week with a trip to rival Springdale on Friday.