SPRINGDALE — DaShaun Stark raced down the floor and jumped once he approached the basket, timing it perfectly so he could catch a lob from Springdale High teammate Jordan Johnson.
Stark hollered immediately after his alley-oop dunk, which seemed to cap a night when the Bulldogs had little trouble getting easy transition baskets against Springdale Har-Ber.
Stark and Tereke Eckwood attacked the basket Tuesday, and Alex Scharlau had his share of fast-break opportunities as Springdale cruised to a 71-53 win over Har-Ber in front of a packed crowd inside Bulldog Gymnasium.
“I thought the key in the second half was our mentality changed in the fact that we were much more aggressive on defense,” Springdale boys basketball coach Brad Stamps said. “And then when we get out and push the ball, that’s when we’re at our best.
Springdale High 71, Springdale Har-Ber 53
Har-Ber 3 15 18 17 — 53
Springdale 5 18 25 23 — 71
Springdale Har-Ber (6-12, 1-4): Malott 19, Buccheri 8, Fox 8, L. Jones 7, Rice 5, Davis 3, Jester 2, R. Jones 1.
Springdale (11-6, 3-1): Scharlau 23, Stark 17, Eckwood 19, Wymer 6, Johnson 4, Cook 2.
“So, I thought really the second half, once we established our tempo and the pace we wanted to play at, we got into our comfort zone. And that’s where we needed to be.”
The Bulldogs (11-6, 3-1 7A/6A-West Conference) got off to slow start, taking only a 5-3 lead over the Wildcats (6-12, 1-4) into the second quarter. But Stamps said he got on his players at halftime, telling them that they needed to quit worrying so much and instead play their up-tempo style of basketball.
It worked against their crosstown rivals.
Scharlau scored a game-high 23 points, and Stark and Eckwood were aggressive down the stretch. Eckwood finished with 19 points, and Stark overcame a slow start to score 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
“The bottom line, regardless of who we’re playing, we’ve got to defend, especially in this league,” Har-Ber coach Adam Simmons said. “If you’re going to compete, you’ve got to get it done on the defensive end. That’s something that we got to go back and get to work on.”
Har-Ber’s Brandon Buccheri drained a 3-pointer to cut Springdale’s lead to 35-30 with 4 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs relied on Stark to help pick up the pace after that.
At one point in the fourth quarter, the senior forward converted back-to-back layups and then added another layup one minute later to put Springdale ahead 56-45. Har-Ber, which was led by Justin Malott’s team-high 19 points, struggled to slow down Stark and his teammates down the stretch.
“Well, him and I had a come-to-Jesus meeting in that last timeout, and I just told him, ‘Hey, you’re a senior and right now we have to rely and trust that you’re going to take us home,’” Stamps said of Stark. “And I thought his mentality changed down the stretch.
“He was not going to be denied.”