FAYETTEVILLE — Springdale Har-Ber hoped for a little pick-me up on offense after struggling in its most recent 7A/6A-West Conference outing Friday.
In order to get a much needed win, it was defense — not offense — that was the difference for the Lady Wildcats on Tuesday.
Springdale Har-Ber (13-7, 4-2) held Fayetteville to just two field goals in the first half and 19 percent shooting from the field in the game, and the Lady Wildcats pulled away with strong inside play and key stops in a 43-28 win in Bulldog Arena. The victory breaks a fourth-place tie in the 7A/6A-West between the teams and gives Har-Ber some momentum heading into Friday’s matchup with Rogers High.
Springdale Har-Ber 43, Fayetteville 28
Har-Ber 5 12 10 16 — 43
Fayetteville 5 5 10 8 — 28
Har-Ber (13-8, 4-2): Weber 14, Montgomery 9, Schalk 9, Wright 7, Neal 4.
Fayetteville (7-12, 3-3): Howard 8, Moore 6, Edie 4, Crockett 3, Allen 2, Brewer 2, Matlock 2, Prude 1.
“This was a big game,” Lady Wildcats coach Sandy Wright said. “We felt like we didn’t have a very good week last week. But I thought our defense played well and then we got some things going on offense and we had a good second half.”
Fayetteville (7-12, 3-3 7A/6A-West) made just 2-of-23 shot attempts from the floor in the first half, including 0-of-8 from three-point range. The Lady Bulldogs did pick up the pace a bit in the second half after being held to a 17-10 deficit in the first half.
“We weren’t good from the field, we weren’t good from the line. It was just one of those things,” Lady Bulldogs coach Vic Rimmer said. “And they did a good job of getting buckets when they had to have them. But they didn’t have to have many, when their opponent only scores 28.”
Samantha Weber led Har-Ber with 14 points and Bailey Schalk added nine points and nine rebounds.
Alexa Howard finished with eight points and six rebounds for Fayetteville.