Fayetteville Wins Going Away Against Springdale Har-Ber

— Don’t always judge a book by its cover or a basketball game by its final score.

Fayetteville pulled out what appeared to be another easy 7A/6A-West Conference victory with an 81-55 win over Springdale Har-Ber on Tuesday. But upon further review, the Wildcats actually put up a much better fight than the final score indicated before succumbing to a late mercy rule in Bulldog Arena.

“They’ve can shoot the ball really well, and I didn’t think we played that well on defense,” Fayetteville boys basketball coach Kyle Adams said. “We played real well on offense, but it wasn’t one of our better defensive games.

Fayetteville 81, Springdale Har-Ber 55

Springdale Har-Ber 10 20 17 8 — 55

Fayetteville 16 24 22 19 — 81

Springdale Har-Ber (7-13, 2-4): Rice 12, Malott 10, Jone 9, Buccheri 9, Fox 4, Jester 3, Wright 2, Cline 2, Davis 2, Jones 2.

Fayetteville (16-3, 6-0): Watkins 20, McCullough 18, Paschke 13, Smith 12, Waitsman 7, Boyd 6, Gooderl 2, Carney 2, Williamson 1.

“But credit Har-Ber for that. They got out and shot the ball well.”

The Wildcats (7-13, 2-4 7A/6A-West) refused to go away for the longest time Tuesday, getting three 3-pointers each from Brandon Buccheri and Rickey Jones to keep within striking distance at halftime — down 40-30 — and even midway into the third quarter. But Fayetteville’s size in the middle and quickness out front eventually were too much to overcome.

“I was proud of our kids. They battled the whole way,” Wildcats coach Adam Simmons said. “The lead did stretch out there, but I didn’t think that was a true indication of the game.”

Manuale Watkins had 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Tyler McCullough totaled a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Cameron Paschke finished with 13 points and three assists for the Purple’Dogs (16-3, 6-0).

Alex Rice led Har-Ber with 12 points and six rebounds.

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