Lady Bulldogs Clinch Conference Title

STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Lauren Schuldt of Fayetteville attempts a shot Tuesday as Springdale Har-Ber's Marleeya Montgomery defends during the first half in Fayetteville.
STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Lauren Schuldt of Fayetteville attempts a shot Tuesday as Springdale Har-Ber's Marleeya Montgomery defends during the first half in Fayetteville.

— Sydney Crockett saw her chance to give Fayetteville a lead, and the Lady Bulldogs junior guard didn't hesitate.

Crockett's three-pointer with 17.6 seconds left in the game broke a tie game with Springdale Har-Ber and was the final touch to a fourth quarter tussle that ended with a 48-45 Fayetteville victory at Bulldog Arena.

Senior Girls

Fayetteville 48, Springdale Har-Ber 45

Har-Ber^7^4^19^15^—^45

Fayetteville^13^7^13^15^—^48

Har-Ber (19-7, 9-4): Schalk 14, Higgins 14, Weber 7, Montogomery 4, Redmon 4, Stephens 2.

Fayetteville (19-5, 12-1): Crockett 16, P. Jones 11, Schuldt 5, Robinson 4, Morgan 4, Howard 3, Prude 3, Breden 2.

More importantly, the Lady Bulldogs earned their first outright 7A/6A-West Conference title since 2011 and a No. 1 seed at the 7A state tournament.

"Obviously one of our goals was to win a conference championship," Lady Bulldogs coach Vic Rimmer said. "We thought we had the talent and enough maturity to do that. We're not finished yet, but to know we're conference champs in the 7A-West, is a big thrill for us.

Har-Ber appeared ready make Fayetteville's last hurdle to a conference title easy, after a first half for the Lady Wildcats filled with offensive struggles. Trailing 20-11 at intermission, Har-Ber (19-7, 9-4 7A/6A-West) made just 4 of 26 field goals before half. But the second half was a different story, as the Lady Wildcats shot 50 percent -- including 5 of 9 from 3-point range -- to rally from a 12-point deficit and tie the game late.

"We shoot 15 percent in the first half, and we missed some free throws," Har-Ber coach Sandy Wright said. "I'm proud of the girls for the way we fought back, but we dug ourselves in too big of a hole."

Neither team led by more than three points in a back and forth, whirlwind fourth quarter. Pink Jones scored Fayetteville's first seven points of the quarter and gave the Lady'Dogs (19-5, 12-1) a 40-38 lead with 3:14 left. But Har-Ber would get a Paige Redmond 3-pointer and a Bailey Schalk lay-in to answer Fayetteville scores, tying the game 45-45 with 1:07 to play.

That set up Crockett's final gamewinner. After a Fayetteville timeout at the 34 second mark, a pass in the paint to Lauren Schuldt was kicked back out to Crockett, who quickly took the wide open look.

The shot found nothing but net, forcing a Har-Ber timeout with 13.4 seconds remaining.

Har-Ber had two 3-pointers before the buzzer to tie, but Schuldt blocked one before Samantha Weber's final attempt fell short.

"It was a back and forth game," Rimmer said. "Two very good basketball teams and honestly I think if we played Har-Ber 10 teams we'd tie five and five. "It was like a state tournament game. The game got tight, we handled it and won the game. That's what you have to do to win games in the state tournament."

Crockett finished with 16 on 7 of 17 shooting and Jones added 11 for Fayetteville. Schalk led the Lady Wildcats with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Sports on 02/26/2014

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