Fayetteville Holds Off Heritage

ROGERS -- Fayetteville made some big 3-point shots to grab the lead and made free throws down the stretch to keep it in the 7A/6A-West Conference boys basketball opener Friday night.

Senior Mason Adams drained a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a five-point advantage and Fayetteville hit 10-of-12 free throws in the final 54.8 seconds to secure a 51-45 win over Rogers Heritage at War Eagle Arena.

Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams admitted he didn't feel great about Adams' 3-pointer from the corner off a fast break with no other teammate in the frontcourt. But Adams drained the shot for a 41-36 Fayetteville lead and pointed at the Fayetteville student section.

"That's kind of what this team is, a bunch of 3-point shooters. A lot of times, like the one my son took down in the corner," Adams said. "I didn't really want him taking that shot, but I was sure glad it went in. He wasn't afraid to shoot it."

"If that doesn't go in, it may be a dagger for us. We enjoyed it. It was intense. Heritage played well and we did, too."

Adams finished with 15 points, while Luke Renner added 14 and Payton Willis 12 for Fayetteville (8-6, 1-0). The trio of Adams, Renner and Willis were responsible for making 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute, while C.J. O'Grady added the final two with less than a second left.

Junior Connor Hirsh tied for game honors with 15 points for Heritage (10-4, 0-1), while Crist Olsen added 12.

The game was tied at halftime and after three quarters, but Heritage never led in the fourth quarter. But War Eagles coach Tom Olsen was still pleased with how hard his team played.

"We got some shots we've got to have to win a game like that and Fayetteville got some shots they made," Olsen said. "Renner and Adams hit some big shots in the fourth quarter that kind of stretched it out and we were playing catch-up there the last few minutes."

"But it's game one and I was proud of the way they played."

Fayetteville won the junior varsity game, 33-29.

NW News on 01/11/2014

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