Springdale High Headed To State Title Game

Special to NWA MEDIA Jaison Sterling D.J. Evans of Springdale High soars to the basket Monday against Fort Smith Northside at the Class 7A state tournament in Conway.
Special to NWA MEDIA Jaison Sterling D.J. Evans of Springdale High soars to the basket Monday against Fort Smith Northside at the Class 7A state tournament in Conway.

— Tereke Eckwood changed into a pair of white Jordan shoes at halftime of the Class 7A state semifinal game Monday after ripping his black Kobes in the first half.

It's a good bet Eckwood will wear the Jordans when he and Springdale High play in the state championship game. His clutch free-throw shooting against Forth Smith Northside earned Springdale the trip to Hot Springs.

How They Scored

Boys

Springdale 59

Northside 56

Northside^10^11^7^28^—^56

Springdale^10^9^15^25^—^59

Northside (20-9): Jo. Dye 20, Richardson 14, Triplett 7, Barron 7, Jones 7, Ja. Dye 1.

Springdale (22-5): Ecwood 14, Evans 13, Cook 11, Owens 7, J. Wymer 7, Gause 5, D. Wymer 2.

Eckwood made all 10 of his free throws in the final four minutes as Springdale held off Northside for a 59-56 win in a wild finish to advance to its first state title game since 1998.

"Knowing that I had to knock free throws down, that was just was going through my mind," Eckwood said. "Hit free throws. Big free throws."

Springdale advances to face Central No. 1 seed North Little Rock (25-2) in the title game. The Arkansas Activities Association is expected to announce the game time and date today.

Eckwood scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half. The first pair of Eckwood's 10 free throws gave Springdale (22-5) a 48-39 lead, while the other eight came in the final 50 seconds as the Bulldogs held off a furious Northside rally.

Northside guard Joe Dye scored a game-high 20 points and drained a 3-pointer to cut it to 57-56 with 7.4 seconds left, but Eckwood calmly stepped to the line and hit two more foul shots with 6.1 remaining on the clock. Northside didn't get a shot off on its final possession.

Eckwood's clutch performance down the stretch was made even more impressive by his struggles at the line this season. He entered the state tournament shooting just 58 percent from the line, including 45 percent during conference play, but stepped up when it counted most.

"He wanted the ball," Springdale coach Brad Stamps said. "He wasn't going to pass it in press offense because he wanted to go to the free-throw line. He showed what kind of champion he is. He struggled (at the line) all year, but when we needed him most, he came up big."

Springdale was able to beat Northside's pressure for baskets as it rallied from a halftime deficit in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs then had to survive a frenetic final few minutes that included a stretch of four straight Bulldog turnovers as Northside clawed back into the game and cut its deficit to 48-44 with less than two minutes.

"That's called sense of urgency," Northside coach Eric Burnett said. "You don't want that season to end. That will to win. That's where it comes from. They didn't want to go home, and we didn't want to go home. They had that will to win and at the end we didn't."

Springdale survived, and Eckwood closed the game out at the line, scoring 10 of the Bulldogs' final 13 points. He wasn't the only one who had a big game.

Senior D.J. Evans scored 13 points, including 10 in the first half to keep Springdale from being down by more than 21-19 at halftime. Senior Brendan Cook had arguably his best game of the year, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Chris Owens only had seven points but hit a big third-quarter 3-pointer to give Springdale its first lead since the first quarter and spark a 9-0 run that put the Bulldogs up 33-24.

"That momentum they had, I guess when they were up eight or six, we had a hard time recovering from that," Burnett said. "We hit a stretch where we couldn't get a bucket."

And Springdale never gave up the lead after the quick run. The Bulldogs went into a frenzy after the final buzzer, celebrating on the court with fans and together in an emotional locker room.

"It was so emotional," Eckwood said. "We had people crying. It was like Jordan when he won the championship."

Jordan shoes and Jordan celebration equaled state title game appearance for Springdale.

Sports on 03/11/2014

Upcoming Events