FAYETTEVILLE -- The start and finish went well for Fayetteville on Thursday in first round play at the Bank of Fayetteville Bulldog Classic.
Good thing, too, because the Lady Bulldogs struggled for much of the second and third quarters against Mountain Home, before a strong finish propelled Fayetteville to a 50-39 win at Bulldog Arena.
Girls
Fayetteville 50, Mountain Home 39
Mountain Home^8^17^10^4^—^39
Fayetteville^19^11^7^13^—^50
Mountain Home (2-5): Hudson 12, Martin 9, Daniel 6, Pfeifer 5, Walker 4, O’Brien 3.
Fayetteville (5-1): Spangler 13, Mayberry 11, P. Jone 4, Coulter 4, Holmes 3, Osbourn 3, Ratcliff 3, Morgan 3, Breathitt 2, B. Jones 2, Posey 2.
Boys
Springdale High 56, Hillcrest 54
Hillcrest^10^13^19^12^—^54
Springdale^18^5^19^14^—^56
Hillcrest: Hale 19, Podurgiel 11, Sydnor 8, Washington 7, Pryor 5, Duke 4.
Springdale (5-0): Mahar 17, Lindsey 11, McFarlane 8, Carachure 7, Young 7, Bobo 6.
Bank of Fayetteville Bulldog Classic
Thursday’s Games
Boys
Springdale High 56, Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest 54
North Little Rock 74, Harrison 59
Lee’s Summit West, Mo. 75, Jacksonville 71
Fayetteville 76, Hot Springs 70 (4 OT)
Girls
LR Central def. Farmington, 75-27
Springfield, (Mo.) Hillcrest 61, Collierville, Tenn. 53
Fayetteville 50, Mountain Home 39
Prairie Grove 50, Germantown, Tenn. 19
Today’s Schedule
Boys
Springfield Hillcrest vs. Harrison, 4 p.m.
North Little Rock vs. Springdale High, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Springs vs. Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Fayetteville vs. Lee’s Summit, Mo., 8:30 p.m.
Girls
LR Central vs. Springfield Hillcrest, 4 p.m.
Farmington vs. Collierville, Tenn., 5:30 p.m.
Fayetteville vs. Germantown, Tenn., 7 p.m.
Prairie Grove vs. Mountain Home, 8:30 p.m.
"(Mountain Home) shot the ball real well, and we got ourselves in position where we had open looks and missed some shots," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "We missed a lot of free throws, just 8 of 18 from the free throw line. But in the fourth quarter we took care of the basketball really well."
Fayetteville (5-1) built a 13-0 lead in the first three and half minutes. But Mountain Home slowly chipped away throughout the next two and a half quarters. The Lady Bombers even tied Fayetteville, 35-35, in the third quarter, before the Lady Bulldogs' defense and strong second half play by Maya Mayberry and Grayce Spangler pushed Fayetteville ahead for good.
"Maya played a great game," Rimmer said. "And Grayce shoots six of eight from the field and played really well."
The Lady Bombers (2-5) scored just four points in the fourth quarter and never seriously threatened Fayetteville in the closing minutes. That didn't stop coach Dell Leonard from applauding his team's effort against a strong Lady Bulldogs' squad.
"Fayetteville is great. Vic does an awesome job," Leonard said. "But I can't say enough about my team. Down 13-0 and I think we tied it 35-35 at one point. Just really proud of the effort."
Spangler finished with 13 and Mayberry 11 for Fayetteville. Micah Hudson led Mountain Home with 12.
Boys
Springdale High 56, Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest 54
Kyler Mahar scored a season-high 17 points and Springdale used a late 6-0 run to pull away from Springfield Hillcrest for a 56-54 win in the opening round of the Bulldog Classic on Thursday.
The Bulldogs (5-0) broke open a game tied at 50 with three minutes left on baskets by Mahar, Ishine McFarlane and Devon Young in quick succession to advance to a 5:30 p.m. semifinal meeting with North Little Rock today. Hillcrest had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but couldn't get a shot off.
Mahar made 7 of 10 shots in his best performance of the season. The 6-foot-6 senior forward is averaging 13.5 points his last two games after averaging five per game the first three.
"He's understanding his role and gaining confidence at the same time," Springdale coach Jeremy Price said. He's a player we've got to have going into conference play and he's getting to where he needs to be."
Springdale was balanced in the win, moving the ball well on offense with its core group on the floor. Jack Lindsey knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11 first-quarter to points as Springdale built a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter.
Springdale's balance and ball movement showed up again after Hillcrest went on a 17-2 run to take the lead when foul trouble sent Mahar and Springdale's other bigs to the bench. Six players scored six or more points as the Bulldogs battled and eventually beat a Hillcrest team that was the runner-up in Missouri's second-highest classification last year.
"We don't have a big athlete that can finish and get all the way to the rim, so we've got to share the ball," Price said. "We've got to get into gaps, kick out and shooters have got to be shooters."
Lavell Hale scored a game-high 19 for Hillcrest.
Fayetteville 76, Hot Springs 70 (4 OT)
Payton Willis scored 30 points and helped seal a win with a breakaway dunk in the fourth overtime following a key Spencer Brown steal, as the Bulldogs held off a determined Hot Springs team in opening round play at the Bulldog Classic.
Josh Breathitt added 28 points and 11 rebounds for Fayetteville, which never led by more than two points in any overtime period until Willis' dunk in the closing minutes.
Girls
Little Rock Central 75, Farmington 27
Alexsis Brown had 15 points and four steals and Bre'Amber Scott added 14 points and six rebounds and the Lady Tigers built a 20-point first quarter lead and cruised past overmatched Farmington.
Trish O'Connell led the Lady Cardinals with six points, with both Camryn Journagan and Tori Hamley adding five points each.
Sports on 12/11/2015