FORT SMITH -- Aliyah Jackson went to the bench with her third foul with more than five minutes still left in the second quarter. Fort Smith Northside's leading scorer had been shut down against Fayetteville in the team's first 7A-West Conference matchup. With Jackson forced to sit big minutes on the bench, the Lady Bulldogs had a golden opportunity.
Maya Hood and Kira Shepard of Fort Smith Northside had other plans.
Girls
Fort Smith Northside 62, Fayetteville 52
Fayetteville^7^14^13^18^—^52
FS Northside^14^12^16^20^—^62
Fayetteville (15-6, 7-1): Holmes 18, Crockett 10, Schuldt 10, P. Jones 6, Coulter 5, Morgan 3
FS Northside (21-1, 7-1): Shapard 22, Jackson 11, Alston 9, McDonald 9, Hood 7, Krissman 4.
How They Scored
Boys
Fort Smith Northside 61, Fayetteville 50
FS Northside^7^17^17^20^—^61
Fayetteville^13^9^15^13^—^50
FS Northside (15-7, 5-3): Brewer 18, Dorsey 14, Jones 11, Triplett 8, Patterson 4, Barron 2, Forsey 2, Lewis 2.
Fayetteville (16-5, 4-4): Willis 16, Carlson 13, Scott 12, Brown 3, O’Grady 2, Breahtitt 2, Paslay 2.
Hood stepped up in Jackson's place on the boards and defensively, and Shepard hit big shot after big shot as Fort Smith Northside overcame their star's foul trouble and pulled away down the stretch for a 62-52 win against Fayetteville at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.
The victory moves Northside (21-1, 7-1 7A-West) into a first-place tie with Fayetteville (15-6, 7-1) in the conference race.
"Maya Hood was the story of the game," Lady Bears coach Rickey Smith said. "She came in there when (Jackson) was in foul trouble and did a great job against Fayetteville's big girl (Lauren Schuldt). She rebounded and defended well and I was thrilled when we went into the half up by five after Liyah had to sit on the bench in that foul trouble.
"And then Kira hit all those big shots for us that helped."
Fayetteville started just 1 of 10 from the floor and played from behind most of the way. The Lady'Dogs were able to rally in the second quarter, but couldn't take full advantage of Jackson's five minutes spent on the bench in foul trouble to finish the half.
"This was one of our worst shooting games in a long time," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "I'm puzzled by it. They played us zone and we worked on it. But the first and third quarters we really didn't play very well.
"Defensively we did okay and (Lauren) Holmes hit some shots in the fourth quarter. But overall we just we're very good offensively."
Boys
Fort Smith Northside 61, Fayetteville 50
Keyshawn Dorsey hit a pair of back-to-back three-pointers in the third quarter to help Fort Smith Northside build a small cushion, then added another key 3 midway in the fourth as the Grizzlies extended in the lead to double digits before holding on in Friday's 7A-West clash.
Fayetteville (16-5, 4-4) built a 20-9 lead midway through the second quarter, but Northside would close to first half on a 15-2 run to get the game turned around.
"We blew some opportunities there in the second quarter," Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. "They turned up the pressure on us and we turned it over about six or seven times for whatever reason. (Northside) is really good and we didn't play bad other than that one stretch in the second quarter.
"But all in all I was pleased, I thought some kids stepped up. August Carlson, Kade Scott, we had some kids step up. Northside is just really good."
Vernon Tarver can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAVernon
Sports on 02/07/2015