FAYETTEVILLE -- The start and finish were about the only parts which went right for Fayetteville against Fort Smith Southside on Tuesday.
Fortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, the work done early and late was just enough as Fayetteville withstood a poor night of shooting and messy, inconsistent play to hold off Southside in a 49-46 win at Bulldog Arena.
Girls
Fayetteville 49, Fort Smith Southside 46
Southside^16^8^12^10^—^46
Fayetteville^20^5^13^11^—^49
Southside (8-14, 2-7): Bishop 15, O’Dell 9, Mears 8, Stone 7, Hamilton 4, Hittner 3
Fayetteville (16-6, 8-1): Crockett 16, Morgan 12, B. Jones 7, P. Jones 7, Holmes 4, Mayberry 3.
Boys
Fayetteville 79, Fort Smith Southside 55
Southside^7^14^20^14^—^55
Fayetteville^29^16^20^14^—^79
Southside (9-13, 3-6): Hawley 23, Foree 10, Mays 6, West 6, Hillian 2, Keller 2, Rivaldo 2, Ollison 2, McKethan 2.
Fayetteville (14-1, 2-0): Willis 26, Breathitt 10, O’Grady 7, Anderson 6, Paslay 6, Carter 6, Carlson 6, Scott 4, Hendrycy 3, Brown 3, Wymer 2.
"We didn't play our best," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "We turned the ball over too much, and I thought Southside found some ways to score.
"But we forced a couple of turnovers there at the end, and we got a big three-pointer from (DaShundra) Morgan there in the fourth quarter. It was one of those where it's hard to sleep on as a coach, but it would have been even harder if we would have lost."
Fayetteville (16-6, 8-1 7A-West) built an early 15-4 lead before falling cold the rest of the half. Shaniah Bishop -- who finished with a team-high 15 points -- sparked a 12-0 Southside rally as the game went back and forth the rest of the way.
"I thought we played well, defensively," Sherry White, Southside coach, said. "We were playing with six kids and that made it tough, and they like to go up and down. But we made some mistakes there at the end that were costly."
Morgan's 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left gave Fayetteville a 45-44 lead. The Lady Rebels (8-14, 2-7) would take back a 46-45 lead on two Bishop free throws before a driving runner in the lane by Sydney Crockett with 2:38 left put Fayetteville back up at 47-46.
Both teams traded turnovers over the next several possessions before Lauren Holmes increased the lead with a pair of free throws with 21.4 seconds left. Southside then had a final chance at the tie, but Makeena Hittner's three-point attempt in the closing seconds was well short.
"We defended the last shot well," Rimmer said. "But really we were just inconsistent on the offensive end. That was the biggest key to our being out of sync."
Boys
Fayetteville 79, Fort Smith Southside 55
Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams chose to step away from his coaching duties Tuesday on the day his mother passed away, and his Bulldogs decided the best way to honor him was to play one of their best games of the season.
"The one thing I wrote on the board was 'Play for your coach,'" Fayetteville assistant Tommy Deffebaugh said. "We came out and played the way he would have wanted."
Fayetteville (17-5, 5-4) built a 29-7 lead through the first quarter, led by 18 points from Payton Willis, and were never threatened by the Rebels.
"We tried to stay on them about playing hard, because it's hard after you got that 25- or 30-point lead," Deffebaugh said.
Vernon Tarver can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAVernon
Sports on 02/11/2015