Basketball: Springdale pulls away for win in opener

SPRINGDALE -- Kierra Lang finally started playing basketball without her knee brace in early November.

The reason was simple.

"Coach (Erin Gatling) made it strong enough to where I thought that I could take it off and play without it," said Lang, who has battled patella injuries the last two years. "Once I let let loose with that, I really got to get into rhythm and get confidence back."

Lang's quickness was evidence. So was her confidence, especially when she hit a corner 3-pointer with 1:39 left that put Springdale High up for good as it clawed out a 54-47 home win over Mountain Home in its season opener.

Senior Chasidee Owens scored a game-high 19 on 7 of 14 shooting and added seven rebounds for Springdale (1-0), including a number of offensive rebounds, an area that keyed the victory. Lang scored 13 and had three rebounds and three steals, while senior Maya Hood added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Springdale ended the game on a 10-2 run after Mountain Home (0-1) led 45-44 with less than three minutes remaining, the result of the Lady Bombers' patient, effective half-court offense.

"They were very disciplined, structured and knew the exact shot to take," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. "A team like that, that has the ball and is going to limit our possessions, it's very important that we're good when we do get the ball. What I was impressed with tonight, even though we had some missed layups at the rim, we cleaned up on the board. Chas alone had four offensive rebounds in the second half."

Springdale turned the game with its defense late, blocking a shot and forcing two turnovers on Mountain Home's final three possessions. Lang scored five of Springdale's final 10 as the Lady Bulldogs made plays down the stretch to clinch the victory.

"We put ourselves in a bad position there at the end where we had to force some things," Mountain Home coach Dell Leonard said. "We had a chance to win the game, but we didn't block out and hit free throws. And that was the difference."

Several of Springdale's key players were in foul trouble throughout the game as the Lady Bulldogs were whistled for 26 fouls, 15 more than Mountain Home. That combined with Mountain Home slowing the game and Springdale's inability to consistently finish good looks in the paint kept the game close.

But Springdale pulled away and pulled out a victory in the end, thanks in large part to the brace-less Lang.

Boys

Springdale 51, Mountain Home 31

Devon Young scored a team-high 10 points to lead a balanced Springdale offense, but the Bulldogs' efforts on the defensive end keyed a 51-31 win over Mountain Home in their home opener.

Senior guard David Carachure added eight points for Springdale (2-0), one of four players to score eight or more. But he really made his mark on the defensive end, holding Mountain Home go-to guard Howie Wehmeyer, who scored a game-high 15, to just four points in the second half, denying the ball and playing the passing lanes for steals or playing great one-on-one defense when Wehmeyer did get it.

"David put a lot of pressure, made their best player really work just to catch the ball," Springdale coach Jeremy Price said. "That was huge for us."

Springdale led 24-18 at halftime, but broke the game open with a 22-6 run spanning the third and fourth quarters, a spurt sparked by defense turned into offense off turnovers. Senior Towayne Bobo scored nine and senior Kyler Mahar eight in addition to Young and Carachure's production. Springdale was also able to generate good, clean looks in its half-court sets on a regular basis.

"We were more focused on the type of shots, the kind of shots we were trying to get tonight," Price said.

Sports on 11/22/2015