BOYS BASKETBALL: Furious finish not enough for Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- The opening minutes went well for Fayetteville on Thursday at its own Centennial Bank Fayetteville Bulldog Classic. The closing quarter was a positive as well for the Purple'Dogs.

Most of everything in between was where North Little Rock had its way.

Boys

North Little Rock 58, Fayetteville 54

North Little Rock^15^16^10^17^—^58

Fayetteville^9^8^10^27^—^54

North Little Rock (5-1): Ricks 21, Dobbins 17, Duckworth 11, Moore 6, Fresh 3.

Fayetteville (3-2): Finney 14, Roth 11, Simon 10, Cooper 8, Lewis 6, Banister 3, Powell 2.

The Charging Wildcats found their shooting touch late in the first quarter and continued the hot streak well in the second half, building a 19-point lead before a late push by Fayetteville resulted in a 58-54 North Little Rock win.

"I thought we started out good and didn't have any doubt we were ready to play," Fayetteville boys basketball coach Kyle Adams said. "We played extremely well in the second half. They just shot the ball really well."

North Little Rock (5-1) hit on just 43 percent of its field goal attempts, but was 10 of 23 shooting on 3-point attempts and got hot in spurts. The big run particularly came from the second quarter carrying over in early in the second half, when the Charging Wildcats built a 38-19 lead.

"I thought we won it because we shot it well," North Little Rock coach Johnny Rice said. "We shot it well and when we got it up tempo and got some turnovers, that's what got us the lead.

"When (Fayetteville) was comfortable, they did a good job and you can tell they're going to be a good team down the road."

The Purple'Dogs (3-2) made a furious push late in the fourth quarter, but simply ran out of time. Fayetteville trimmed the deficit to four points in the closing seconds, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from Braden Simon and Caleb Finney. But the mistakes from earlier in the game were too much to overcome.

"We had too many turnovers," Adams said. "We tried to play one-on-one with them too much and we need everyone involved to have a chance.

"North Little Rock is athletic and well coached and they play fundamental. But in the second half we showed what we're capable of. We just have to do that for the entire game."

Jarvis Ricks scored 21 points to lead North Little Rock. Caleb Finney finished with 14 points and Tyler Roth added 11 for Fayetteville.

North Little Rock advances to today's 5:30 p.m. winner's bracket game against Lee's Summit West, Mo.

Fayetteville plays Hot Springs in the consolation bracket at 4 p.m. today.

Girls

Fayetteville 78

Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest 27

Four players scored in double figures as Fayetteville opened Bulldog Classic play Thursday with an easy victory.

Fayetteville (5-1) built a 50-point halftime lead and forced 25 turnovers in the game. Lauren Holmes led the way with 13 points, followed by Kylee Coulter with 12, Destiny Posey with 11 and Maya Mayberry with 10.

Fayetteville plays Monticello at 7 p.m. today.

Monticello 46, Mountain Home 41

Brandashia Hargraves scored 10 of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Billies rallied from a double-digit deficit.

Hannah Pfeifer led Mountain Home with 13 points.

Little Rock Central 50, Berryville 20

Bre'Amber Scott scored 14 points and Abigayle Jackson added 13 as the Lady Tigers built a 30-point halftime and cruised past Berryville on day one at the Lady Bulldog Classic.

Little Rock Central faces Mountain Home at 4 p.m. today.

Boys

Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo 57, Springdale High 51

Carl Fitch scored 19 points and Springdale nearly pulled off the upset of the day against traditional Missouri power Kickapoo, but the Chiefs survived with a strong OT push led by Cameron Davis.

Davis scored 16 points, including four of the Chiefs' final six points as Kickapoo broke a 51-51 tie forcing two key turnovers in the final two minutes to pull away for the win.

Jared Ridder led Kickapoo with 26.

Lee's Summit West, Mo. 73, Hot Springs 68

Anthony Sirna scored 18 points to lead Lee's Summit hold off Hot Springs in first-round action at the Bulldog Classic.

C.J May added 13 for Lee's Summit West and Phil Brooks chipped in with 12.

Exavian Christion led the Trojans with a tournament day-best 39 points in the loss.

Harrison 72, Jacksonville 64

Trevor Atwell paced the Goblins with 27 points and and Tanner Curry added 22 in first-round action over Jacksonville.

Jackson Marseilles also scored 18 for Harrison, with Joseph Phillips leading Jacksonville with 15 points.

Sports on 12/09/2016

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