SPRINGDALE -- David Carachure spent his junior basketball season cheering from the end of the Springdale High bench during varsity games.
This fall, he actually joined the cheerleading team during football season.
David Carachure
School: Springdale High
Class: Senior
Position: Guard
Height: 5-11
Notable: Starting in the backcourt for the Bulldogs after primarily playing JV as a junior. … Scored a career-high 20 points Jan. 26 at Fort Smith Southside. … Springdale’s top perimeter defender. … Named a team captain along with fellow senior Kyler Mahar.
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Tuesdays
• Video features on Class 6A/7A female athletes produced by area high school students
• 7A-West Conference girls and boys power rankings
• State prep basketball scores
Wednesdays
• Video features on Class 5A and below athletes produced by NWA Democrat-Gazette staff
• Weekly swimming/diving report with video
Thursdays
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Fridays
• Video features on Class 6A/7A male athletes produced by area high school students
• State prep basketball scores
Saturdays
• Weekly recaps with video highlights
7A-West Conference
Boys
^^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Fayetteville^7-0^18-2
Bentonville^5-2^13-7
Springdale Har-Ber^4-3^11-9
Fort Smith Northside^3-4^11-10
Fort Smith Southside^3-4^11-10
Springdale High^3-4^12-7
Rogers Heritage^2-5^11-10
Rogers High^1-6^7-13
Girls
^^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Fort Smith Northside^7-0^22-1
Springdale High^6-1^13-6
Fayetteville^5-2^14-6
Bentonville^4-3^15-4
Springdale Har-Ber^3-4^13-8
Rogers High^2-5^9-11
Rogers Heritage^1-6^6-14
Fort Smith Southside^0-7^3-18
Jan. 29th Scores
Girls
Fayetteville 80, Bentonville 51
Springdale High 55, Rogers High 37
Springdale Har-Ber 65, Rogers Heritage 52
Fort Smith Northside 64, Fort Smith Southside 39
Boys
Fayetteville 60, Bentonville 55
Springdale High 40, Rogers High 34
Rogers Heritage 57, Springdale Har-Ber 51
Fort Smith Northside 75, Fort Smith Southside 61
Friday’s Games
Rogers Heritage at Springdale High
Fort Smith Northside at Fayetteville
Springdale Har-Ber at Rogers High
Bentonville at Fort Smith Southside
7A-West Conference Leaders
(Conference games only)
Boys
TEAM OFFENSE
Team^G^PTS^AVG^
Fayetteville^7^470^67.1^
Bentonville^7^458^65.4^
Springdale Har-Ber^7^451^64.4^
FS Southside^7^419^59.9^
FS Northside^7^414^59.1^
Springdale High^7^395^56.4^
Rogers Heritage^7^356^50.9^
Rogers High^7^346^49.4^
TEAM DEFENSE
Team^G^PTS^AVG^
Fayetteville^7^352^50.3^
Bentonville^7^390^55.7^
FS Northside^7^404^57.7^
Rogers Heritage^7^407^58.1^
Springdale High^7^418^59.7^
Springdale Har-Ber^7^437^62.4^
Rogers High^7^450^64.3^
FS Southside^7^451^64.4^
Scoring Leaders
Player, School^G^PTS^AVG^
Malik Monk, Bentonville^6^189^31.5^
Payton Willis, Fayetteville^7^137^19.6^
Josh Breathitt, Fayetteville^7^119^17.0^
Avery Benson, Springdale Har-Ber^7^118^16.9^
Seth Hawley, FS Southside^7^112^16.0^
Tevin Brewer, FS Northside^7^109^15.6^
Tyler Robinson, Bentonville^7^100^14.3^
Lexus Hobbs, Rogers Heritage^7^97^13.9^
Milacio Freeland, Rogers High^7^91^13.0^
Jake Benninghoff, Rogers High^7^83^11.9^
Tyrone Mahoney, FS Southside^7^73^10.4^
Kyler Mahar, Springdale High^7^73^10.4^
Zion Releford, FS Southside^7^72^10.3^
Ishine McFarlane, Springdale High^7^71^10.1^
Jack Lindsey, Springdale High^7^69^9.9^
Dane Olsen, Rogers Heritage^7^66^9.4^
Tylor Perry, Springdale Har-Ber^7^61^8.7^
Tyler Garrett, Springdale Har-Ber^7^61^8.7^
Devon Young, Springdale High^7^60^8.6^
J.P. Brandon, Springdale Har-Ber^7^60^8.6^
Will Allen, Rogers High^7^60^8.6^
Spencer Brown, Fayetteville^7^57^8.1^
Asa Hutchinson, Bentonville^7^57^8.1^
Jackson Forsey, FS Northside^7^55^7.9^
Gage Griffin, FS Northside^5^39^7.8^
Towayne Bobo, Springdale High^7^53^7.6^
Austin West, FS Southside^7^52^7.4^
August Carlson, Fayetteville^7^52^7.4^
David Carachure, Springdale High^7^51^7.3^
Matthew Kaunitz, Sprindale Har-Ber^7^51^7.3^
Harrison Heffley, Rogers High^7^50^7.1^
Brennon Lewis, FS Northside^7^49^7.0^
Isaiah Joe, FS Northside^7^49^7.0^
Seth Stanley, Rogers Heritage^7^47^6.7^
Tyrell Perry, FS Northside^7^47^6.7^
Marcus Breedlove, Rogers Heritage^7^46^6.6^
Jordan Hemphill, Bentonville^7^46^6.6^
Marek Stanley, Rogers Heritage^7^45^6.4^
Tony Casey, Rogers Heritage^7^42^6.0^
Demaunte Youngblood, Fayetteville^7^37^5.3^
Cole Cooper, Rogers High^7^35^5.0^
Jordan Sheppard, FS Southside^7^34^4.9^
Girls
TEAM OFFENSE
Team^G^PTS^AVG
Fayetteville^7^433^61.9
Springdale High^7^423^60.4
FS Northside^7^402^57.4
Springdale Har-Ber^7^384^54.9
Bentonville^7^384^54.9
Rogers High^7^321^45.9
Rogers Heritage^7^311^44.4
FS Southside^7^271^38.7
TEAM DEFENSE
Team^G^PTS^AVG
Fayetteville^7^306^43.7
FS Northside^7^313^44.7
Springdale High^7^348^49.7
Rogers High^7^362^51.7
Bentonville^7^372^53.1
Springdale Har-Ber^7^375^53.6
Rogers Heritage^7^418^59.7
FS Southside^7^435^62.1
Scoring Leaders
Player, School^G^PTS^AVG
Aaliyah Jackson, FS Northside^7^129^18.4
Maddie Brittain, Bentonville^7^104^14.9
Chasidee Owens, Springdale High^7^102^14.6
Lani Meares, FS Southside^7^86^12.3
Jasmine Franklin, Fayetteville^7^83^11.9
Lauren Krissman, FS Northside^7^79^11.3
Kierra Lang, Springdale High^7^76^10.9
Amber Turner, Rogers Heritage^7^76^10.9
Madison Sandor, Rogers High^7^73^10.4
Kelly Carson, FS Southside^7^71^10.1
Lauren Hargus, Bentonville^7^69^9.9
Maya Mayberry, Fayetteville^7^68^9.7
Desiree Mack, Springdale High^7^68^9.7
Emily Seiler, Rogers Heritage^7^68^9.7
Maren Johnson, Bentonville^7^67^9.6
Kelsey Richmond, Rogers High^7^64^9.1
Hailey Tiles, Rogers Heritage^7^61^8.7
Krista Clark, Bentonville^7^61^8.7
Maei Mains, Springdale Har-Ber^7^60^8.6
Jordan Hardesty, FS Northside^7^58^8.3
Jacie Higgins, Springdale Har-Ber^7^58^8.3
Khanni Shannon, Springdale Har-Ber^7^57^8.1
Elise Randels, Rogers High^7^57^8.1
Grayce Spangler, Fayetteville^7^56^8.0
Maya Hood, Springdale High^7^56^8.0
Pink Jones, Fayetteville^7^54^7.7
Savannah Collins, Springdale Har-Ber^7^51^7.3
Caroline Hornor, Springdale Har-Ber^7^47^6.7
Anna Gaddison, Springdale High^7^45^6.4
Samantha Brown, Rogers High^7^44^6.3
Lauren Holmes, Fayetteville^7^41^5.9
Krislyn Smith, Springdale Har-Ber^7^39^5.6
Maddi McKinney, Rogers High^7^39^5.6
Ryann Goodsell, Springdale High^7^36^5.1
Lauren Sanford, FS Southside^7^34^4.9
Maegan Bandimere, FS Northside^7^33^4.7
Fatarah Kinnard, FS Northside^7^33^4.7
Brooke Menke, Rogers Heritage^7^33^4.7
Whaley, Springale Har-Ber^7^32^4.6
Alexia Hernandez, Bentonville^7^31^4.4
But this basketball season, cheerleaders, bench players and fans alike are all cheering for Carachure. In the span of a year, he's transformed himself from a junior varsity player who got a few spot minutes of varsity action into a starter tasked with guarding Kentucky signee Malik Monk and Vanderbilt signee Payton Willis in games against 7A heavyweights.
"He's the heart and soul of the Bulldogs," Springdale first-year coach Jeremy Price said.
"It starts with the commitment in practice. He's our hardest worker in practice every day."
Thanks to that work ethic, the senior guard has emerged from an unproven, unknown player into a captain on maybe the conference's most surprising team, making a mark with his defensive skills, his ability to run the offense and ever-improving scoring -- he had a career-high 20 points at Fort Smith Southside on Jan. 26.
But Carachure began laying the groundwork for his breakout year long before the Bulldogs tipped off their season in November.
At 5-foot-11, Carachure isn't the ideal defender to guard Monk or Willis, both of whom have five- or six- inch height advantages on him. But he's Springdale's best option because of his quick feet, defensive instincts and heart.
"They're future D1 athletes and I'm not a future anything, so I love the challenge," Carachure said. "I'm up for it."
And he has been.
Stopping that dynamic duo is no easy task. Both average more than 20 points and can score in a variety of ways. But Carachure made both work for it in the teams' first meetings. He even managed to accomplish a rare feat -- stealing a Monk crossover in a one-on-one isolation matchup.
Carachure's ability to defend opponents' best perimeter scorers, even taller players, hasn't come as a surprise to those around the program. He'd proven his defensive chops every practice of his junior year by insisting on guarding 6-foot-4 all-state guard Chris Owens, who has excelled as a true freshman at Pitt State this year.
"I took pride in talking trash to the younger guys at practice," Owens said. "Some of them would just ignore me but David wouldn't back down. He would always say something back and it just made our battles much more fun and competitive. I hate to admit this, but he was very good at getting under my skin. Just very annoying on defense and always active."
Carachure also learned a valuable lesson from Owens that has paid dividends this year. In addition to being markedly taller, Owens was able to use his strength to overpower his teammate. So Carachure decided to devote himself to the weight room, gaining weight and adding muscle.
"I try to get in there like every day after practice," Carachure said, 10 minutes after finishing a solo workout after practice.
The workouts have enhanced his ability to defend bigger guards, but Price already knew he could count on Carachure on that end of the floor. His offense has been the pleasant surprise, particularly his scoring ability as he's grown more comfortable in his role, evidenced by the 20-point outburst at Southside, a noticeable difference from early in the season when Price would have to prod Carachure to shoot at times.
He still facilitates for others and sets the table offensively, but defenses aren't able to lounge off him anymore. If they do, they often pay a price.
"He just makes the right play a lot," Price said.
Springdale (12-7, 3-4 7A-West) is in a three-way tie for fourth with two more teams a game away on each side entering the second half of conference play. The Bulldogs have been in tight games against everyone but undefeated Fayetteville and are two overtime defeats away from being in sole possession of second place -- losses to third-place Springdale Har-Ber and second-place Bentonville.
Against Har-Ber, Carachure badly sprained an ankle late in the game and had to leave momentarily. He gutted it out and returned, but the Bulldogs sorely missed him in the time he spent gathering himself on the sideline. He fouled out against Bentonville, leaving no one with even a chance of slowing Monk, who scored all 13 of the Tigers' points in overtime.
Both losses showcased Carachure's value, just as both games provided a glimpse of what Springdale is capable of.
Carachure is weighing the possibility of being a cheerleader in college at whichever school he attends. But for now, he's the one being cheered for as he helps lead Springdale into the second half of an exciting conference race.
"Anybody is capable of beating anybody," Carachure said. "I feel pretty confident with what we have."
Sports on 02/05/2016