ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage was fighting for its playoff life Friday, and the War Eagles' good fight was nearly enough to take the top team from the 7A-West Conference down.
Heritage found itself behind most of the night and trailing by nine points going into the fourth quarter. But a furious rally set the stage for the possible upset, before Fayetteville held off the charge with key free throws and defensive stops to preserve a 50-48 win at War Eagle Arena.
Boys
Fayetteville 50, Rogers Heritage 48
Fayetteville^18^14^10^8^—^50
Rogers Heritage^12^11^10^15^—^48
Fayetteville (22-3, 11-1): Willis 11, Brown 8, Carlson 8, Youngblood 8, Roth 4, Wymer 4, Breathitt 4, Barnes 3.
Rogers Heritage (13-13, 4-8): Breedlove 18, Hobbs 12, D. Olsen 5, S. Stanley 4, M. Stanley 3, Casey 3, T. Olsen 3.
Girls
Fayetteville 50, Rogers Heritage 26
Fayetteville^5^19^12^14^—^50
Rogers Heritage^12^4^5^5^—^26
Fayetteville (19-6, 10-2): Spangler 8, Mayberry 7, B. Jones 5, Morgan 5, Franklin 5, Holmes 5, Ratcliff 4, P. Jones 3, Breathitt 2, Osborne 2, Salley 2, Smith 2.
Rogers Heritage (7-18, 2-10): Tiles 11, Seiler 5, Menke 4, Thompson 3, Scudder 3.
"I'm proud of the way our guys played," Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. "Heritage played very well and I thought our guys did a great job.
"Tyler (Roth) hit some big free throws and I thought Drake Wymer played a big game and we had other guys step up. It was a tough win."
Fayetteville (22-3, 11-1 7A-West) had to battle for control most of the night. With both Payton Willis and Josh Breathitt on the bench in foul trouble in the first half, the Purple'Dogs leaned on DeMaunte Youngblood, August Carlson and Wymer throughout much of the first three quarters.
The Bulldogs still had a 42-33 lead heading into the fourth when Marcus Breedlove, Lexus Hobbs and the rest of the War Eagles began their charge. Heritage went on the 10-0 run behind Breedlove and Hobbs' aggressive dribble-drive attack to take a 43-42 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
From there on, it was anyone's game. But Fayetteville was up to the test.
"The play where (Marek) Stanley stepped out and had an open look (on the 3), that was the play of the game on the play where were got tied up and the ball went their way," War Eagles coach Tom Olsen said. "If that goes in it's a tie game and it's a different game.
"But that's the way it goes in the wild, wild West."
Breedlove finished with 18 and Hobbs with 12 to lead Heritage (13-13, 4-8). Willis scored 11 for Fayetteville.
Girls
Fayetteville 50, Rogers Heritage 26
The Lady Bulldogs overcame and slow offensive start and relied on plenty of pop on the defensive end to eventually wear down Heritage in the second half on Friday.
Fayetteville trailed by seven points after the first quarter but allow just 14 points in the final three quarters. Grayce Spangler led the way with eight points and Maya Mayberry added seven for the Lady'Dogs, who won their ninth consecutive game.
Hailey Tiles led Rogers Heritage with a game-high 11 points.
Sports on 02/20/2016