BENTONVILLE -- The final result was another double-digit victory for Fayetteville's girls, but the Lady Purple'Dogs had their work cut out for them Friday night.
Bentonville kept Fayetteville within striking distance until the final 3 minutes as the Lady Purple'Dogs withstood those challenges and claimed a 66-52 victory over the Lady Tigers during 7A-West Conference basketball action in Tiger Arena.
Girls
Fayetteville 66, Bentonville High 52
Fayetteville^16^13^17^20^—^66
Bentonville^14^8^15^15^—^52
Fayetteville (21-2, 8-0): Goforth 13, M. Mayberry 13, Spangler 10, W. Mayberry 10, Franklin 7, Holmes 7, Posey 6.
Bentonville (11-10, 4-4): Clark 17, Hughes 10, Roberts 10, Kash 7, Hargus 4, Palasak 2, Cochran 2.
Boys
Bentonville High 80, Fayetteville 70
Fayetteville^15^12^12^31^—^70
Bentonville^19^16^20^25^—^80
Fayetteville (7-13, 2-6): Roth 30, Finney 18, Cooper 9, Schach 4, Scalise 4, Banister 3, Lewis 2.
Bentonville (11-9, 7-1): Hemphill 26, Akbar 17, Blackmon 12, Hutchinson 11, Shanks 6, Costantini 5, Smith 3.
"Bentonville really did a great job," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "Their kids really attacked the rim, and they shot the 3-pointers really well, too.
"We were getting blown by on the perimeter, and that's a tribute to them. It was a case where, defensively, we could never get into a rhythm and get enough stops to get away. Giving up 50 points on our end, I was very disappointed with that."
Fayetteville (21-2, 8-0) didn't take a double-digit lead until Sasha Goforth's 3-pointer made the score 38-26 with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter. Bentonville (11-10, 4-4) answered and pulled within 42-35 on Krista Clark's bucket at the 1:03 mark, only to have Maya Mayberry's free throw make it a 46-37 game entering the fourth quarter.
The Lady Purple'Dogs used an 8-2 spurt to extend their lead to 54-39 on Wyvette Mayberry's bucket with 5:37 remaining, but Bentonville refused to quit. The Lady Tigers pulled within 55-47 on Clark's two free throws with 4:08 remaining before Fayetteville pulled away, outscoring Bentonville 11-5 to end the game.
"I was pleased with the overall effort, top to bottom," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "Everybody contributed, and we had girls come on the floor that played hard and got after it. They weren't intimidated.
"We had some opportunities. Those will be the opportunities that we will try to capitalize on during practice."
Goforth and Maya Mayberry each had 13 points, while Grayce Spangler and Wyvette Mayberry added 10 apiece for Fayetteville, who was forced to play without senior Ashley Breathitt after she turned an ankle during Wednesday's practice. Clark finished with 17 for Bentonville while Avery Hughes and Abby Roberts each chipped in 10.
Boys
Bentonville High 80, Fayetteville 70
Bentonville led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter but had to hold off a wild Fayetteville comeback attempt to knock off the Purple'Dogs.
The Tigers (11-9, 7-1) led 64-44 on Michael Shanks' bucket with 5:08 remaining, but scored 19 of the next 23 points and made it a 68-63 game on Tyler Roth's 3-pointer with 1:13 left to play. The Purple'Dogs, however, were forced to foul, and Jordan Hemphill hit 12 of 13 free throws over the last 69 seconds -- three of them coming after time had expired since when he was fouled on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
Hemphill finished with 26 points to lead four Tigers in double figures, followed by Arman Akbar with 17, Luke Blackmon with 12 and Asa Hutchinson with 11. Roth had 30 points to lead Fayetteville, while Caleb Finney added 19.
Sports on 02/04/2017