Basketball: Dougan gives Springdale girls buzzer-beater victory

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Sprindale High’s Haley Dougan shoots against Bentonville High on Tuesday. Dougan made a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to give Springdale the victory.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Sprindale High’s Haley Dougan shoots against Bentonville High on Tuesday. Dougan made a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to give Springdale the victory.

BENTONVILLE -- Marquesha Davis almost waited too long to get going, and Springdale High girls basketball coach Heather Hunsucker had to yell to her sophomore to start the play.

Haley Dougan, though, had all the time she needed. The senior guard took a pass at the top of the key and buried a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded, giving the Lady Red'Dogs a 64-61 victory over Bentonville High during 7A-West Conference action Tuesday night in Tiger Arena.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Bentonville High's Jordan Hemphill goes to the basket Tuesday against Sprindale High.

Girls

Springdale High 64, Bentonville High 61

Springdale^17^16^13^18^—^64

Bentonville^17^14^18^12^—^61

Springdale (13-11, 7-4): M. Davis 19, Dougan 15, Jackson 10, Gause 9, Vogel 9, Turner 2.

Bentonville (11-13, 4-7): Clark 20, Hargus 17, Roberts 9, Hughes 5, Palasak 4, Cochran 4, Kash 2.

Boys

Bentonville High 54, Springdale High 43

Springdale^14^7^12^10^—^43

Bentonville^22^9^12^11^—^54

Springdale (6-17, 3-8): Fitch 13, Bilyeu 11, Boyd 9, Iraheta 6, Jibke 3, Robinson 1.

Bentonville (13-10, 9-2): Shanks 15, Costantini 9, Estrada 8, Hemphill 7, Akbar 7, Hutchinson 5, Smith 3.

"There was a pick and pop there," Hunsucker said. "It was a screen and pop, but it didn't go exactly how we had it planned. But sometimes, that's the best part about basketball."

Springdale (13-11, 7-4) held the ball for the final 37.1 seconds after Bentonville (11-13, 4-7) missed a chance to take the lead. Davis held the ball 30 feet away from the goal before she took off to her left and was met by two Lady Tigers defenders.

That's when she passed the ball to a wide-open Dougan, who had stationed herself on the right side. She had little time to catch the ball and fire up the shot, but it fell through the net with 0.6 seconds remaining.

"We got in a situation in Paragould at an early tournament, and it was the same thing," Hunsucker said. "The score was tied, and we run the exact play. Marquesha, my 24, comes off the play and makes the shot, but there's still 4 seconds left and we got beat at the buzzer.

"So we talked about waiting a little longer, but it was almost too long for that to happen. That's why I was screaming to go."

Bentonville appeared to be in control after an 18-3 run gave the Lady Tigers a 55-47 lead on Avery Hughes' two free throws with 5 minutes, 25 seconds remaining. Springdale, though, slowly chipped away at that margin and eventually tied the game on Jeniya Gause's two free throws with 1:14 remaining.

Bentonville then burned almost 30 seconds off the clock before trying a quick score. Anna Kash, however, couldn't get her shot to fall, and the ball was knocked out of bounds to Springdale, setting up the last-second play.

"We just didn't make plays," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "We didn't box out and fouled the shooter too much. In the last 3 minutes of the game, we couldn't get stops.

"They would miss a shot, then we just couldn't box out and get the rebound. At this late in the year, it shouldn't be an issue but Springdale was the better team."

Davis had 19 points to lead Springdale, which moved into third place in the league standings with the win and Rogers' loss to Van Buren, while Dougan added 15 and Destiny Jackson chipped in 10. Krista Clark had 20 points and Lauren Hargus 17 for Bentonville, which suffered its fourth straight loss.

Boys

Bentonville High 54, Springdale High 43

Bentonville outscored Springdale 22-14 in the first quarter, then managed to keep enough distance from the Red'Dogs to claim the victory.

Michael Shanks had 15 points and the only player in double figures for Bentonville (13-10, 9-2), which led 31-21 at halftime and never led Springdale (6-17, 3-8) within seven points in the second half. Carl Fitch led the Red'Dogs with 13 despite being in foul trouble, while Justin Bilyeu added 11.

Sports on 02/15/2017

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