SPRINGDALE -- Pressure defense made Springdale Har-Ber's third meeting with Van Buren vastly different from the Jan. 24 loss on the Pointers' home floor.
The Wildcats were without Austin and Tyler Garrett when the teams last met, and Van Buren knocked off then 5-0 Har-Ber, 62-56. But Har-Ber coach Scott Bowlin had his full roster Tuesday, and secured a first-round bye in the state tournament with a 53-45 win on Senior Night.
7A-WEST CONFERENCE
Boys
Springdale Har-Ber 53, Van Buren 45
Van Buren^9^12^11^13^–^45
Har-Ber^12^16^12^13^–^53
Van Buren (15-11, 8-5): Kindrix 13, Beckner 11, Stewart 5, Salisbury 5, West 3, Ball 3, Rice 3.
Har-Ber (20-7, 11-2): King 18, Perry 14, T. Garrett 9, Taylor 8, A. Garrett 4.
Girls
Van Buren 50, Springdale Har-Ber 42
Van Buren^16^14^10^10^–^50
Har-Ber^14^10^13^5^–^42
Van Buren (21-4, 12-1): Kinney 22, Sandoval 7, Myers 6, Jennen 6, Sutton 4, Snowden 3.
Har-Ber (15-12, 5-8): Mains 14, Whaley 8, Juella Brown 6, Juliza Brown 5, Terry 3, Weber 2, Collins 2, Shannon 2.
Senior Zane King left an impression in his final home game at Har-Ber, scoring a game-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Sophomore Tylor Perry also added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.
"We had some vengeance," said King, who rebounded from a two-point night at Fayetteville last Friday. "We were ready to show them we're here to win the conference."
King scored 12 in the second and third quarters, but arguably his crowning moment of an emotional night came via an alley-oop from Tyler Garrett to put the Wildcats up nine, 49-40, in the fourth quarter. The dunk handed him a new conference-high in points, topping his 16-point effort against Rogers Heritage.
"I think they need to check and see if they need to buy some new rims," Pointers coach Austin Trembley said of King with a grin. "He punished the rim. ... They made it into a game where you just had to go make a play."
Perry, as well as Tyler Garrett, chipped in a number of ways. The sophomore finished with the aforementioned 14 points and four assists, while Garrett added nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
Guard Ryan Taylor scored eight points in his final home game as well, knocking down two first-half 3-pointers.
"It was fun. It was good to get a win after the terrible loss to Fayetteville," Perry said. "We didn't show what we could do (Friday). It was good to play like this with our fans here."
Har-Ber threw a number of defensive looks at Van Buren and held the Pointers to 38 percent shooting on 40 shots. Presley Kindrix led the Pointers with 13 points and Beau Beckner added 11 points and five rebounds.
Now 21-7 and 11-2 in league play, Har-Ber is one win away from claiming an outright conference championship for the first time since the 2006-07 season. That team finished the season as 7A state runner-up.
"The odds were always stacked against us," Perry said of the possibility of earning a conference title Friday night. "From the first game against Rogers its always been stacked against us. Nobody in the league wanted to win it more than the guys in our locker room. It's going to be fun to get a win Friday and win a conference title."
Girls
Van Buren 50, Springdale Har-Ber 42
Tied at 35 midway through the third quarter, Van Buren guard Jamilyn Kinney decided it was time to take over. Kinney scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Lady Pointers to an eight-point win.
Kinney knocked down four 3-pointers in the win and scored seven in the fourth quarter to fend off Har-Ber. The Lady Wildcats were led by 14 points from Maci Mains and Karrington Whaley's eight. Mains' deep 3-pointer tied the game at 35 in the third, but Van Buren outscored Har-Ber 15-7 over the final 12 minutes.
Van Buren improves to 21-4 overall and 12-1 in 7A-West play while Har-Ber moves to 15-12 and 5-8 in league.
Sports on 02/22/2017