FAYETTEVILLE -- Jon Conley reached in and poked the ball away, then dashed down the court for a layup.
As the basketball settled into the net, Conley gave a little fist-bump, knowing his shot likely sealed a big 7A-West Conference win for Fayetteville on Friday in Bulldog Arena.
Bentonville^7^10^8^12^—^37
Fayetteville^4^17^16^13^—^50
Bentonville (13-6, 5-3): Hutchinson 16, Baggett 6, Freeman 6, Simmons 4, Deffenbaugh 3, Phillips 2.
Fayetteville (13-7, 6-2): Conley 12, Releford 12, Bowers 11, Cooper 10, Morgan 5.
Junior Varsity Boys: Fayetteville 37, Bentonville 27
Conley scored a team-high 12 points, six coming in the final quarter, as the Bulldogs maintained their share of the conference lead with a 50-37 win against Bentonville High.
The Bulldogs (13-7, 6-2 7A-West) played lock-down defense the entire game to open the second round of league play with a big home-court win. Bentonville had defeated the Bulldogs in their first meeting.
"I thought our defense played really well," said Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams. "I thought Quinn (Schach) did a great job guarding Asa (Hutchinson). He's just a tremendous basketball player, can really shoot the ball and just does a lot of different things well. Quinn is by far our best defender. I know he got his points, but we guarded him really well."
Fayetteville did not shoot the ball well (19-of-44), but the Bulldogs didn't have to as Bentonville shot just 13-of-43.
The Bulldogs also got huge production off the bench from 6-foot-7 freshman Tamaury Releford. Releford also scored 12 points, but it was his eight points and one huge blocked shot in the second quarter that helped the Bulldogs take a 21-17 halftime lead.
"It's not a surprise to us, seeing the way he practices," Adams said. "He's getting better and better. He's played well on the offensive end, but he's really getting better on the defensive end, too. The sky is the limit for the young man."
Bentonville (13-6, 5-3) battled back in the third quarter to take a 23-21 lead on a 3-pointer from Colton Simmons. But the lead quickly evaporated as Fayetteville ran off a 12-0 spurt as Colin Cooper hit a pull-up jumper and a 3-pointer from the left perimeter, then Darius Bowers hit a slashing bucket in the lane. Bowers finished with 11 and Cooper 10 as four Bulldogs reached double figures.
Fayetteville led by 12, 37-25 after three quarters and clinched the game down the stretch at the free-throw line.
Hutchinson scored a game-high 16 for the Tigers.
Fayetteville will host Bentonville West on Tuesday, and Bentonville will host Van Buren
Springdale Har-Ber 81, Rogers High 63
The Wildcats hit 15 3-pointers and cruised to the 7A-West Conference road win Friday night.
Tyler Perry had a game-high 25 points, including 18 in the first half, while Tyler Garrett chipped in 22. The duo also hit five 3-pointers each as the Wildcats (17-5, 6-2 7A-West) led 38-24 at halftime and maintained a share of first place with a solid second half.
Zach Peck, a 6-foot-5 senior, was also in double figures with 14 for Har-Ber. Sophomore Elliot Paschal led Rogers (7-14, 0-8) with 21 points, while Garrett Dake chipped in 13. The Mounties played their second straight game without leading scorer Drew Miller, who was out with the flu.
Van Buren 62, Bentonville West 52
Jordan West had 19 points, including a 10-of-10 performance from the free-throw line, as Van Buren overcame an early 19-6 deficit and handed West its third straight loss.
West hit six free throws in a 30-second span in the third quarter -- four coming after back-to-back technical fouls on the Wolverines -- that gave Van Buren (12-9, 3-5) a 39-35 lead, and the Pointers never trailed again. Van Buren led 47-40 at the end of the third quarter, and West (14-7, 4-4) couldn't get any closer than four the rest of the game.
Presley Kindrix was the only other Pointer in double figures with 17. Gabe Hornsby had 19 to lead West, which hit five 3-pointers in the first 4:40 but only one more the remainder of the game, while Collier Blackburn chipped in 11.
Springdale High 46, Rogers Heritage 33
Trentez Scales scored scored 16 points and Carl Fitch 13 to lead Springdale High to a 46-33 victory over Rogers Heritage Friday at the Bulldogs gym.
The win was the fourth in five games for Springdale (13-8, 4-4), which lost at the buzzer to Bentonville on Tuesday.
Springdale was dominant on defense against Rogers Heritage (15-6, 4-4), which fell into a tie with the Bulldogs in the conference standings. Springdale jumped to leads of 16-7 and 24-9 while holding Heritage to only three baskets in the first half. Heritage center Seth Stanley had all 16 of his points in the second half for Heritage, which only had three players score.
Preps Basketball on 02/03/2018