BENTONVILLE -- Cadarius Baggett was determined not to give any other player one last chance at a game-winning shot.
Bentonville High's senior guard held the ball for almost 30 seconds before he made his move, and his layup with 3 seconds left in overtime gave the Tigers a 78-76 victory over Fayetteville in the 7A-West Conference openers for both teams Friday night in Tiger Arena.
Fayetteville (7-6, 0-1) tied the game at 76 on Jon Conley's two free throws with 39.9 seconds remaining in overtime, then Asa Hutchinson IV brought the ball into the Tigers' frontcourt. Baggett, however, took over the ball and held his dribble, then drove to his right toward the basket and avoided two Bulldogs defenders before his shot went off the glass and in.
"I just felt confident," Baggett said. "It was just me, then my team was confident in me. They gave me the momentum to go ahead and score the basket, and I scored.
"I had to change my shot. I didn't see the other defender until the last minute. I got it up. I had to hold my breath before it went in."
Bentonville (9-3, 1-0) rode the hot hand of Hutchinson in the first half as the senior scored 31 points and led the Tigers to a 37-21 cushion. His first bucket of the second half gave Bentonville a 44-26 cushion with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter before Fayetteville made a comeback bid.
The Bulldogs scored the next 12 points to pull back within single digits, and Collin Cooper's bucket with 5 seconds on the clock made it a 51-46 game after three quarters. Fayetteville then followed a Michael Shanks bucket with 10 unanswered points and took its first lead, 59-56, on Frank Morgan's three-point play with 5:21 remaining.
A Cooper three-point play gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead, 59-54, with 3:53 on the clock, but Bentonville answered with seven straight points and took a 61-59 lead on a Colton Simmons' 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining. The lead changed hands two more times, but Fayetteville would get a bucket by Conley with 7.8 seconds left in regulation to force a 68-68 tie and send the game into overtime.
"I was telling (Fayetteville coach) Kyle Adams and (assistant) Brad Stamps if they looked at my hair, it shows I've coached a lot of games," Bentonville coach Dick Rippee said. "I told the guys before the game it wasn't going to be anything different.
"There's no easy game here. Just when you think you have an insurmountable lead -- and that may have been our problem -- Fayetteville showed a lot of guts and a lot of heart. But I think our guys answered when we could have easily folded. They kept working to make plays and get stops against a very good team."
Hutchinson finished with a career-high 41 points while Simmons added 14 for Bentonville. Cooper led Fayetteville with 23 and Conley added 15 while Morgan and R.J. Johnson chipped in 10 apiece.
Bentonville High 78, Fayetteville 76 (OT)
Fayetteville 8 13 25 24 8 -- 76
Bentonville 18 19 14 17 10 -- 78
Fayetteville (7-6, 1-0): Cooper 23, Conley 15, Morgan 10, Johnson 10, Schoch 8, Gibbs 8, Bowers 2.
Bentonville (9-3, 1-0): Hutchinson 41, Simmons 14, Shanks 9, Baggett 6, Deffebaugh 5, Phillips 2, Chambers 1.
Girls: Fayetteville 69, Bentonville 50
A 21-11 fourth-quarter run would suggest Fayetteville's girls put their offense together and pulled away from Bentonville High.
Lady Bulldogs coach Vic Rimmer, however, pointed to his team's improved defensive play over the final 8 minutes as the main reason Fayetteville enjoyed a victory during the 7A-West Conference opener for both teams Friday night in Tiger Arena.
"I told them at halftime I thought we were in a pretty good rhythm offensively," Rimmer said. "I thought we were making good decisions. Defensively is where we won this game. That's how the lead got to where it was.
"Our disadvantage was their two post kids. I felt good with Jasmine Franklin's matchup, but the other matchup was kind of odd. We switched that back and forth and did a good job of keeping them out of rhythm, and Sasha Goforth was excellent guarding on the perimeter."
Fayetteville (9-3, 1-0) led throughout the game, but only had a 48-39 cushion entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs then held Bentonville (11-3, 0-1) to just five points over the first 6 minutes to pull away.
Goforth, who finished with a game-high 27 points, opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to put Fayetteville's lead back in double digits for good, then the Lady Bulldogs followed Maryam Dauda's bucket with nine unanswered points for a 60-41 lead with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left. Franklin then capped the run with six straight points to give Fayetteville its biggest lead, 66-44, with 1:56 to play.
"The offense just went stagnant over a good 4 to 5 minutes," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "We had some careless turnovers and created some high-percentage shots for Fayetteville. We've just got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and finding more scorers."
Franklin had 13 of her 15 points in the second half, and Coriah Beck added 14 for Fayetteville. Fess Hawkins led Bentonville with 16, while Avery Hughes added 13 and Dauda 12.
FAYETTEVILLE 69, BENTONVILLE HIGH 50
Fayetteville 17 17 14 21 -- 69
Bentonville 12 16 11 11 -- 50
Fayetteville (9-3, 1-0): Goforth 27, Franklin 15, Beck 14, Webb 3, Unruh 3, Bailey 3, Breathitt 2, Bobbitt 2.
Bentonville (11-3, 0-1): Hawkins 16, Hughes 13, Dauda 12, Hernandez 6, Skidmore 3.
Preps Basketball on 01/06/2018