BENTONVILLE -- Vic Rimmer just smiled and nodded his head a little. That's the way it is when the Fayetteville girls basketball coach can look out on the floor in a close game and know he has veteran players who can take over when they need to.
On Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs were in a battle with Little Rock Christian as the game moved into the final four minutes. And that's when junior Sasha Goforth seized control.
Fayetteville 73, LR Christian 67
LR Christian 21 19 12 15 — 67
Fayetteville 17 19 15 22 —73
Little Rock Christian (9-1): Rogers 20, Brown 19, Bradley 17, Isom 5, Robeson 3, Elley 3.
Fayetteville (5-0): Goforth 29, Beck 27, Bridges 11, Releford 7, Saitta 2.
Goforth knocked down a big 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left to give Fayetteville a 61-60 lead, and she scored 12 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Bulldogs held off Little Rock Christian 73-67 in the Malik Monk Showcase in Tiger Arena.
"Goforth and (Coriah) Beck were tremendous the whole game," Rimmer said. "When we had to have buckets, they got it done. But how about Claudia Bridges with the corner three, man! That sophomore, she's a dandy."
Little Rock Christian (9-1) gave Fayetteville all it wanted and then some, taking as much as a nine-point lead at 50-41 in the third quarter.
"We lost the game up on the scoreboard, but this is a win for our program," Lady Warriors coach Ronald Rogers said. "We've been pushed every game, but we've played some great teams, and this is really good for our program, our kids, and this will get us ready for our conference."
After Goforth and Bridges went back-to-back from deep, Fayetteville (5-0) never trailed again. The Lady Bulldogs were able to close it out at the free-throw line as Beck hit a pair of clutch free throws to complete a 24-point outing.
Little Rock Christian, who owns impressive wins this season against both Conway and North Little Rock, seized the early momentum behind sophomore Wynter Rogers, the coach's daughter, and Amber Brown. Rogers finished with a team-high 20 points, and Brown scored 19 despite playing in foul trouble most of the second half.
Rogers gave the Lady Warriors a 40-36 halftime lead when she drained a 3-pointer with Goforth's hand in her face at the end of the first half.
Brown's 3-pointer with 4:39 left in the third quarter gave Little Rock Christian a 50-41 lead, but Fayetteville went on a 7-1 run and pulled within 52-51 at the end of the quarter on Bridge's deep 3-pointer. Bridges finished with 11 points including three 3-pointers.
The Lady Warriors went up 58-54 on a shot inside by Rogers, but Fayetteville went on a 10-2 run to earn a tough win.
"That group right there is as good as any team in the state of Arkansas," Rimmer said of Little Rock Christian. "We were very fortunate to win the game."
Fayetteville will play a game in Ozark, Mo., today before hitting the holiday break. The Lady Bulldogs will compete in the Sandra Meadows tournament in Duncanville, Texas, when they return from the holidays. Little Rock Christian will return to the court in the Beebe Tournament.
Sports on 12/15/2018