FAYETTEVILLE -- There's a saying among coaches about big-time players playing big in big-time games.
Fayetteville's top two stars did exactly that on Friday night in a matchup between first-place teams in the 6A-West Conference.
Sasha Goforth and Coriah Beck combined for 46 points to lead Fayetteville to an 85-45 victory over Springdale High at Bulldog Arena.
Goforth scored 27 points and Beck 19 for Fayetteville (12-2, 5-0 6A-West), which took over in the second quarter and turned the game into a rout in the third quarter.
Both players left the game for good after Fayetteville increased its lead 70-35 in the third quarter.
"They're such different players," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "Coriah, she's more around the rim. She's a creative kid and she's got some wiggle to her. Sasha, she can shoot the 3 and she can go to the rim because she gets so high. Both of them can drive and hit those open players, which shows how unselfish they are."
Goforth made five 3-pointers for Fayetteville, which hit 12 of 23 attempts. That's quite an improvement for Fayetteville, which had struggled with its shooting in recent games.
"The other night against Bentonville, we were 1 for 17 in 3-pointers," Rimmer said, "and it was worse before that. Not that we rely on the 3, but it's a big part of what we do."
Marquesha Davis, an Arkansas signee, scored 18 points while Thaly Sysavanh added 11 for Springdale.
The game was only close in the first quarter when Springdale (11-5, 4-1) trailed 11-10 after a basket Sysavanh. Fayetteville took over behind Beck, who scored on a variety of moves and had 15 points by halftime. Goforth then showcased her ability by scoring 12 consecutive points to extend the Fayetteville lead to 45-25 at halftime.
The break did nothing to slow Fayetteville, which outscored Springdale 25-10 in the third quarter. Goforth opened the second half with a 3-pointer, followed by two more baskets from Beck.
Ten players scored for Fayetteville, which emptied the bench in the fourth quarter.
Springdale 11 14 10 10-- 45
Fayetteville 22 23 25 15 -- 85
Springdale (11-5, 4-1): Davis 18, Sysavanh 11, Gause 6, Minchew 5, Bahena 3, Jibas 2.
Fayetteville (12-2, 5-0): Goforth 27, Beck 19, Bridges 7, Releford 5, Ritter 6, Flannigan 6, Roberts 6, Byars 3, Bailey 3, Saitta 3.
Bentonville High 56, Rogers High 41
Natalie Smith scored nine of her 11 points in the second quarter to help Bentonville pull away from Rogers in Tiger Arena.
Smith's contribution allowed the Lady Tigers (15-3, 4-1) to outscore the Lady Mounties 19-11 and turn a three-point lead into a 27-16 halftime cushion. Millie Skidmore then hit all her seven points as part of a 9-0 spurt to start the third quarter as Bentonville took its biggest lead, 36-16, midway through the third quarter.
"It was definitely a team win," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "There's not one player who truly stands out. Our guards did a fantastic job of getting the ball early, then Rogers made adjustments and created that kind of game.
"I told our girls one of the things I don't like is playing a game after a loss because you really don't know the residual effect of the loss. It didn't look good in the first quarter, but once they settled down they relaxed and worked on that lead."
Maryam Dauda was the only other Lady Tiger in double figures with 11, and the 6-foot-4 sophomore completed a double-double with 19 rebounds. Courtney Storey led Rogers (10-7, 2-3) with 15 points.
Rogers 5 11 10 15 -- 41
Bentonville 8 19 15 14 -- 56
Rogers (10-7, 2-3): Storey 15, McConnell 7, Treadwell 6, Brockoff 5, Hatch 3, Figenskau 3, Grimes 2.
Bentonville (15-3, 4-1): Smith 11, Dauda 11, Sanders 9, Hughes 8, Skidmore 7, Hayes 6, Baum 2, Kultgen 2.
Bentonville West 39, Rogers Heritage 33
The Lady Wolverines limited Rogers Heritage to just one field goal over the final 3 minutes, 37 seconds to pull away and earn their second consecutive 6A-West Conference victory on Friday night at War Eagle Arena.
Maddie Lynge's short jumper pulled Heritage (4-13, 0-5) within 32-30, but Lainee Knight's 3-pointer with 8.1 seconds left was all the Lady War Eagles could muster after that.
Kelsey Wood's baseline drive and layup pushed West's lead to four and the Lady Wolverines (7-10, 3-2) then hit 5-of-8 free throws over the final 1:47 to pick up the win.
West coach Randy Richardson said his team's experience was key late.
"It's nice having five seniors on the floor most of the time," Richardson said. "That's the difference. Kelsey Wood, she made a couple of nice steals, a fast-break layup that was big for us. Shania (Wilson) just went battling for us inside.
"Anna Kash when you get the ball in her hands, you know something good's gonna happen. There's a time the last two years we couldn't win close games. This year, we are."
Shania Wilson led all scorers with 11, while Wood added 10 for West, which led the entire first half. Lynge led Heritage with nine and Danielle Dickerson chipped in eight.
West 13 6 6 14 -- 39
Heritage 3 10 11 9 -- 33
Bentonville West (7-10, 2-3): Wilson 11, Wood 10, Kash 9, Mahone 7, White 2.
Rogers Heritage (4-13, 0-5):Lynge 9, Dickerson 8, Knight 7, Seiler 3, Cinnamon 3, Brooks 2, Frazier 1.
Van Buren 73, Springdale Har-Ber 41
A 12-0 lead to start the game was enough cushion for the Lady Pointers in a big road win Tuesday night.
Kayleigh Evans scored 12 of her game-high 25 points in the first quarter to give Van Buren (9-9, 2-3) the fast start coach Chris Bryant was hoping for.
"We opened up with three really good teams to start the league, so I'm really proud of our girls for not getting their heads down and continuing to believe we're a solid basketball team," Bryant said. "That's tough when you're getting some double-digit losses, so I'm really proud of their focus and attention to detail to be ready to come out and play against a good team in a tough place to play."
Despite falling behind early, Har-Ber (8-10, 1-4) managed to scrap back into the game in the second half and pulled within 36-31 with 4:02 left in the third quarter, but the Wildcats could not complete the comeback. Van Buren dominated the final 11 minutes of the game, outscoring Har-Ber 37-10.
Lexi Miller scored 19 points for Van Buren, and Rylee Ryan and Brooklyn Kannady added 11 points each.
Freshman Caylan Koons led Har-Ber with 14 points and Chloe Joyner scored 11.
Van Buren 17 12 13 31 -- 73
Har-Ber 5 16 14 6 -- 41
Van Buren (9-9, 2-3): Evans 25, Miller 19, Ryan 11, Kannady 11, Schnakenberg 4, Greebe 2, Porter 2.
Har-Ber (8-10, 1-4): Koon 14, Joyner 11, Starks 4, Nelson 3, Karu 2, Fotenopulos 2, Carter 2, Stubbs 2, Banks 1.
Sports on 01/19/2019