FAYETTEVILLE -- Saturday nights in Fayetteville for basketball often feature the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena.
But the action on this Saturday was at Bulldog Arena, where a large crowd came to watch No. 1 Springdale Har-Ber and No. 3 Fayetteville play a makeup game after their scheduled game on Tuesday was postponed by snow and ice.
Mother Nature knows what she is doing.
The Saturday night showcase was the perfect setting for the battle for first place in the 6A-West Conference boys standings. Fayetteville (19-2, 7-0) is now in the lead after the Bulldogs pulled ahead late in the first quarter and won 77-65 over Har-Ber (19-2, 6-1).
"We had the snow delay and everybody knew this would be a big game tonight," Fayetteville senior guard Jadyn Haney said. "It was really anticipated and when it got canceled, there was even more hype behind it. A lot of teams that didn't play tonight got to come and watch, and it was just a fun night."
A disappointed crowd at Bud Walton Arena had long cleared out following a lethargic performance from the Razorbacks, who lost 77-64 to South Carolina. The energy level was far superior at Bulldog Arena, where Fayetteville usually has a distinct home-court advantage with a large student section that stretches to near the three-point lines on both ends.
Har-Ber also brought plenty of fans, including a student section six rows deep who were dressed in black to support the Wildcats, who wore black with Carolina Blue trim.
The athletes from both teams played with great passion after winning 6A-West Conference games on Friday. Fayetteville beat Rogers 66-49 while Har-Ber took down rival Springdale, 64-50.
A few of the underclassmen on the court Saturday are the college stars of tomorrow, including Fayetteville sophomore center DJ Hudson and Har-Ber freshman forward DeMarion Lee. Hudson finished with 18 points and Lee had 13.
But the biggest stars in this game were Fayetteville seniors Ornette Gaines and Xavier Brown, who combined for 48 points. Gaines led the way with 25 points followed closely by Brown with 23. Har-Ber's Courtland Muldrew led all scorers with 32.
Fayetteville took control after Brown and Haney made consecutive three-pointers late in the first quarter. Brown then scored five consecutive points in the third quarter to prompt a Har-Ber timeout with the Wildcats trailing 47-36.
Fayetteville maintained its lead in the fourth quarter and Hudson punctuated the Fayetteville victory with a slam dunk with 24.4 seconds to play.
Fayetteville now has control but nothing is decided yet in the 6A-West Conference. Far from it. But there likely will not be a game that matches the energy level and excitement displayed at Bulldog Arena on Saturday night until the Class 6A state tournament in North Little Rock on Feb. 27-March 2.
Or, maybe, when Fayetteville plays Har-Ber at Wildcat Arena on Feb. 20.