Three-point play lifts Har-Ber
FAYETTEVILLE — Jaxon Conley grabbed a rebound and sprinted down the court with teammate Kaleb Forguson as the clock ticked down. Slicing in from the left side, Conley took a pass from Forguson in stride and flipped a layup off the glass, drawing a foul in the process.
Conley calmly sank the free throw to complete the three-point play with five seconds left and that was the difference as Springdale Har-Ber claimed a 50-47 win against Fayetteville in yet another 6A-West Conference nail-biter Friday night.
“Every time you lace them up in this league, and it doesn’t matter if it’s on the road or at home, it’s going to be a heck of a game,” said Har-Ber Coach Tommy Deffebaugh “You’re not going to blow anybody out. Every game is going to come down to the wire. You have to execute, you’ve got to do the little things. Tonight, we hit free throws, finally.”
Har-Ber (11-5, 3-2) came into the game off back-toback close losses in which the Wildcats saw fourth-quarter leads disappear. On Friday, Har-Ber was 9-of-10 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, which helped nail down the win.
Fayetteville, which jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, trailed 47-42 with 1 minute, 29 seconds left in the game after Har-Ber’s Jake Fotenopulos grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the put-back attempt. His two free throws gave the Wildcats the five-point cushion, which lasted just a matter of seconds.
The Bulldogs quickly whipped the ball up the court and Quenci Bradford drained a corner three-pointer that sliced the deficit to 47-45. After a Har-Ber turnover, the Bulldogs tied the game at 4747 with 46 seconds left on a spinning shot from Jaiden Wilson.
Har-Ber failed to score after the Wilson shot, and the Bulldogs also missed a late shot for the lead. Conley grabbed the miss and the Wildcats completed the 2-1 break with his game-winning layup.
The Wildcats did not panic after trailing 10-0, said senior post Nate Kingsbury.
“I knew this game was going to be intense the whole way,” said Kingsbury. “This was just a really fun atmosphere to play in. We were kind of rattled at the beginning. We weren’t ready for all the pressure, but we got a time out and we calmed everything down and went back to our game and played good defense. That got us back in the game.”
Har-Ber was able to climb out of the 10-0 hole thanks to Keegan Lehmann, who hit a pair of first-half three-pointers that helped the Wildcats get back within 14-12 and 1614.
Fayetteville (11-7, 1-4), which lost its fourth conference game by fewer than five points, got a huge lift from sophomore Xavier Brown off the bench in the first half. Brown hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with 10 points for the Bulldogs.
Har-Ber sophomore Hayden Wood scored a gamehigh 16 points and came up with a number of clutch plays for the Wildcats, said Deffebaugh.
“I thought he was really solid,” said Deffebaugh. “For a young man like he is, a sophomore, I love him. He plays hard, he’s not afraid of the moment. He stepped up there and made some big shots, made his free throws. He’s long, he’s a really good passer. He’s smart, he understands the game and I’m glad he’s on our team. We need him. He’s a good player for us.”
Ornette Gaines led the Bulldogs with 11 points. Conley finished with 12 for HarBer.
Har-Ber will look to carry the momentum from Friday night’s road win into Tuesday’s road game at Fort Smith Southside. Fayetteville looks to get back on track at Rogers Heritage on Tuesday.