Fayetteville rides defense to win against Van Buren

FAYETTEVILLE 59, VAN BUREN 39

VAN BUREN — Fayetteville had its defense locked in early on the road to stay unbeaten in conference play Friday night at Clair Bates Arena.

Fayetteville was able to build a lead early with stops then used a strong third quarter on offense to put the game away against Van Buren in a 59-39 victory in a 7A-West conference matchup. “I think that’s why we have won the games we have this season is with our defense,” Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. “I know we score the ball fine. Defensively, we can be very special. The kids have committed to this.”

Van Buren (12-7, 3-3) missed four shots and had six turnovers before it scored its first points of the game with about two minutes left in the first quarter. That allowed Fayetteville (14-3, 6-0) to build an early 10-2 lead.

“They were really good defensively,” Van Buren coach Chris Bryant said. “We didn’t help ourselves with the turnovers, either. They had a lot to do with that.”

Fayetteville pushed its lead to 22-9 with a basket from Coriah Beck in the second quarter. But Van Buren outscored Fayetteville 7-2 to close out the first half, cutting the advantage to 24-16 at the break.

“I was pleased with the fight we showed. We didn’t get blown out early,” Bryant said. “But in the second half, we couldn’t put together the possessions we needed to.”

Fayetteville made just eight of 22 shots in the first half, but was able to find much more efficient possessions right after halftime.

Jasmine Franklin and Sasha Goforth led the offense in the third quarter, where Fayetteville made seven of 10 shots. That helped the Lady Bulldogs take a 44-25 lead into the final quarter.

“We got stuck in our offense in the second quarter, I felt,” Rimmer said. “In the third quarter, I thought we passed the ball better. We moved it around and we got hot. We made some nice passes.”

Franklin finished with a game-high 22 points for Fayetteville. Goforth added 16 and Beck 10 for the Lady Bulldogs. Van Buren was led by Kayleigh Evans with 12 points and Jamilyn Kinney with nine.

Franklin was a consistent scoring threat throughout the night and she scored at least five points in each quarter. Goforth provided a offensive spark in the third quarter hitting three 3-point baskets.

Audra Unruh added a pair of 3-point baskets, including one in the fourth quarter, to give Fayetteville a 51-30 lead.

“It’s always a good win when you can get one on the road in this conference,” Rimmer said. “I was proud of Franklin and Goforth. But I’m proud of our other players, as well. We had some kids hit some big shots for us.” Fayetteville ....... 15 9 20 15 — 59 Van Buren.......... 4 12 9 14 — 39 Fayetteville (14-3, 6-0): Franklin 22, Goforth 16, Beck 10, Unruh 6, Webb 3, Logan 2.

Van Buren (12-7, 3-3): Evans 12, Kinney 9, Frazier 7, Sandoval 5, Schnakenberg 4, Myers 2.

ROGERS HIGH 39, SPRINGDALE HIGH 38

Courtney Storey scored on a driving bank shot with two seconds left to give Rogers (11-10, 3-3) a road win at Springdale (13-6, 4-2).

The basket was the only one of the game for Storey, who finished with four points after two made free throws in the fourth quarter. Ally Figenskau led Rogers with 12 points while Kate McConnell added 11 and Madison Loyd 10.

Thaly Sysavanh scored 15 points for Springdale, which played without Marquesha Davis, who missed the game after the death of her father. Davis leads the 7A-West with 24 points per game. Another Springdale starter, Jeniya Gause, missed most of the game with a knee injury in the first quarter.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 56, ROGERS HERITAGE 43

The Lady Wildcats got off to a quick start and held off a late Rogers Heritage charge for their second consecutive 7A-West Conference win.

Har-Ber (10-10, 2-4), which snapped a seven-game losing streak on Tuesday, jumped to a 17-5 lead after one quarter and stayed in front thanks to a variety of scorers.

Krislyn Smith and Maci Mains led four Lady Wildcats in double figures with 13 points each. Khanni Shannon and Savanna Collins chipped in 11 each. Shannon had all 11 in the first half to help Har-Ber to a 29-16 halftime lead. Sophomore Pam Seiler led all scorers with 14 for Heritage (5-13, 0-6). Brooke Menke was also in double figures with 11.

The Lady Wildcats also made nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter as Heritage tried to rally.

Heritage got no closer than nine in the second half.

BENTONVILLE HIGH 67, BENTONVILLE WEST 46

Freshman Maryam Dauda scored 18 points and became Bentonville’s career leader in blocked shots as the Lady Tigers rolled to a win in Wolverine Arena.

Dauda picked up her 97th blocked shot midway through the first quarter and surpassed Julia Garrard, who had 96 over two seasons. She also hit her first career 3-point with 1 minute before halftime.

Bentonville (15-4, 4-2) never trailed after an 17-2 run gave the Lady Tigers a 19-9 lead to end the first quarter. West (8-10, 1-5) pulled within 28-21 before Dauda’s 3-pointer, but the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Wolverines 24-8 in the third quarter to blow it open.

Avery Hughes added 17 points and Fess Hawkins 12 for Bentonville. Imani Richardson had 12 for West while Anna Kash added 11.