Springdale High pulls away from Van Buren

SPRINGDALE HIGH 37, VAN BUREN 22

VAN BUREN — Springdale High used a big second half to pull away in a key 7A-West conference game on the road Friday night at Clair Bates Arena.

Springdale took control after the break holding Van Buren to just seven second-half points in a 37-22 victory after having a three-point halftime lead.

“Anytime you have three games left in the 7A-West, they are all big,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “This was big for the stretch we are in. We felt like we needed to win one to feel good. I’m proud of our effort on defense.”

Marquesha Davis finished with a game-high 18 points to lead the way for Springdale, which was tied in the conference standings with Van Buren entering the game.

Van Buren was led by Ira Sandoval’s team-high eight points.

The Lady Bulldogs made 7 of their 13 shots in the second half and held the Lady Pointers to just 3 of 13.

“In the second half, we let our offensive struggles affect

our defensive effectiveness,” Van Buren coach Chris Bryant said. “It got away from us there. I give credit to Springdale they played well.”

Springdale started to pull away by scoring the final six points of the third quarter to take a 26-18 lead. Davis capped a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter with a steal and layup to take a 35-20 advantage.

“I thought our possessions were way better on offense in the second half,” Hunsucker said. “We had a better feel of what kind of defense they were playing against. It took us a little bit to figure it out.”

The Lady Bulldogs made just one of eight shots from the field in the initial quarter but made up for it at the line. Springdale made six of six free throws to take a 8-6 lead into the second quarter.

Van Buren got off to a slow start missing its first five starts of the game but never trailed by more than four points in the first half.

“We felt good at halftime going in,” Bryant said. “We would’ve loved for some shots to go in in the first half. We were battling. We had some good looks. The ball just didn’t go in the hole.”

Springdale, which has now won four of its last five games, picked up the pace from the field in the second quarter, making four of nine field-goal attempts.

Van Buren was limited to eight of 29 from the field in Friday’s loss after scoring 24 points in a loss at Springdale earlier in the season.

“They have great shooters,” Hunsucker said. “We wanted to push them far away. They just didn’t go down for them. We wanted to contest all theirs shots. I’m very proud of our defense.” Springdale ......... 8 10 8 11 — 37 Van Buren.......... 6 9 3 4 — 22 Springdale (17-8, 8-4): Davis 18, Minchew 8, Vogel 4, Guase 3, Thaly Sysavanh 2, T. Sysavanh 2,

Van Buren (16-9, 7-5): Sandoval 8, Ryan 3, Evans 3, Porter 2, Kinney 2, Myers 2, Greebe 2. FAYETTEVILLE 49, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 36

The trio of Sasha Goforth, Coriah Beck and Jasmine Franklin combined for 45 of Fayetteville’s points as the Lady Bulldogs clinched the outright 7A-West Conference title with a win at Har-Ber.

Goforth set the tone early with 14 of her 16 points in the first half, while Beck scored 9 of her 19 points in the third quarter. Franklin then capped things for Fayetteville (20-3, 12-0) with 9 of her 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Savanna Collins had 12 of her 17 points in the first half to lead Har-Ber (13-13, 5-7), while Krislyn Smith added 13.

BENTONVILLE HIGH 41, ROGERS HIGH 32

The Tigers finally put away a persistent Rogers team late in the fourth quarter Friday night, finishing the game on a 15-5 run.

Bentonville (20-5, 9-3) struggled against Rogers’ shooters early in the game, but a second-half defensive adjustment proved to be the difference maker in the win over the Mounties (12-15, 5-7).

Avery Hughes led all scorers with 16 points for Bentonville, while Madison Loyd led Rogers with seven. ROGERS HERITAGE 55, BENTONVILLE WEST 52

The Lady War Eagles claimed their first 7A-West Conference win Friday night.

Senior Kayla Richardson made a big shot at the halftime buzzer to give Heritage a five-point lead en route to the win. Richardson finished with eight points, six rebounds and two assists. Danielle Dickerson led Heritage with 11 points, while Pam Seiler added 10.

Anna Kash led West with 12.