Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Charging Wildcats sink Wolverines
North Little Rock’s one-two punch dispatches Bentonville West.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 66, BENTONVILLE WEST 41
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Gabe Hornsby needed just 11 seconds to enter the lane and hit a soft floater to give Bentonville West a quick lead Friday night.
The next 5 minutes became a living nightmare for the Wolverines.
Moses Moody and Collin Moore gave North Little Rock a one-two punch, combining to score the next 16 points, and the Charging Wildcats remained in control en route to a 66-41 victory over West during Class 7A State Tournament quarterfinal action in Charging Wildcat Arena.
“They’re number one for a reason,” West coach Greg White said. “You come into their home court on a Friday night, and you expect to get their best effort. And the crowd was into it.”
Moody had 11 of those points, including a threepoint play with 5 minutes, 1 second left in the first quarter, and Moore capped North Little Rock’s 22-2 run with a dunk at the 1:46 mark. West (19-10) went more than 6 minutes with a field goal before Hunter Swoboda ended the outburst, connecting on a three-point play just seconds later.
The Wolverines tried to make it interesting late in the first half as a 3-pointer by Garrett Wilmot and two more by Collier Blackburn pulled West within 28-21 with 2:32 before halftime. The Wolverines would get that close on one more occasion — 34-26 after a Hornsby bucket with 4:27 left in the third quarter — but Moore’s third dunk of the game moments later gave North Little Rock (25-5) a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
“They’re a different caliber of team in a hostile environment,” White said. “I didn’t know how we were going to match up. Our kids could have folded and quit, but they never did.
“I thought we had a chance. I thought we were uncharacteristic at the freethrow line and missed too many. We were also a little soft with the ball. We had our worst game of the year at the worst time.”
Moore led North Little Rock with 19 points, followed by Moody with 15. Hornsby was the only West player in double figures with 10.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 53, ROGERS HERITAGE 50 (OT)
Tylor Perry’s deep 3-pointer as time expired in overtime gave Har-Ber the victory and sent the Wildcats to today’s semifinal against North Little Rock.
Perry took the ball near midcourt with time winding down, then strolled to his left. He then faked Seth Stanley and moved deeper toward the left wing, then fired the ball over Stanley just before the buzzer sounded.
“We have two good guards, and they make a lot of plays,” Har-Ber coach Scott Bowlin said. “It was Tylor’s night.
“At this point, it’s just win, survive and advance, no matter how you do it. I’m just telling the other players to stay out of his way. I wanted Tylor Perry or Tyler Garrett to take the last shot, and what a shot. That’s the reason he’s an all-state player and a Division I player.”
It was the only bucket hit in overtime as the only other points were free throws by Perry and Heritage’s Dawson Peek, who tied it with 1:54 remaining.
Stanley had hit seven straight points to give Heritage (18-11) a 43-37 lead with 3:11 left in regulation, but Har-Ber (23-6) chipped away and eventually tied it when Perry snuck inside and picked up a layup to tie the game at 46 with 1:35 remaining. Peek put Heritage back in front with two free throws with 56.2 seconds left, but Garrett hit two more and tied with 45.8 seconds left.
The War Eagles tried to hold for a final shot, only to be called for traveling with 5.8 seconds left. Garrett’s shot at the buzzer was off the mark, forcing overtime.
Perry finished with 18 to lead HarBer, followed by Garrett with 14 and Nick Buchanan with 10. Stanley led all scorers with 21 points, 13 of them in the fourth quarter, while Peek added 10 for Heritage.