Muldrew, Halitza go on the offensive

Springdale Har-Ber faced the difficult challenge of trying to clinch the 6A-West Conference championship outright in front of a large crowd on the court of its rival.

Courtland Muldrew made sure the Wildcats got it done.

Muldrew scored 25 points to lead Har-Ber to a 62-60 victory. The previous Tuesday, the Wildcats defeated Fayetteville to earn a share of the league title, the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye for the Class 6A state tournament in North Little Rock. Har-Ber (27-2, 151) will face the winner of the game Tuesday between Jonesboro (15-13, 5-7) and Bentonville at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in a second-round game.

Muldrew showcased his ability before an overflow crowd in the final game at Bulldog Gymnasium. He scored nine consecutive points to open the fourth quarter then added a late free throw after Springdale rallied to the game 59-59 with 1:59 left to play.

For his effort, Muldrew is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Player of the Week.

Muldrew is a dynamic athlete who can score in a variety of ways. He was at his best after Springdale (18-11, 11-5) rallied from an 11-point deficit to get within 48-44 to start the fourth quarter on a basket by Isaiah Sealy.

That’s when Muldrew took over.

Muldrew made back-toback three-pointers and added a pull-up jumper in between a Springdale timeout to give the Wildcats a 56-44 lead. Muldrew was so confident in his shot, he stopped behind the arc while racing down court and scored from long range when Har-Ber had a 2-on-1 man advantage against Springdale.

“How about Muldrew?” Har-Ber Coach Tommy Deffebaugh said. “He’s just bigtime. It took him a little while to get going. But once he gets started, you just kind of stay out of the way and let him do his thing.”

Jacey Halitzka of Bergman is the NWADG girls Player of the Week.

Halitzka has been doing her thing all season long as a freshman for Bergman. She had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists when Bergman beat Valley Springs 45-39 to win the Class 3A Region 1 championship. Haliztka made four three-pointers, including a long three to add fuel to a 9-0 run for Bergman to start the fourth quarter.

“I was proud of how she stepped up and was aggressive to score in a big moment,” Bergman Coach James Halitzka said of his daughter. “Some of her biggest games this year have come against our strongest competition. In the finals, she hit some really big shots at times when we had to have a bucket. Her five rebounds were also huge for us while we were battling a lot of foul trouble with our bigs.”

The win for Bergman (383) avenged a defeat to Valley Springs (25-10) in the district finals.