Early run sparks Fayetteville to 7A girls title

A blistering start gave the Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs enough of a cushion to withstand a late rally by North Little Rock in the Class 7A girls championship Saturday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.

Fayetteville sank six of its first seven three-point attempts in a 20-3 run and held on for a 59-49 win and record seventh Class

7A girls title.

“One of the questions that was asked to me all week long was how do we compare to North Little Rock; I told the media all week that I thought we were dead even as far as matchups,” Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. “I was surprised at the way we shot the ball so early from three. That’s clearly the difference in the game was that first quarter.”

Trailing 42-27 after three quarters, the Lady Wildcats pulled within 45-39 in the final five minutes but were never able to completely erase the deficit.

A trey by North Little Rock’s Amber Hawkinson cut the lead to 51-46 with two minutes to play before Fayetteville converted on six of seven attempts from the foul line to ice the game.

“The whole year we’ve played like that,” North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple said. “We’ve played getting down 16 or 17 and then all of the sudden here we come; I just think that we kind of ran out of time (today).”

Yo’Myris Morris and Mackenzie Tillman had three quick points for the Lady Wildcats in the first quarter before the Lady Bulldogs caught fire from behind the arc. Lauren Holmes had three treys and Maya Mayberry connected on two, giving Fayetteville an early 22-9 lead.

“We’ve been in some big games this past season, and Lauren was the one that would make those big shots for us,” said Rimmer. “It was refreshing to see her start nailing those; that first quarter frenzy of threes, I think clearly (was) the difference in the basketball game.”

Held to two points in the first eight minutes, Fayetteville freshman Sasha Goforth shouldered the scoring load in the second period. She scored seven of the Lady Bulldogs’ nine points, stretching the lead to 31-15.

“It’s been amazing having all the seniors to look up to for mentors and them just being great teammates to me, and getting me the ball in good situations,” Goforth said.

The Lady Wildcats showed signs of life offensively in the third quarter with Hawkinson and Morris combining for eight points, but Fayetteville matched them nearly shot for shot, leading 42-27 into the final period.

“If we just got off to a decent start, it would have been a heck of a ballgame, but that’s a lot of credit to them, too,” said Fimple. “A three-pointer in the girls game is such a momentum swing; it’s like a dunk in boys basketball. It was such a big momentum boost, and then they got to bounce around and feel like super women.”

Five quick points by Demyla Brown in the fourth quarter had North Little Rock thinking comeback before Goforth answered with a three-pointer to push Fayetteville’s lead back to 45-35.

The Lady Wildcats trimmed the gap to six points on three different occassions but could never get closer. After Morris converted an and-one, Holmes and Ashley Breathitt buried four straight shots from the foul line to set the final margin.

Morris paced North Little Rock with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and Tillman finished with 12 points and seven boards as the Lady Wildcats finished the season 28-3.

Named the game’s MVP, Goforth tallied a game-high 19 points with five steals, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks.

“Sasha’s a very gifted kid and a very humble kid,” Rimmer said. “She’s very skilled with the ball in her hands. She’s skilled to catch and shoot, and defensively tonight she was fantastic. Sasha’s ceiling is limitless; she’s going to be a tremendous player for us and thank God for three more years.”

Preventing a repeat for the Lady Wildcats, Fayetteville finished 30-2.