‘Dude’ sparks West off the bench
CLASS 6A
BENTONVILLE WEST 55, FAYETTEVILLE 51
ROGERS — Bentonville West showed Friday it has more than Tucker Anderson as a reliable scorer.
Sophomore Zahir James came off the bench and contributed 12 points to help Bentonville West defeat Fayetteville 55-51 in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A state tournament at Mountie Arena. Anderson still scored 24 points to lead the Wolverines, but it was James who held the team together after its two big men, the 6-6 Anderson and 6-10 Lane Jeffcoat, got into early foul trouble.
Anderson had seven points when West went into halftime trailing 18-16. He then reemerged in the fourth quarter with a driving basket and a three-pointer to give Bentonville a 50-46 lead with one minute left to play.
“He’s a dude. … He’s my guy,” Bentonville West Coach Greg White said of James. “… He could start for any other team, but he’s embraced his role.”
Anderson is also a bigtime player who has signed with the University of Central Arkansas. He scored 19 points in the second half after being limited by foul trouble in the first half. But Anderson went aggressively to the rim in the fourth quarter, often times while being doubled- or triple-teamed. He made one basket and went 8-of-8 from the freethrow line.
“I knew I had to keep attacking, keep attacking,” Anderson said. “Once you see a couple of free throws go through, you kind of get into a rhythm and you want to keep going at it.”
West (26-3) advanced to the semifinals after splitting with Fayetteville (21-10) during 6A-West Conference play. West won 60-47 at home before losing 57-52 at Fayetteville on Feb. 14.
Fayetteville had a late chance to tie in Friday’s quarterfinal game after two missed free throws by Wes, but Jadyn Haney missed a three-pointer with just seconds left. Ornette Gaines and Brylan Sims each had 12 points to lead Fayetteville. Haney added 10.
Fayetteville carried the momentum into the locker room after Haney hurried the ball up court with 7.7 seconds left and zipped a pass to Jaiden Wilson, who made a three-pointer from the corner to give the Bulldogs an 18-16 lead.
Fayetteville continued the momentum in the third quarter when Xavier Brown made a three-pointer to begin a 9-2 surge that prompted a timeout with the Wolverines trailing 27-18. But West was able to regroup with Anderson and James carrying the load to place the Wolverines in tonight’s semifinal game against Springdale.
SPRINGDALE 60, LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL 55
Isaiah Sealy scored 21 points and Courtland Muldrew 17 to lead Springdale past Little Rock Central in Friday’s late game.
Sealy scored seven of Springdale’s 11 points in the second quarter to spur the Bulldogs to a 27-22 lead at halftime. Springdale then went inside for three consecutive baskets by Tevin Tate and a three-point play from Cy Bates to extend its lead to 36-25 in the third quarter. Muldrew had the hot hand early with seven points in the first quarter for Springdale. (24-8).
Annor Boateng scored 18 to lead the Tigers (24-7).