Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Red-hot ’Dogs rout Northside
6A-WEST BOYS FAYETTEVILLE 79, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 56
FORT SMITH — In their first trip to Northside Arena, Fayetteville shot the ball like it had been playing there for years.
The Bulldogs shot 64 percent from the first three quarters, building a 24-point lead to blowout the Grizzlies 79-56 in a 6A-West matchup Friday night.
The win gives Fayetteville (17-9, 7-5) a season split with the Grizzlies (16-10, 6-7) and keeps alive hopes to move up to a higher postseason seed for next month’s 6A State Tournament. Northside is now likely locked into the sixth seed from the West.
The Bulldogs, after starting 1-4 in the 6A-West, finished the week with a 3-0 record, including back-to-back road wins at Springdale HarBer and Northside.
“Last week in film session, I told them we had an opportunity to have a threewin week,” Fayetteville Coach Brad Stamps said. “It will be a busy week, but we take them one game at a time.
“When we were 1-4, I told them to take the mirrors off. We need to look ahead to what can we do in the next game to improve our seeding. Now on Sunday, I cannot wait to look where that 3-0 week puts us in the standings and then look ahead to the next game.”
The Bulldogs started the game hot, making 9- of-14 shots in the first quarter, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range, to gain a 25-17 advantage. Ornette Gaines led the first-quarter charge with 9 points.
Northside did attempt to rally at the start of the second quarter, scoring the first six points, capped by a Luke Young layup, to climb within 25-23 with 6:26 left in the first half.
Fayetteville, though, then went on an 11-0 run, finished off by a Jadyn Haney drive, to build the lead back to double digits at 36-25 as Northside did not score for 51/ minutes. 2 The Bulldogs led 39-27 at halftime on a Mason Simpson 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the first half.
“Northside had a run there, but I thought our second quarter run was huge,” Stamps said.
The Bulldogs finished the third quarter with a 21-8 run to open up a commanding 6541 lead.
“In two quarters [the first and third quarter] we had a combined 51 points,” Stamps said. “It all boils down to is the ball going through the hoop on certain nights. Tonight, it was. Right now, we are in a good place. We are playing our best basketball at the right time of the year.”
Fayetteville’s biggest lead in the fourth quarter was 7143 with 5 minutes left.
Four Bulldogs finished in double figures, led by Gaines’ 16-point effort. Xavier Brown and Jaydn Haney each had 12 while Mason Simpson added 11.
Jayvion Smith scored a game- high 18 to pace the Grizzlies while Danarion Whitmore added 12.