Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Wells, Patton end league play strong
NWA DEMOCRAT- GAZETTE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Signing a letter of intent to play softball at the University of Arkansas was part of a memorable week for Jayden Wells.
The Paris senior fol - l owed her signing ceremony two days later by scoring the game-winning basket in a 4543 victory over Cedarville. Wells had 19 points to lead all scorers for Paris (16-11, 10-4), which secured the No. 3 seed from the 3A-4 Conference.
For her effort, Wells is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls Player of the Week. Walker Patton of Bergman is the NWADG boys Player of the Week.
Wells had been slowed by an ankle injury that forced her to miss three games. Paris coach Jonathan Vire had planned on limiting Wells’ minutes against Cedarville but she showed no signs of discomfort and ended up winning the game for the Lady Eagles. The sequence began when Wells took an outlet pass on the right side of the floor. She then dribbled across half court and split defenders before continuing left, where she maneuvered past more defenders, and finished her drive with a layup from the left side of the basket.
“The plan was to just play her sparingly to get her legs back,” Vire said. “As the game went on, she didn’t show any signs of slowing down and we definitely needed her. I was going to call a timeout (on the last play) but decided to trust her to either make a play, get fouled, or we would have just gone into overtime. I’m glad I just let it play out.”
Wells was obviously excited about signing with Arkansas, which is 6-0 after beating Baylor 11-7 in the Rebel Kickoff in Las Vegas on Sunday. But for now, Wells remains focused on basketball and the 3A-4 Conference Tournament that began on Monday in Paris.
Few players were more active last week than Patton, who totaled 77 points in four games last week for Bergman. Patton saved his best for last when he poured in 33 points a 79-52 win over Flippin. The victory extended Bergman’s winning streak to 19 consecutive heading into the 3A-1 Conference Tournament at West Fork. Bergman (32-4, 12-0) won’t have to play until Friday after earning the No. 1 seed.
“Walker has been the ultimate team player and leader for us this year,” Bergman coach Bo Martin said. “I knew he would have a big game for us Friday. It was his last career game to play in our gym at Bergman and he certainly delivered.”