Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Holt, Taylor put on offensive displays
Athletes are often judged on how they perform in postseason and two of the area’s best were terrific during conference tournaments last week.
The Bergman girls won the 3A-1 Conference Tournament with tournament Most Valuable Player Maddi Holt leading the way. Holt scored 24 points on Saturday when Bergman blasted rival Valley Springs 48-25 in the Tiger Dome at West Fork. She had 19 points on Friday when Bergman beat Elkins 52-27 in the semifinal game.
For her effort, Holt is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls Player of the Week. Layne Taylor of Farmington is the NWADG boys Player of the Week.
Holt was selected the Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette girls Player of the Year last spring when Bergman capped a perfect 43-0 season with a 66-42 win over Lamar at Bank OZK Arena. Holt has only added to her impressive resume as a senior while leading Bergman to a 31-4 record heading into Wednesday’s regional tournament games against Hackett.
“Maddi is always fun to watch on offense, but people often forget how great of a defender she is,” Bergman coach James Halitzka said. “Maddi is typically given the task of defending the other team’s best scorer and that usually means they are going to have to look elsewhere to put points on the board. Her accountability and leadership on defense toward the end of this season has been equally as impressive as what she brings us offensively.”
Taylor is a prolific scorer and playmaker who was selected the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette boys Player of the Year last spring as a sophomore. He was able to showcase his ability again last week when Farmington moved to 32-0 on the season after winning the 4A-1 Conference Tournament at Berryville.
Taylor poured in 44 points when Farmington destroyed Huntsville 112-46 in the championship game on Saturday. He had 34 points when the Cardinals beat Berryville 87-43 in the semifinal game.
Taylor made eight of Farmington’s 19 3-pointers against Huntsville and eight of his team’s 11 3-pointers against Berryville. He also had a combined 17 assists in those two games.
Taylor, who had a triple-double against Berryville last month, set a Farmington single-game scoring record when he blitzed Huntsville for 61 points last year as a sophomore.