Roper’s hot hand propels Southside

FORT SMITH — After struggling from the three-point arc in regulation, Fort Smith Southside’s Alex Roper was still confident of his shot in overtime.

Roper drained a three-pointer with 2:25 left in overtime, then hit two free throws in the final second to lift the Mavericks to a 66-63 6A-West boys victory over rival Fort Smith Northside on Tuesday at Southside Arena.

Though the Grizzlies (812, 1-4) leads the overall series 82-44, the Mavericks (5-11, 2-3) snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series and won for the first time since 2018.

Roper, who scored all of Southside’s points in the extra period, had forced overtime by making two free throws with 21.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 59-59.

“We had the guy at the end that we knew would make the free throws,” Southside Coach Stewart Adams said. “To come away with a win is outstanding. Our kids played so hard, made a great effort and came up with some big plays. We also had some kids that have not played much stepped in play some big minutes.”

Roper opened the overtime with a short jumper, only to be answered by Northside’s Luke Young, whose basket tied the game at 61-61 with 2:44 left. Roper and Young each scored a game-high 25 points to lead their respective teams.

After breaking the Grizzlies’ press, Trey Grant found Roper open on the wing and he made a three-pointer to give the Mavs the lead for good.

“Trey always knows where I am and he is a great facilitator,” Roper said. “When he broke the trap, he knew exactly where I was and made the pass. I rose up and shot the ball with confidence. [The shot] was the surge of energy that we needed.

Northside missed two shots and had a turnover in the next three possessions before Marco Smith scored with 11 seconds left to get to within 64-63,

Southside had missed four consecutive free throws in the final 25 seconds of overtime to give the Grizzlies one last chance. But a turnover gave Southside the ball with under a second left and Roper was fouled immediately on the inbound pass.

Southside led by as much as 10 late in the third quarter at 50-40 before Northside mounted a rally.

A three-pointer by Alex Flake got the Grizzlies within 51-49 with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter.

Derek Sheppard gave Northside its first lead since the second quarter on a three-pointer with 53 seconds left in regulation at 58-57. Antwoine Thomas made 1 of 2 free throws with 46 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 59-57 lead.

Cooper Watson contributed 13 points for Southside, while Gibron Sullivan added 11.

Shepard finished with 17 for Northside, while Smith added 11.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger) Fort Smith Southside’s Alex Roper goes up for a shot Tuesday night against Fort Smith Northside. Roper helped lead the Mavericks to a 66-63 overtime victory over the Grizzlies. Visit nwaonline.com/ photo for today’s photo gallery.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger) Fort Smith Northside’s Derek Shepard (1) tries to drive against the Fort Smith Southside defense in the second quarter of the teams’ game Tuesday night.