LADY POINTERS SNAP LADY BULLDOGS’ HISTORIC STREAK

The Van Buren Lady Pointers ended the longest winning streak in 7A-West history on Friday night. They seized the lead for good with an eight-point run midway of the fourth quarter and held off Fayetteville for a 59-53 win at Clair Bates Arena. Fayetteville (16-3, 9-1) had just set the conference record with its 48th straight win on Tuesday against Rogers and hadn’t lost a 7A-West game since early January, 2016, that eclipsed the record held by Northside 11 years ago. “It’s great anytime you get a conference win, but a conference win against a really good team and program it makes just a little bit more special because you respect them so much,” Van Buren head coach Chris Bryant said. “They’re not just a team, they’re a brand, they’re a program.” Friday, Van Buren (11-12, 4-6) cinched the win from the free-throw line in the final two minutes. “You can try to prepare kids, but you can’t really prepare them until they experience a road game where a team is shooting lights out like Van Buren did,” Fayetteville head coach Vic Rimmer said. “My hat’s off to them because they really deserved to win the game.” Fayetteville led 44-41 after Hatianna Releford hit a lone free throw with 6:05 left. Brooklyn Kannady drilled a 3-pointer with 4:58 left and Kayleigh Evans followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession as Van Buren took a 47-44 lead with 4:15 remaining. Evans converted a Fayetteville turnover into a fast-break layup with 3:29 left to push the Lady Pointers up, 49-4, to cap an 8-0 three-possession run. “Our kids knew they were going to have to weather storms,” Bryant said. “They knew they had to make plays. We were fortunate those shots went in.” Both teams swapped misses from the free-throw line before Sasha Goforth hit a single free throw with 2:42 left that had Fayetteville within, 49-45. Rylee Ryan hit two foul shots and Kannady added another freebie to keep Van Buren up, 52-45, with 1:50 left. Fayetteville was never closer than five points again. “They shot the ball as well as I’ve seen them shoot the ball,” Rimmer said. “A couple of years ago, Chris had a couple of teams that were built around some shooters. That reminded me of those teams. They execute well. They got open looks, and the made them.” Lexi Miller hit five free throws in the final 1:19 for Van Buren, and Evans added a basket at the buzzer. “Our kids fought and came out and played connected, defensively,” Bryant said. “Our level of fight and competitiveness was as high as it has been all year.” Van Buren forced Fayetteville into 20 turnovers for the game with 11 of those in the second half, including eight in the pivotal fourth quarter. ’We got out of character late,” Rimmer said. “We got down and tried to make plays too quickly. We lost a little cohesiveness at the end. That attributed to the turnovers.” Van Buren also limited Fayetteville to just six field goals in the second half. “They took us off the perimeter,” Rimmer said. “We like to shoot the three ball. When we got to the lane, we didn’t finish. We had some chances and missed a lot of free throws during a stretch that could have kept the game within a possession. Their matchup zone causes us problems. The stuff that we did to combat that obviously wasn’t good enough.” The game was tight throughout with Fayetteville’s biggest lead being six points the last at 23-17. Van Buren’s biggest advantage was the seven-point, 52-45 lead, with 1:50 left. Fayetteville led 17-15 after a quarter, Van Buren led, 33-29, at the half, and Fayetteville had a 41-39 lead after three quarters. Miller led Van Buren with 21 points. Evans and Kannady each chipped in 13. Goforth had 15 points but on only three field goals, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Releford added 10 points. Fayetteville 59, Van Buren 42 BOYS — Fayetteville remained undefeated in the conference, erasing a first-quarter deficit with a second-quarter run and putting away a 59-42 win on Friday. Van Buren (5-17, 1-9) led 19-17 after a fast-paced first quarter behind Damarius Newton’s 10 points. After Brayden Gilmore scored to open the second quarter for Van Buren, Fayetteville went on an 11-2 run and grabbed a 34-25 lead at the half with the final six points of the half. Isaiah Releford led Fayetteville (19-3, 10-0) with 22 points. Collin Cooper added 14, and Tamaury Releford 10. Newton scored 14 points to lead Van Buren. Gilmore added 13.

LADY POINTERS SNAP LADY BULLDOGS’ HISTORIC STREAK

Photo Credit: Jamie Mitchell

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