Fayetteville turns up heat in second half

Lauren Holmes remained calm and let the play develop as the seconds ticked off the clock. From just outside the 3-point line, Holmes pulled up and drained a shot at the halftime buzzer that sent Fayetteville into the locker room with momentum, although it still trailed Conway 25-23. The Lady Purple'Dogs dominated the rest of the way in a 63-45 win in the Class 7A state basketball tournament on Friday in Clair Bates Arena. The win sends Fayetteville (28-2) into today's 6 p.m. semifinals against Little Rock Central. "That's a little set play we run just for that particular scenario," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "You get the ball in Lauren's hands for a three-ball and you're usually going to have a pretty good chance of getting a bucket." Before that shot, Fayetteville had suffered through a long stretch without a field goal after freshman Sasha Goforth hit a layup with 6 minutes, 32 seconds left in the second quarter that gave the Lady Purple'Dogs a 19-15 lead. "We were going through a spurt where we didn't make any points for like four minutes," Holmes said. "So I just shot it, hoping it would go in." Fayetteville last played a game a week ago, and the long layoff seemed to have an affect on the Lady Purple'Dogs in the first half. Although Rimmer said he didn't want to use that as an excuse, he admitted it took his team a while to get into a rhythm. "We just felt like our energy level in the first half was kind of low," he said. Fayetteville turned it up a notch in the second half and Conway, which had been in the state finals the past three straight years, had no answer. Homes, who finished with 13 points, hit a shot inside to open the second half, and Goforth knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers from the right corner to give Fayetteville a 31-27 lead and the Lady Purple'Dogs never trailed again. Conway managed to get within 32-31 when Jacie Higgins hit two free throws and added a layup, but Fayetteville closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to grab a 41-34 lead entering the fourth quarter. Goforth, a freshman who finished 16 points, and junior post Jasmine Franklin, who had 10, were big in the second half for Fayetteville. Goforth had 10 points and Franklin had 8 after halftime. That and Fayetteville's never-ending bench were the difference, Conway coach Ashley Nance said. "I think their depth is a huge part of their game," Nance said. "I mean, when you can sub someone in who's signed with the Razorbacks (Grayce Spangler), coming off the bench, that's a big deal. I thought Jasmine just stepped her game up. We expected that to be the issue in the first half." Conway (23-9) leaned heavily on Fu'Tra Banks in the first half, and the senior responded by dominating the paint for second-chance points. Banks led the Lady Wampus Cats with a game-high 17 points and added 5 rebounds. Savannah Lowe also carried the load offensively, and her driving layup with under a minute left in the first half gave Conway its biggest lead at 25-20 before Holmes drilled the momentum-changing 3-pointer at the buzzer.

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FAYETTEVILLE TURNS UP HEAT IN SECOND HALF

CHIP SOUZA

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 3/4/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville High School Athletics