Lady Purple'Dogs too much for Van Buren

Fayetteville had its defense locked in early on the road to stay unbeaten in 7A-West Conference play Friday night at Clair Bates Arena. Fayetteville was able to build a lead early with stops, then used a strong third quarter on offense to put the game away against Van Buren in a 59-39 victory. "I think that's why we have won the games we have this season is with our defense," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "I know we score the ball fine. Defensively, we can be very special. The kids have committed to this." Van Buren (12-7, 3-3) missed four shots and had six turnovers before it was able to score its first points of the game with about two minutes left in the first quarter. That allowed Fayetteville (14-3, 6-0) to build a 10-2 lead. "They were really good defensively," Van Buren coach Chris Bryant said. "We didn't help ourselves with the turnovers either. They had a lot to do with that." Fayetteville was able to push its lead out to 22-9 with a basket from Coriah Beck in the second quarter. But Van Buren outscored Fayetteville 7-2 to close out the first half to get within 24-16. "I was pleased with the fight we showed we didn't get blown out early," Bryant said. "But in the second half, we couldn't put together the possessions we needed to." Fayetteville made just eight of 22 shots in the first half but was able to find much more efficient possessions after halftime. Jasmine Franklin and Sasha Goforth led the offense in the third quarter while Fayetteville made seven of 10 shots. That helped the Lady Bulldogs take a 44-25 lead into the final quarter. "We got stuck in our offense in the second quarter I felt," Rimmer said. "In the third quarter, I thought we passed the ball better. We moved it around and we got hot. We made some nice passes." Franklin finished with a game-high 22 points for Fayetteville. Goforth added 16, while Beck had 10. Van Buren was led by Kayleigh Evans' team-high 12 points, while Jamilyn Kinney chipped in nine. Boys: Fayetteville 59, Van Buren 58 Fayetteville got a big shot from Collin Cooper to extend the lead late in the fourth quarter then the Bulldogs held on down the stretch. Cooper hit a 3-point basket that pushed Fayetteville's advantage to 56-54 with about 1:40 left in the game. "He has done it all year," Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said of Cooper. "He is our guy. He can take the big shots whenever he wants. I hesitate to say he has the green light at all times, but it is pretty green to me when he shoots it." Van Buren had an opportunity to tie the game with a 3-point basket but missed with just seconds left on the clock. Fayetteville (11-7, 4-2 7A-West) then missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Van Buren another shot. But the Pointers were then fouled, cutting the lead to one in the final seconds. Van Buren (10-9, 1-5) didn't help itself at times down the stretch making 12 of 19 free throws in the second half. "Every game in our league has been like this it has been a battle," Adams said. "I thought both teams played their hearts out. We just happened to make one or two more plays at the end." Cooper finished with a team-high 25 points to lead the way for Fayetteville. R.J. Johnson added 12, while Jon Conley had 11 for the Bulldogs. Van Buren was led by Jordan West scoring a game-high 28, including 12 in the second quarter.

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LADY PURPLE'DOGS TOO MUCH FOR VAN BUREN

HAROLD MCILVAIN

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 1/27/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville High School Athletics