Shanks shines as Bentonville tops Fayetteville

Fayetteville's opportunity to clinch the 6A-West Conference's top boys seed will have to wait a little while longer. Bentonville kept its hopes alive Tuesday night as Michael Shanks scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Tigers claim a 56-49 victory in Bulldog Arena. "I'm just proud of our guys," Bentonville coach Dick Rippee said. "They showed a lot of resiliency. We were missing a starter and best defender in Sawyer Price, and others stepped in. Shanks isn't 100 percent, but he played much better and gaining confidence as we go. "I just thought we were solid. It was a great team effort." Bentonville (19-5, 9-2) had a 38-26 lead after Connor Deffebaugh's three-point play with 5 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter before Fayetteville stormed back with an 11-0 run. Darius Bowers then gave the Purple'Dogs their first lead since the first quarter when his three-point play made it 45-44 with 5:24 remaining. Shanks hit two free throws to put the Tigers back in front, only to have Bowers score and force another lead change. Shanks, who missed two games and only played limited minutes in Bentonville's loss Friday against Rogers Heritage, then hit back-to-back buckets in a 20-second span to put the Tigers ahead to stay. "The knee is sore and hurting right now," Shanks said. "But it feels great after that big win we got. Just finishing the game is what we've been taught, and we finished." Fayetteville did make it a 50-49 game on Connor Barnett's bucket with 1:25 left and had a chance to take the lead, but Barnett couldn't get a 3-pointer to fall. Bentonville then sealed the win with six free throws -- two each by Deffebaugh, Brayden Freeman and Thane Spencer -- in the final 60 seconds. Spencer, a sophomore who filled in for starter Sawyer Price, also had two critical steals in the final minute. The Bulldogs, despite their loss, remain one game ahead of the Tigers in the league standings with three games remaining and have the tiebreaker advantage over Bentonville. "I think we were so bad in the first half, and it was hard to fight out of that hole," Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. "In the second half, I was pleased with how hard we played. We did some things that made us more effective on the offensive end. For us, offense turns into bad defense when we take bad shots. "It's not about losing ball games. We've lost ball games before. It's about how we performed, and I don't think we performed very well. We're just trying to build and get better going into the state tournament. For some reason, we didn't play, and that one's on me." Freeman led Bentonville with 14 and Deffenbaugh finished with 10. Tamaury Releford had 15 to lead Fayetteville, while Collin Cooper chipped in 11. Bentonville^20^7^13^16^--^56 Fayetteville^12^8^17^12^--^49 Bentonville (19-5, 9-2): Freeman 14, Shanks 13, Deffebaugh 10, Spencer 9, Simmons 8, Pankau 2. Fayetteville (19-4, 10-1): T. Releford 15, Cooper 11, I. Releford 9, Bowers 9, Garrett 5.

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Fayetteville High School Athletics

SHANKS SHINES AS BENTONVILLE TOPS FAYETTEVILLE

HENRY APPLE

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/feb/13/shanks-shines-as-bentonville-tops-fayet/ | 2/13/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Shupe