Boys' High School Basketball Notebook

Last updated Monday, January 9, 2006 10:45 PM CST in Sports

Nelson said the time off helped the Tigers take a step closer to full strength and prepare for a Russellville squad that makes up for its mediocre size with a great sense of court savvy.

"We've got to make their other kids beat us," Nelson said. "They're really not big, so we can hurt them under the basket."

Fayetteville Bulldogs
Coach: Barry Gebhart
Record: 10-3, 1-0 AAAAA-West Conference
Last Game: Beat Fort Smith Southside 53-23
Up Next: At Van Buren today
FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville coach Barry Gebhart couldn't help but be surprised following his team's victory against Fort Smith Southside last week.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 10-3 with the victory over the Rebels, made their first seven shots and jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead en route to an easy 30-point conference victory.

Fayetteville had nine players score points, led by senior forward Lewis Chase, who scored 13.

"Absolutely I was surprised," Gebhart said. "I mean, I prepare myself for close games and nail-biters in every game we play, and it was just a situation where we were hot and it snowballed for them."

Gebhart again stated how he was happy with the attitude levels of his players and how they stayed focused even with a big lead.

Gebhart went on to say that the intensity levels of his kids during Friday's game was the best that he's seen this season.

"Like I've said, I don't worry so much about other teams as I do about our team," Gebhart said. "I want to know how we're going to play and how we're going to be when we come out of the locker room."

Har-Ber Wildcats
Coach: Eric Burnett
Record: 5-7 overall, 1-1 in AAAAA-West
Last Game: Lost at Russellville 63-60
Up Next: Host Fort Smith Northside today
SPRINGDALE -- Alex Sarjahani broke Har-Ber's hearts last Friday in Russellville.

The senior Cyclone scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone by simply spotting up in the corner or taking advantage of creases the Wildcats gave him to penetrate into the lane.

"We lost track of him," said Har-Ber coach Eric Burnett. "We failed to stay with the scouting report and we let him free. We let him penetrate in there and get layups."

Friday's game was a more typical Har-Ber style of play. The Wildcats scored in the 60s, shot a decent percentage (41.5) and gave scorers Michael Sanchez and Nate Rakestraw their shots.

Sanchez finished the game with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Rakestraw posted 19 on 7-of-13 shooting, including three '3's.

But why was 60 not enough?

"There is no way we should (lose when we score 60 points). I don't think we played defense well," Burnett said. "We played well on Friday (offensively), but we have to play defense. The coaches in our conference are smart coaches and they will 'D' you up and we didn't do that. They are going to have a game plan for you."

The Wildcats shot just 4 of 22 from 3-point range.

Marcus Pillow scorched the Wildcats for 25 points to improve his AAAAA-West leading scoring average to 19 points per game.

Sanchez leads Har-Ber and is second in the league with 17.5 points, while Rakestraw is scoring 13.5.

Springdale Bulldogs
Coach: Charles Smith
Record: 5-8 overall, 1-1 in the AAAAA-West
Last Game: Lost at Van Buren, 63-54
Up Next: At Rogers tonight
SPRINGDALE --One of the biggest challenges for Bulldogs coach Charles Smith this season hasn't had anything to do with his coaching on the court.

Rather, it's been simply trying to figure out his rotation from game to game.

Springdale opened its season without several key players who were still in action on the football field, and on Friday, the Bulldogs got another new infusion of talent when newly-eligible Donnell Cooper joined the team -- scoring 17 points in a tough loss to Van Buren.

In that game, Springdale played well for the most part during the first three quarters before the Pointers took advantage of some Bulldogs defensive miscues on a 17-5 run in the fourth quarter.

Also last week, Springdale was without seniors Ben Cleveland and Bartley Webb, who were both out of town at different high school football all-star games.

"Our chemistry is still not where it needs to be," Smith said. "Don't get me wrong, we're glad to have our football players.

"It's just taking a while to get everything going."

Rogers Mounties
Coach: Marty Barnes
Record: 10-3 overall, 1-1 AAAAA-West
Last Game: Lost 38-29 to Northside
Up Next: Hosts Springdale High, tonight
ROGERS -- Springdale has Coach Marty Barnes' attention.

Springdale (5-8, 1-1) visits King Arena tonight to face a Rogers team coming off a 38-29 loss at Fort Smith Northside. Barnes said Springdale is improving with each game and that the Bulldogs are even more potent with the addition of guard Darnell Cooper.

"Springdale's football players are starting to get into the basketball swing of things,'' Barnes said. "They got a big boost in that Darnell Cooper is eligible. Cooper is a Marcus Pillow-type player. Darnell's presence will give them a 20-point average from the guard position. The Bulldogs have a legitimate shot at finishing in the top four.''

Barnes said the Mounties must shoot the ball better, from the perimeter and at the free throw line. Rogers was just 2 of 13 from 3-point range in second half of Friday's loss to the Grizzlies while missing key free throws.

"A big factor was our inability to go to the foul line and even on the times we did, we did not shoot foul shots as well as what we had been,'' Barnes said. "I was surprised at how poorly we shot the ball from the perimeter.''

Reader Comments (No comments posted.)

The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.