FAYETTEVILLE — Even after his team buried the Springdale Bulldogs, 71-42, in their opener at the Class 6A State Tournament at Fayetteville High School, Bryant Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson was lauding their opponent, saying they didn’t look like a six seed to him, something he had mentioned before the game.
But his Hornets made them look every bit the part with one of their best shooting games of the season. With 12 of the 13 Hornets that got into the game contributing, Bryant shot 53 percent from the field (26 of 49) including 10 3-pointers.
The Hornets scored a whopping 48 points in the first half.
“We shot it really well the first half,” acknowledged Abrahamson, “defended them okay but not as good as we wanted to the first half even though the score made it look like we did. We were making shots so that made it all look good.”
With the win, the Hornets improved to 19-4 on the season and advance to play against Bentonville, a former top-ranked team in the state. The 21-2 Tigers lost in the finals of their conference tournament to Fayetteville to become the 6A-West’s 2 seed.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., this Thursday.
The Hornets rushed out to a 23-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and held a 48-19 advantage at the half. It was 63-31 going into the fourth quarter making it a mercy-rule game (running clock).
“They’re good,” Abrahamson insisted regarding Springdale.
“They’ve got some really good guards, some really good athletes, some playmakers,” he said. “They’ve got some nice pieces. We tried to prepare for what they like to do defensively and, offensively, just be us. And when we prepare for an opponent defensively, it’s really just being us.
“I thought our guys did a good job,” the coach said. “Springdale didn’t look like a six seed to me. We had a lot of respect for them and our kids showed that with their effort tonight.”
Camren Hunter scored 16 points and collected 13 rebounds, nearly as many as Springdale had as a team (15). Bryant out-boarded the Bulldogs 34-15.
Freshman Drake Fowler added 16 points hitting all seven of his field goal attempts including a pair of triples.
Kade Ruffner, Darren Wallace and Austin Schroeder scored 6 apiece.
Anthony Thomas paced the Bulldogs with 14 points, half of which came in the fourth quarter. Quin Cobbs had 12.
Springdale, which finishes its season 10-16, held a 4-3 lead early but when Hunter hit a jumper in the lane and Diggins scored off an offensive rebound, Bryant was up for good.
Ruffner made a steal that led to a three-point play by Hunter. Bryant forced another turnover and Fowler cached in with a drive to the rack to make it 12-4.
Cobbs scored to break his team’s drought but Fowler canned a 3 to make it 15-6.
It was 17-8 going into the final stretch of the opening quarter. Cory Nichols hit a 3 then fed Ruffner for a triple at the buzzer.
With a 3 from Dominique Hertin and a free throw from Thomas, Springdale cut the Bryant margin to 24-12. But the Hornets kept raining 3’s. Aidan Adams then Schroeder then Ruffner.
Fowler hit consecutive buckets and Nichols added a free throw to make it 38-15.
It was 41-19 before the Hornets closed the half with a 7-0 run. Hunter hit a jumper in the lane then poppped a trey. Wallace added a pair of free throws after making a steal.
The lead reached 30-plus points when Diggins took a dish from Hunter and scored to start the third quarter.
The largest margin was 34 when Fowler drove for a basket with 2:52 left in the third and Gabe George followed up with a 15-foot jumper to make it 63-29.
HORNETS 71, BULLDOGS 42
Score by quarters
Springdale 8 11 12 11 — 42
BRYANT 23 25 15 8 — 71
SPRINGDALE (10-16) 42
Jelks 2-8 1-2 5, Elgar 0-1 0-0 0, Cobbs 4-7 3-4 12, Hertin 2-7 0-1 5, Tate 2-4 0-0 4, Thomas 5-9 4-5 14, Campbell 0-2 0-0 0, Isaaks 0-1 0-0 0, Mills 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 15-39 (38%) 10-14 (71%) 42.
BRYANT (19-4) 71
Fowler 7-7 0-0 16, Nichols 1-3 1-2 4, Ruffner 2-6 0-0 6, Hunter 5-10 4-5 16, Diggins 2-3 0-0 4, Brunson 1-1 0-0 2, Wallace 1-3 4-4 6, Newburn 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 1-5 0-0 3, Schroeder 2-3 0-0 6, George 2-5 0-0 4, Lindsey 1-2 0-0 2, Billingsley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-49 (53%) 9-11 (82%) 71.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 10-22 (Ruffner 2-4, Hunter 2-3, Schroeder 2-3, Fowler 2-2, Adams 1-4, Nichols 1-2, Wallace 0-2, George 0-2), Springdale 2-12 (Hertin 1-4, Cobbs 1-2, Jelks’s 0-2, Thomas 0-2, Elkar 0-1, Campbell 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 12, Springdale 13. Rebounds: Bryant 11-23 34 (Hunter 4-9 13, Nichols 1-2 3, Ruffner 0-3 3, Wallace 1-1 2, Newburn 1-1 2, Schroeder 0-2 2, George 0-2 2, Fowler 0-1 1, Diggins 1-0 1, Brunson 0-1 1, Adams 1-0 1, Lindsey 0-1 1, team 2-0 2), Springdale 3-12 15 (Hertin 0-4 4, Jelks 0-2 2, Cobbs 1-1 2, Tate 0-2 2, Thomas 1-1 2, Isaak 0-1 1, Mills 0-1 1, team 1-0 1). Team fouls: Bryant 17, Springdale 14. Fouled out: Springdale, Hertin.
