Conway wins with hustle, muscle

VAN BUREN -- Conway led by 15 points when Junior Williams dove headfirst in an attempt to save the ball before it rolled out of bounds in the opening round of the Class 7A state boys basketball tournament. Williams' second-half play exemplified the intensity Conway brought to the court Wednesday en route to a 48-34 victory against Fayetteville at Clair Bates Arena. Conway (15-13) used two big scoring runs, and Fayetteville (12-15) had no answer for the Wampus Cats' athleticism, especially in the post where 6-6 senior Gentrell Taylor and 6-7 junior Blake Bradshaw combined for 21 points and 12 rebounds. "I think entering the game we knew we had to attack inside, not only with post feeds, but off the dribble," Conway Coach Will Johnson said. "Our guys bought into that and they understood it. It's something we've been coaching all year. Today we did a really good job of getting that done." Fayetteville Coach Kyle Adams said he knew the Bulldogs faced a difficult matchup inside. He said he hoped the Bulldogs would be able to counter that by shooting well from the perimeter, but Fayetteville was 2 of 16 from behind the 3-point line. "If you can't get something on the block, then you have to rely on perimeter shooting," Adams said. "For us early in the year that was an Achilles heel, but since the second rotation of our conference we've shot the ball pretty well. I attribute that more to their defense. I thought Will had their kids ready to play. I thought they did a really good job in their man defense and mixing in some zone as well." Fayetteville led 9-7 when Bradon Simon scored inside with under a minute to play in the first quarter. Conway's Kendarious Smith made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the quarter, and the Wampus Cats outscored the Bulldogs 9-0 to take a 16-9 lead when Taylor came up with a turnover near half court and hit a layup. Conway scored 21 points off 18 Fayetteville turnovers. Fayetteville trailed 21-15 at halftime, but the Wampus Cats against the Bulldogs 9-0 to open the third quarter to take a 30-15 lead, and Fayetteville never seriously threatened the rest of the way. "We did a good job of closing out and flying out at their shooters today," Johnson said. "And after the shot went up, we blocked out well. "This group has played hard. We've had some tough losses. Our conference is really tough. I think that made us tougher and tougher." Taylor finished with 11 points and Bradshaw 10 for Conway. Tyler Roth led the Bulldogs with 12 and Caleb Finney had 9. Conway will take on No. 1 seed North Little Rock at 5:30 p.m. today.

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CONWAY WINS WITH HUSTLE, MUSCLE

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Arkansas Online | 3/2/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Shupe