VAN BUREN -- Springdale Har-Ber sophomore Tylor Perry said he believed the Wildcats were the better team going into Friday's game with Cabot.
Eighteen points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists later, Perry's feeling was solidified as Har-Ber used a second-half run to advance to the 7A state semifinals with a 53-43 victory over defending state champion Cabot.
7A STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals
Boys
Springdale Har-Ber 53, Cabot 43
Cabot^14^7^12^10^–^43
Har-Ber^13^14^11^15^–^53
Cabot (20-7): Stanley 16, Vance 8, Gilbertson 7, Duncan 5, Allgood 4, Barnes 2, Weir 1.
Har-Ber (22-7): Perry 18, T. Garrett 14, Taylor 14, Williams 2, King 2, Kaunitz 2, Boudreaux 1.
FS Northside , Bryant
Bryant^0^0^0^0^–^0
Northside^0^0^0^0^–^0
Bryant (18-10):
Northside (20-7):
"We came in here and knew what we had to do -- play Har-Ber basketball," Perry said. "That's what we did."
Perry led all scorers with 18 points, knocking down 12 of 16 free throws in the victory. Junior Tyler Garrett and senior Ryan Taylor came to his aid with 14 points each. Garrett recorded a double-double with 15 rebounds while Taylor sunk 4 of 9 from three-point range.
Taylor hit perhaps the game's biggest shot. Cabot pulled within 35-33 late in the third quarter after trailing by as many as seven, but Garrett found Taylor for a three-pointer to send Har-Ber into the fourth quarter with a five-point lead.
"Ever since his father passed away a week and a half ago, he's been kind of in a fairy-tale mode," Coach Scott Bowlin said of Taylor. "He's giving our team so much energy just because of the way he's handled himself through the adversity. These guys have rallied around him."
Taylor's three-pointer sparked a 13-2 run that put the Wildcats up 13 with four minutes to play, and Har-Ber led by as many as 17.
As the lone 7A-West team remaining on the boys side, Bowlin said all of the talk regarding the strength of the 7A-Central was a motivating factor Friday.
"I knew it was going to be tough, and I know the Central is tough," Bowlin said. "I'm not going to lie to you, we're able to read the newspaper and see what's being said about the Central and what's not about the West."
Senior Matt Stanley led Cabot (20-7) with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Bobby Joe Duncan, who played the final four games of the season with a fractured left wrist, scored five points and grabbed three rebounds.
Fort Smith Northside 69, Bryant 56
Northside senior guard Tevin Brewer scored a game-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the Grizzlies into tonight's semifinals against Springdale Har-Ber. Brewer was 3 of 4 from three-point range, and dished out 4 assists against no turnovers in 30 minutes.
Junior Isaiah Joe scored 18 points and made a pair of three-pointers to go with five assists. Tyrell Perry also scored 11 points for the Grizzlies. Calvin Allen scored a team-high 21 points for Bryant (18-11).
Northside shot 58 percent from the floor and 9 of 16 (56 percent) from three-point range.
Sports on 03/04/2017