FAYETTEVILLE -- Fort Smith Northside showed Tuesday the Grizzlies could be a top contender this year in Class 6A.
Northside grabbed a big lead and rolled to a 66-54 victory over Fayetteville at Bulldog Arena. Northside, which won the Class 7A state championship in 2017 and finished second last year to North Little Rock, led 22-8 after one quarter and 37-21 at halftime.
Fort Smith Northside 66, Fayetteville 54
Northside 22 15 15 14 — 66
Fayetteville 8 13 14 19 — 54
Northside (1-1): Releford 21, Gordon 14, Norwood 11, Williams 10, Henderson 6, McKinley 4.
Fayetteville (1-1): T. Releford 17, Cooper 11, I. Releford 8, Garrett 6, Barnett 5, A. Releford 4, Gibbs 3
Tuesday's game was a rematch from last spring when Northside eliminated Fayetteville in the semifinals of the Class 7A state tournament. Northside scored 23 consecutive points, led 30-4 after one quarter, and won that game easily, 78-54.
Northside handled Fayetteville with ease on Tuesday after losing by two points to Southwest Christian Academy in its season-opener last week.
"We've got to do a better job defensively," Northside coach Eric Burnett said. "Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things. I'm proud of the way we came out and played."
Northside must find some more firepower to replace Isaiah Joe, who is a starting guard as a freshman for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Senior Javion Releford looks like he could fill that role after scoring 21 points against Fayetteville.
Releford made two 3-pointers, but most of his points came after aggressive moves to the basket. He had 14 points at halftime, including a steal and fastbreak layup to put Northside ahead 28-8.
"Javion started for me last year, and he was a major impact player," Burnett said. "So, I expect him to step up and play that role Isaiah did. So far, he's been doing it. But I want him to do more."
Northside also has a big-time player in Jaylin Williams, a 6-foot-10 junior center. Williams intimidated shooters inside, made two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.
Sophomore center Tamaury Releford finished with 17 points to lead Fayetteville. Guard Collin Cooper, who led Fayetteville in scoring last year, finished with 11 points. He made his first basket on a 3-pointer with six minutes, eight seconds left in the second quarter.
Fayetteville's only spurt in the first half came late in the second quarter when the Bulldogs outscored the Grizzlies 8-3. But Northside regained control to start the second half and led 52-35 after three quarters.
Fayetteville outscored Northside 19-14 in the fourth quarter to make the game appear closer than it was.
Springfield (Mo. Parkview 72, Rogers Heritage 60
Missouri State signee Tyem Freeman poured in a game-high 27 points and the Vikings used a 12-2 run to close the third quarter to pull away for the win in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday night.
Heritage (0-1) trailed only 39-36 at halftime, but the much bigger Vikings used their size advantage on the boards and pulled away for a 56-45 lead after three quarters.
Jason Kimball led the War Eagles with 15, while Logan Clines added 13. Ernie Rodriguez chipped in nine and Ethan Carpenter eight.
Rogers High 60, Fort Smith Southside 43
The Mounties outscored the Mavericks 23-12 in the second quarter to grab an eight-point halftime lead and went on to the road victory.
Derek Hobbs led all scorers with 18 points for Rogers (2-0). Drew Miller added 13 and senior Jaelon Carter chipped in 11.
Mykale Franks led Southside (0-3) with 18 and Elijah York added 13 for the Mavericks, who led 14-9 after one quarter.
Girls
Rogers 60, Fort Smith Southside 30
The Lady Mounties jumped to a 28-14 halftime lead and cruised to the nonconference win.
Carsyn Grimes led Rogers (2-0) with 11 points, while Camiran Brookhoff added 10.
Sports on 11/21/2018