A melee which marred the end of a boys basketball game Friday night has led to the suspension of multiple players for tonight's 6A-West Conference games.
With 12.3 seconds left in the game at Springdale, Fayetteville's Austin Garrett was charged with a flagrant foul in a battle for a rebound with Springdale High's Tavari Eckwood. As the two players went to the floor, players and fans from both schools emptied onto the floor, setting off a wild and potentially violent scene.
School officials and law enforcement were able to calm the tensions and the final seconds of the game were played with Springdale claiming a 50-46 win. The loss kept Fayetteville (19-5, 10-2 6A-West) from clinching the No. 1 seed in the 6A-West, while the win kept Springdale's post-season hopes alive heading into the final two games of the regular season, starting tonight.
Fayetteville will have eight players available for tonight's game at Rogers Heritage, Bulldogs coach Kyle Adams said. By rule, any player who left the bench and went onto the court could face suspension for the next game. At the conclusion of Friday's game, the only Springdale players who were left were the five players on the court.
"We had four players who did not leave the bench area, and the four players who were on the court at the time," Adams said. "Austin was also on the floor, but the flagrant foul is an automatic ejection, so he won't play, either."
In all, six Fayetteville players were suspended for their participation in the melee. The Purple'Dogs have already clinched a playoff berth, but are trying to secure a top seed, which would mean a first-round bye in the 6A state tournament next week. Adams said he didno't anticipate bringing up any players from the junior varsity for tonight's game at Heritage.
Springdale (11-12, 5-7) is in a battle for one of the remaining playoff spots in the 6A-West. The Bulldogs travel to Bentonville tonight. There are three teams in the mix for the two remaining playoff spots in the conference. Springdale and Heritage are both 5-7 in league play, one game ahead of Bentonville West at 4-8.
Red'Dogs coach Jeremy Price said Monday he was still not sure how many of his players would miss tonight's game.
"It is an ongoing process," Price said via text message. "We do not know at this time who is in and who is out."
Adams repeated the same thing he said following Friday's game in regards to the incident.
"This was an unfortunate ending to the game," Adams said Monday. "Both teams played really hard. It was a physical game. Our kids did not respond well to adversity at all. We need to grow and learn from this and be better than that. I think we will."
6A-WEST STATISTICAL LEADERS
Through Feb. 5 Games
BOYS
TEAM OFFENSE G PTS AVG
Fayetteville 11 687 62.5
Springdale Har-Ber 11 630 57.3
Bentonville 11 605 55.0
Rogers High 11 545 49.5
Bentonville West 11 527 47.9
Springdale High 11 521 47.4
Rogers Heritage 11 488 44.4
Van Buren 11 478 43.5
TEAM DEFENSE G PTS AVG
Bentonville 11 489 44.5
Fayetteville 11 530 48.2
Springdale High 11 536 48.7
Rogers High 11 537 48.8
Rogers Heritage 11 560 50.9
Van Buren 11 603 54.8
Springdale Har-Ber 11 611 55.5
Bentonville West 11 615 55.9
INDIVIDUAL SCORERS
PLAYER, SCHOOL G PTS AVG
Jenkins, Springdale Har-Ber 11 211 19.2
Buchanon, Springdale Har-Ber 11 195 17.7
Cooper, Fayetteville 11 183 16.6
T.Releford, Fayetteville 11 160 14.5
Gilmore, Van Buren 11 150 13.6
Da.Bailey, Bentonville West 11 149 13.5
Mason Springdale High 11 147 13.4
Freeman, Bentonville 11 130 11.8
Clines, Rogers Heritage 11 129 11.7
Simmons, Bentonville 11 129 11.7
Deffebaugh, Bentonville 11 123 11.2
Di.Bailey, Bentonville West 11 119 10.8
Paschall, Rogers High 11 117 10.6
Phillips, Van Buren 11 116 10.5
Boyd, Springdale High 11 116 10.5
I.Releford, Fayetteville 11 115 10.5
Shanks, Bentonville 11 102 9.3
Miller, Rogers High 11 101 9.2
Brothers, Van Buren 11 98 8.9
Kimball, Rogers Heritage 11 93 8.5
Garrett, Fayetteville 11 81 7.4
Hobbs, Rogers High 11 79 7.2
Eckwood, Springdale High 11 76 6.9
Bishop, Springdale Har-Ber 11 72 6.5
Voigt, Rogers Heritage 11 65 5.9
Hignite, Springdale High 11 64 5.8
Furuseth, Rogers Heritage 11 63 5.7
Hardiman, Bentonville West 11 62 5.6
Newton, Van Buren 11 60 5.5
Sanders, Springdale High 11 58 5.3
Rahme, Rogers High 11 58 5.3
Barnett, Fayetteville 11 56 5.1
GIRLS
TEAM OFFENSE G PTS AVG
Bentonville 11 668 60.7
Fayetteville 11 637 57.9
Rogers High 11 544 49.5
Van Buren 11 523 47.5
Springdale High 11 523 47.5
Springdale Har-Ber 11 458 41.6
Rogers Heritage 11 443 40.3
Bentonville West 11 419 38.1
TEAM DEFENSE G PTS AVG
Bentonville 11 410 37.3
Fayetteville 11 443 40.3
Van Buren 11 517 47.0
Rogers High 11 518 47.1
Bentonville West 11 534 48.5
Springdale High 11 554 50.4
Springdale Har-Ber 11 595 54.1
Rogers Heritage 11 644 58.5
INDIVIDUAL SCORERS
PLAYER, SCHOOL G PTS AVG
M. Davis, Springdale High 11 255 23.2
Koons, Springdale Har-Ber 11 188 17.1
Goforth, Fayetteville 11 185 16.8
Hughes, Bentonville 11 155 14.1
Dauda, Bentonville 11 144 13.1
Beck, Fayetteville 11 137 12.5
Storey, Rogers High 11 128 11.6
Kash, Bentonville West 11 123 11.2
Miller, Van Buren 11 115 10.5
Wilson, Bentonville West 11 106 9.6
Evans, Van Buren 11 99 9.0
McConnell, Rogers High 11 98 8.9
Smith, Bentonville 11 92 8.4
Ryan, Van Buren 11 88 8.0
Kannady, Van Buren 11 87 7.9
Bridges, Fayetteville 11 73 6.6
Starks, Springdale Har-Ber 11 72 6.5
Lynge, Rogers Heritage 11 72 6.5
Sanders, Bentonville 11 71 6.5
Gause, Springdale High 11 69 6.3
Greebe, Van Buren 11 68 6.2
Cates, Rogers High 4 24 6.0
Nelson, Springdale Har-Ber 11 64 5.8
Mahone, Bentonville West 11 64 5.8
Dickerson, Rogers Heritage 11 63 5.7
Figenskau, Rogers High 11 61 5.5
Sysavanh, Springdale High 11 60 5.5
Minchew, Springdale High 11 60 5.5
Releford, Fayetteville 11 55 5.0
Irlenborn, Bentonville 11 55 5.0
Wood, Bentonville West 11 55 5.0
6A-West Conference
Boys
Conf. Overall
Team W-L W-L
x-Fayetteville 10-2 19-5
x-Bentonville High 9-3 19-6
x-Rogers High 8-4 18-6
Springdale Har-Ber 6-6 10-12
Rogers Heritage 5-7 10-14
Springdale High 5-7 11-12
Bentonville West 4-8 10-15
Van Buren 1-11 5-20
x-clinched state tournament berth
Friday’s Games
Rogers High 49, Bentonville High 46
Bentonville West 52, Rogers Heritage
Springdale High 50, Fayetteville 46
Springdale Har-Ber 74, Van Buren 44
Today’s Games
Bentonville West at Van Buren
Fayetteville at Rogers Heritage
Springdale High at Bentonville High
Rogers High at Springdale Har-Ber
Friday’s Games
Rogers Heritage at Rogers High
Bentonville High at Bentonville West
Springdale Har-Ber at Fayetteville
Van Buren at Springdale High
Girls
Conf. Overall
Team W-L W-L
x-Bentonville High 11-1 22-3
x-Fayetteville 10-2 17-4
x-Rogers High 7-5 15-9
x-Springdale High 6-6 13-10
x-Van Buren 6-6 13-12
x-Bentonville West 5-7 10-14
Springdale Har-Ber 2-10 9-16
Rogers Heritage 1-11 5-19
x-clinched state tournament berth
Friday’s Games
Bentonville High 67, Rogers High 46
Bentonville West 56, Rogers Heritage 38
Fayetteville 61, Springdale High 41
Van Buren 53, Springdale Har-Ber 39
Today’s Games
Bentonville West at Van Buren
Fayetteville at Rogers Heritage
Springdale High at Bentonville High
Rogers High at Springdale Har-Ber
Friday’s Games
Rogers Heritage at Rogers High
Bentonville High at Bentonville West
Springdale Har-Ber at Fayetteville
Van Buren at Springdale High
Sports on 02/19/2019