Brad Stamps did not know what to expect heading into this basketball season.
With so many new faces and the loss of a pair of top scorers, the Fayetteville boys basketball coach was cautiously optimistic.
Fayetteville (9-2) has far exceeded those expectations and enters 6A-West Conference play with a renewed confidence, Stamps said.
“Chemistry has been the biggest thing,” he said. “The kids believe in each other, there’s no jealousy, there are no hidden agendas. They just go out and play.”
Junior guard CJ Williams has emerged as a team leader for the Purple’Dogs, Stamps said. As a sophomore, Williams flashed a huge game and that progression has moved the needle even more this season. The Bulldogs have also gotten huge contributions from junior guard Landon Glasper and senior Matthew Wayman, said Stamps.
“I’ve been proud of the way CJ has played,” Stamps said. “He’s really stepped up, and not just his play on the floor, but off the floor. We needed that. CJ, Glasper and Wayman are the three that are back from last year. I needed those three to lead the way and they have.”
The Bulldogs will open conference play at home today against Bentonville West. Stamps said what his team has done so far has been great, but that does not matter starting today. The next two months in conference play are what will determine his team’s ultimate fate.
“Jut like every year, the 6A-West is going to be competitive,” Stamps said. “We talked to our kids about this yesterday. Regardless of where we are, all we’ve done is prepare ourselves for league play. You can book it, every game will be won in the fourth quarter. Every possession is magnified. Everybody on the schedule can beat you. We’re prepping for that.”
Fort Smith Northside longtime girls coach Ricky Smith has his team ready to open 6A-Central play tonight on the road at Bryant.
The Lady Bears (10-1) have played a tough schedule despite some shifting of games because of covid-related cancellations. Last week Northside played three games in three days. Smith said he is looking forward to what he hopes will be some stability in the conference schedule while trying to play in the midst of this now year-long covid-19 pandemic.
“Every coach is a creature of habit,” Smith said. “We want to practice the same way at the same time. We’re all OCD, control freaks. So when you go into the fall semester and it’s two weeks before the start of the season and they drop all the tournaments and you have to go find 12 games, it’s very, very challenging.
“And then when you do get lucky enough to find a few games, then they are dropping left and right. So it’s just been a crazy, crazy first semester. We’ve played 11 games and eight of those on the road. A lot of those were last-minute additions. We just wanted to play and were willing to travel.”
The 6A-Central girls’ race will again be a tough slate, Smith said. Besides his team, which is led by University of Arkansas signee 6-foot-5 guard Jersey Wolfenbarger, Smith said Conway, North Little Rock and Little Rock Central are also teams that will be in contention for the conference championship.
Already in the 6A-West, covid-19 has derailed a scheduled game as the Rogers Heritage at Springdale High games tonight have been canceled. Coaches in the 6A-West built in dates at the end of the season for a conference tournament, similar to the one held at the end of the volleyball season last fall, that will help decide seedings for post-season play.
Team records
BOYS
Fayetteville...........................................9-2
Springdale Har-Ber.............................7-2
Springdale High..................................7-2
Bentonville West.................................7-5
Bentonville..........................................6-1
Rogers Heritage..................................5-6
FS Northside.......................................4-5
Rogers High........................................3-1
FS Southside.......................................2-8
GIRLS
FS Northside.......................................10-1
Rogers High........................................8-3
Bentonville High..................................6-2
Fayetteville...........................................4-5
Springdale Har-Ber.............................3-5
Bentonville West.................................3-6
FS Southside.......................................2-7
Rogers Heritage..................................2-8
Springdale High..................................1-11