FORT SMITH -- When a team wins a conference title, an accumulation of tough, not-so-pretty road wins are the key.
Chalk Friday's game as one of the critical ones for Bentonville West in its quest for its first 6A-West crown.
Tucker Anderson swished a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds left to lift West to a 41-39 victory over Fort Smith Northside.
The Grizzlies had tied the game with 9.1 seconds left when Dae'Marion Savoy made one of two free throws to knot the score at 39-39.
Anderson then drove to the basket and was fouled going up for a potential game-winning shot. After Northside called back-to-back timeouts, Anderson calmly made both free throws to clinch the win.
"Tucker drove to the basket, created contact, and then stepped up and made the free throws. That is what you expect seniors to do," West coach Greg White said.
Anderson said the timeout did not freeze him.
"When they called the second timeout, I told the coaches 'Man, I just want to shoot my free throws,'" Anderson said. "When we got the rebound, my goal was to attack the goal and either score or create contact."
Savoy's desperation mid-court shot at the buzzer missed off the backboard.
The Wolverines (19-2, 8-1) have not been in class all week because of the wintry weather, but finally got a practice in on Thursday before packing up, traveling over 90 miles and playing at Northside Arena Friday night.
"If you would have told me in August that we would sweep Northside, I would have laughed," White said. "These guys just find a way. We are getting everyone's best shot now and that is fun for us. In the past, we have always been the hunter. Now we are the hunted."
Anderson finished with 19 points to lead the Wolverines (19-2, 8-1) while Dawson Price added 14. Marco Smith scored 16 to pace the Grizzlies (14-8, 4-5).
West led 35-26 with six minutes left, but finally began to rally. Derek Shepard hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 43-second span and suddenly Northside was within 35-32 with four minutes to play. The Grizzlies made just three 3-pointers in the game out of 20 attempts.
"Northside did not shoot well early, but you knew they were going to get hot," White said. "The same thing happened at our place (last month). Tonight, they had a run where they made some threes that changed the pace of the game. We were just fortunate to have the ball at the end of the game."
Northside's first and only lead of the game was with 35.4 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Smith for a 38-37 lead. Anderson, though, answered with a pair of foul shots with 18.9 left to allow West to regain the lead at 39-38.
Northside trailed 22-16 at halftime and was fortunate to be down that after shooting just 5-of-26 from the field and being outrebounded 20-12 in the first half.
Bentonville West’s Dawson Price (left) drives to the basket as Fort Smith Northside’s Jayvion Smith defends Friday night at Northside Arena in Fort Smith. The Wolverines won 41-39. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)