West's lifts Van Buren to win

Disappointed in his play after Tuesday's win against Rogers High, Jordan West watched film by himself in the days leading up to the Pointers' trip to Springdale. The extra time in the film room paid off as he bounced back from a six-point effort against the Mounties with a game-high 18 points in a 47-34 win at Springdale. The win moves Van Buren to 14-10 overall and 8-4 in 7A-West play. Just four players scored for coach Austin Trembley's club Friday, but three were in double figures. Beau Beckner added 13 and Presley Kindrix scored 14 points on 12 of 13 from the free throw line. West, though, scored five of his 18 in the fourth quarter, including an and-1 with two minutes, 41 seconds to play. "I just tried to get the team going and the energy going," West said. "When we started turning the ball over and the game started going south I just tried to get some of the tempo back." His and-1 was Van Buren's first points of the fourth quarter as Springdale trimmed a 21-point lead to 12 behind six third-quarter points from Carl Fitch and fourth quarter 3-pointers from Oscar Iraheta and Edwin Aquino. West scored a team-high 11 points in the first half, helping Van Buren grab a 25-8 lead at the break. "He's just getting tougher by the day," Van Buren coach Austin Trembley said of West. "It's nice to see him do things like (watch extra film) and have it carry over into a game. He had a great game." Van Buren remains in sole possession of third place in the 7A-West with the win. A return trip to Springdale to face conference-leading Springdale Har-Ber comes Tuesday. The Pointers handed the Wildcats their lone loss of the conference season prior to Friday's 71-53 loss at Fayetteville. The Pointers entered Friday allowing 44.6 points per game in conference play, tops in the league. Trembley's club was able to hold Springdale well under that average. "The whole thing is you can win games if you play good defense and your shooting isn't there," Trembley said. "I think our halfcourt defense has been solid all year. ... Fitch will eat you up. We tried to make him see a crowd every time he caught it, and I was real proud of our guys for doing that." Fitch, the lone Red'Dog in double figures, led Springdale with 11 points. The junior -- averaging 14 points -- has now scored 10-plus points in 11 of 12 league games. He also finished with three blocks. Girls Van Buren 52, Springdale High 32 The Lady Pointers jumped out to a 15-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back, cruising to their 20th win of the season and 11th in 7A-West play. Jamilyn Kinney and Lani Snowden each scored 13 points for Van Buren. Kinney, who didn't score until the second quarter, got teammates involved, finishing with seven assists while Jentry Myers added 12 points on four 3-pointers. Marquesha Davis led Springdale with nine points and 12 rebounds. Ashlyn Minchew scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. Van Buren, the 7A-West's top scoring defense, held Springdale scoreless in the first quarter. Springdale shot just 5 of 24 in the first half and trailed 28-11 at halftime.

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Van Buren High School Athletics

WEST'S LIFTS VAN BUREN TO WIN

SCOTTIE BORDELON

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/18/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics