THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
The New School Athletics

Springdale Har-Ber's superior size and depth finally wore down The New School. Har-Ber's tandem of 6-foot-4 Jacob Howard and 6-5 Lawson Jenkins gave the Class 1A Cougars fits in the second half and helped the Wildcats claim a 72-60 nonconference basketball win at Wildcat Arena. Howard scored 17 of his team-high 25 points in the final two quarters, including a huge three-point play in the final seconds of the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 51-43 advantage. The New School, which lost its first game after a 16-0 start, got no closer than six in the fourth quarter. Har-Ber was without coach Scott Bowlin, who was tending to a family emergency. The nonconference game was scheduled over the weekend after Har-Ber had a pair of games canceled last weekend because of the winter weather threat. The Wildcats (2-3) had not played since losing to Pine Bluff 82-78 on Dec. 1. Wildcats assistant coach Jonathan Bullington said they wanted to get the ball inside and use that size advantage. And it worked well in the final two quarters as Howard scored 17 second-half points before fouling out with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lawson chipped in 16, while guard Nick Buchanan added 15, mostly in transition. "We talked about getting the ball inside and being able to just make them guard us inside," Bullington said. "Give them credit, they had a great first half. I just told our guys, keep guarding, keep playing hard. Just keep working. "We needed that, just some momentum going our way; we can build off that." Har-Ber limited The New School to just one field goal in the third quarter and exerted its size advantage by controlling the offensive boards to grab the lead. The Wildcats played volleyball on the offensive glass on a couple of possessions in the third quarter, finally converting after getting four shots from point-blank range. The Cougars also struggled from the free-throw line, making just 21 of 38. New School coach David Ferrell said his team, which has only eight players and no seniors, definitely struggled with Har-Ber's depth in the final two quarters. "Size gave us problems, and it's probably the first time all year our lack of depth really hurt us," said Ferrell, whose team in its first year as a varsity program. "We didn't until the late third quarter. That's the first time we had to go that long without subbing and that hurt us. "I thought it showed a little bit. Maybe it was the reason we missed free throws. If you would have told me we'd missed 17 free throws in a month, I wouldn't have dreamed it because we can shoot them. Our kids, they competed. Honestly, that's a pretty disappointed locker room. They came up here to win and we gave ourselves a chance to." Chase Ammons poured in a game-high 29 points for the Cougars, who led 33-29 at halftime. Jan Sturner added 14 and Arthur Cox chipped in 10.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
The New School Athletics

HAR-BER PULLS AWAY FROM THE NEW SCHOOL IN THE SECOND HALF

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 12/13/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: The New School Athletics