By PAUL BOYD
Special to The Leader
ROGERS — Sophomore Tyler McCullough helped Fayetteville get off to a fast start in the second half and Cabot never really had an answer for the big center as the Purple Bulldogs beat the Panthers 53-41 in the first round of the 7A state tournament Wednesday night.
McCullough, 6-9, scored nine of his game-high 21 points during a 15-4 Fayetteville run to start the third quarter at Rogers Heritage’s War Eagle Arena.
Fayetteville (15-13) advanced to play a 7A-West champion Fort Smith Southside on Friday in the quarterfinals.
Cabot didn’t help itself with a series of technical fouls down the stretch after it had cut a 14-point deficit to one in the fourth quarter.
Panthers leading scorer Darin Jones drew the first when he complained after he thought he was fouled with 1:06 left in the game. Coach Jerry Bridges drew two technicals and was ejected on the second with 30 seconds to go.
Purple Bulldogs coach Kyle Adams, on the other hand, was happy with the outcome and the way his team played, particularly McCullough.
“He’s capable of that all the time,” Adams said. “He played exceptionally well tonight. Our guards did a great job finding him, too. That’s something we’ve gotten better at as the year has gone on.
“We’re a matchup problem for a lot of people. It’s just whoever can impose what they want to do and I thought we did a great job tonight getting it to our big men.”
Malik Fields, a 6-5 junior, chipped in nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jawan Smith added nine points, getting five on free throws.
The Purple Bulldogs’ solid shooting was helped by the fact many shots came from close range in the lane. Fayetteville shot 51 percent (18 of 35) overall and a robust 61 percent (11 of 18) in the second half.
Fayetteville used its big, third-quarter run to build a 32-18 lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter.
Sophomore Cameron Paschke started the run with a three-pointer, but just about everything else was in the lane for Fayetteville early in the second half. McCullough scored off the backboard, and then converted a three-point play.
McCullough then spun left and hit a baby hook for a 27-16 Fayetteville lead, and he finished the spurt taking a feed from Paschke along the baseline and made a layup for the 32-18 lead.
Cabot sophomore Kyle Thielmier hit a floater over McCullough for Cabot’s first field goal of the half with 1:47 left in the third quarter.
Jones led the Panthers with 16 points, while Kai Davis added 15 on five three-pointers.
Cabot (13-15) posted a rally to get within one with four minutes to play in the fourth, but McCullough’s three-point play pushed the lead to seven with 2:01 left and the Panthers got no closer than four the rest of the way, thanks in part to the costly technical fouls.
The Cabot girls were scheduled to play the winner of Thursday’s Rogers-Bryant game on Friday night.
