NWADG Basketball

2019

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34 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 3, 2019 FORT SMITH — Longtime Arkan- sas fans will remember the turnaround jumper Ron Brewer hit over Kelly Tri- pucka to give Arkansas a 71-69 victory over Notre Dame in the third-place game of the NCAA Tournament in 1978. It was a move Brewer developed long before he played at Arkansas or in the NBA for eight years. Brewer was a basketball prodigy who, as a third-grad- er, played on the sixth-grade team at Howard Elementary in Fort Smith and later starred at Northside High School, where he led the Grizzlies to a 30-0 re- cord in 1974. "That was my go-to move to get a bucket," Brewer said. "When I saw any part of (the defender's) body, I went the opposite direction. I was 6-4 and I could jump. When I elevated, they weren't affecting my shot. I either made it or I missed." Brewer was an All-Southwest Con- ference player at Arkansas, where he became nationally known as one of the famed "Triplets" along with Marvin Delph of Conway and Sidney Moncrief of Little Rock Hall. He is at the top of the list of a long line of basketball tal- ent from Fort Smith that includes Jim King, Tommy Boyer, Almer Lee, Keith Wilson, Eric Burnett and Isaiah Joe, who made the Freshman All-SEC team at Arkansas after leading the Grizzlies to two state championships. Northside's rich tradition in basket- ball is currently reflected in Jaylin Wil- liams, a 6-foot-10 center and Division I recruit who led the Grizzlies to their 11th state championship last spring. "It's a great day to be a Grizzly," Burnett said before a cheering crowd that doubly celebrated boys and girls state championships at Northside last spring. The Northside Way RICK FIRES NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Grizzlies have long history of basketball success File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette Members of the Fort Smith Northside boys basketball team celebrate after winning the Class 6A state championship last spring. The Grizzlies have won two of the past three titles in Arkansas' largest classification. v Continued on next page

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