Capistrano Valley Cold Outside While Losing in Nebraska

Capistrano Valley’s suffered through an extended outside shooting slump Tuesday night and Fayetteville (Ark.) made the Cougars pay.

Scott Oliver scored 19 points to lead Fayetteville to a 71-68 victory over Capistrano Valley in the second round of the Nebraska Holiday Prep Classic. The Cougars will play a consolation game today against Wichita Falls (Texas).

The cold-shooting Cougars connected on just six of 24 shots from three-point range.

“We shot really poorly and that killed us,” Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said. “We’d play hard when we were down by nine and catch them and not play hard then. We just couldn’t get over the hump. That’s happened to us on this trip.”

Capistrano Valley cut Fayetteville’s lead to 48-47 at the end of the third quarter when the Bulldogs had to leave Oliver on the bench with four fouls. But he made his presence felt immediately after returning to the lineup.

The 6-foot-9 senior, who has already signed a letter of intent with Rice, scored 11 points in the final period, including two free throws with 39 seconds left to put Fayetteville ahead, 69-62.

Capistrano Valley’s David Sedgwick made two free throws and Corey Kost scored on a tip-in, but Lucas Longino made two free throws to seal the victory for Fayetteville (9-0).

“We had a 20-day layoff before this tournament and I think that hurt us in the first round,” said Fayetteville Coach Barry Gebhart. “Oliver has come through like that for us in every close game, hitting a big shot or getting a block or making a pass. Tonight is an example of how we got to be 7-0 before this tournament.”

Sedgwick led Capistrano Valley with 20 points. Kost added 19. Dinari Bates had eight rebounds for the Cougars.