Bentonville’s girls basketball team goes for its second tournament title in two weeks when the Lady Tigers play in the Vinita (Okla.) Invitational Big Dawg Shootout.

Bentonville (3-0), which won the tournament title last year, open tournament play today against Oklahoma City Douglass. The Lady Tigers will play either Friday against Tulsa (Okla.) Memorial or host school Vinita, then have a third game Saturday.

“They have had some heavy turnover in that tournament,” Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. “It’s going to be good for us to get in some games against more competition.

“We weren’t crisp in some of our offensive sets, but it’s early and still a work in progress. We also need to take care of the basketball better and need to be more efficient when we are closing out quarters.”

Bentonville opened its season last weekend by hosting its annual Crabtree Invitational. The Lady Tigers came away with victories over Branson, Mo., Huntsville and Gravette.

Senior guard Taylor Lee has been consistent with double-digit scoring in all three games and averages 12.7 points per game. The rest of Bentonville’s scoring is spread out among other Lady Tigers, with six players averaging between four and six points per game.

“One of the things that I was proud of is how our girls ourrebounded our opponents,” Halbmaier said. “We’re crashing the boards and getting more second opportunities; we just need to take advantage of them.

“I thought our individual defense has been good and our team defense has been good. Another good thing is we have such a senior-laden class this year, and our girls have taken our game plans into those games.”

— HENRY APPLE

Lady War Eagles Face Oklahoma Teams

Rogers Heritage girls basketball coach Kevin Ramey doesn’t know anything about his first-round opponent in the Tahlequah (Okla.) Tiger Invitational, but he’s currently more worried about his own team.

The Lady War Eagles (3-2) finished the inaugural Great 8 Classic at Rogers High losing back-to-back games, including a 53-46 loss to the crosstown rival Lady Mounties.

But Ramey said his team didn’t have a very good offensive pace in all three games of the Classic, even the 55-53 win over Beebe on Thursday.

“I think we’re still evolving offensively,” Ramey said. “Out execution’s got to get a ton better. We’ve got rebound a ton better and we’ve got to get tougher and make better decisions.

“We’re definitely gonna focus on ourselves and our offensive and defensive execution. Just getting better and sharper at what we do this weekend.”

Heritage will open play in the Tahlehquah Invitational against Yukon, Okla., today at 4 p.m. The Lady War Eagles are the only non-Oklahoma entry in the eight-team event.

Senior guard Brittany Ward leads Heritage, averaging 17 points per game, while Ellen Lundy is next at 10 per game.

“We’ve got to share the ball better and get more contributions offensively,” Ramey said.

— PAUL BOYD

Rogers To Face Quality Teams

Rogers High girls basketball coach Preston Early hopes playing in the Stephanie Phillips Classic at Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo will help season a Lady Mounties team that is breaking in three new starters.

Rogers (3-2) opens the three-day tournament tonight at 6 p.m. against Kickapoo, which returns three sophomores with varsity experience. Rogers will play Rogersville, Mo., at 6 p.m. Friday before ending the weekend against Springfield Parkview at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Parkview is led by 6-foot-1 junior Aubrey Buckley, who averaged 24.1 points as a sophomore.

“This is really going to be good for us,” Early said. “We are looking forward to getting our players on the road and playing a big school on their home court. The last few years we have benefited from playing up there against good teams and good coaches.”

Rogers won two of three games at last week’s Great 8 Tournament, taking third place after defeating crosstown rival Rogers Heritage.

“We are looking for more development, and we feel we built a little momentum last week,” Early said. “We want to capitalize on that and continue to build our chemistry.”

Rogers senior Taylor Strickland averaged 29.3 points in the three games last week, but Early said the Lady Mounties are far from a one-player show. Senior McKinzie James and junior Cassandra Trexler are playing well on both ends of the court, Early said.

“I’ve been really pleased with all of our players,” Early said. “McKinzie is a really good playmaker for us. I also really like our overall team defense. We have been getting after people, and it starts at the point with Cassandra. Our defense has started to develop into a strength for us.”

— PAUL NIELSEN