Lady Tigers Rally To Win Battle Of Unbeatens

Friday, December 14, 2012

It wasn’t about how Bentonville’s girls basketball team started Thursday’s game, but how the Lady Tigers finished.

Bentonville overcame a horrendous first quarter with a strong second-half comeback and claimed a 56-44 road victory over defending Class 5A state champion Greenwood.

BENTONVILLE 56, GREENWOOD 44

Bentonville 5 11 22 18 — 56

Greenwood 18 9 9 8 — 44

Bentonville (7-0): Lee 15, Casey 11, Adkins 8, Mabeus 7, Garrard 6, Coleman 5, Potts 4.

Greenwood (9-1): Williams 16, Hartness 11, Henson 8, Barnes 4, Roberts 2, Elkins 2, Richards 1.

The Lady Tigers (7-0) failed to hit a field goal in the first quarter and trailed 18-5, then went into halftime facing a 27-16 deficit.

“The first quarter, we couldn’t have played any worse,” Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. “The second half, we came back and were playing the way we’re capable of playing. We didn’t do anything differently.

“It was a matter of the girls changing their mentality. It was that senior leadership that helped out, and it wasn’t surprising that we could come back. It was one win, but it was against a very good team on its home court.”åç

Bentonville then took over in the second half, particularly with its defense. The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Bulldogs 22-9 in the third quarter for a 38-36 lead, then went on an 18-8 run over the final eight minutes to put the game away.

Bentonville hit only 4 of 20 shots in the first half, but nailed 11 of 21 from the floor over the final 16 minutes.

Taylor Lee had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers, while Rashaun Casey added 11 points and Julia Garrard had 12 rebounds. Lundon Williams paced Greenwood (9-1) with 16 points, while Megan Hartness chipped in 11.

Boys

Bentonville 65, Greenwood 58

Senior forward Nick Smith scored 11 of Bentonville’s 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers held off Greenwood and remained unbeaten.

Bentonville (6-0) led 50-48 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Greenwood (5-4) scored the first three points to go out in front. The Tigers then went to their inside game and constantly fed the ball to Smith, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

Greenwood led 25-20 after one quarter, but Bentonville took over in the second quarter with a 16-5 run for a 36-30 halftime cushion.

“It really started at the end of the first quarter,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “We started contesting their shots instead of keeping our hands down. When we didn’t allow them to score, it gave us transition opportunities.

“In the first three or four minutes of the third quarter, we just turned the ball over too much. When Greenwood took the lead, we just kept ramming the ball inside to Nick.”

Austin Heard was the only other Tiger to finish in double digits, finishing with 21.

Bentonville returns to nonconference basketball action tonight at Clarksville.