Bentonville Routs Host

Fast Start Gives Tigers Cushion In Opening Game Of Tourney

Bentonville’s boys basketball team took Neosho, Mo., out of the game early and rolled to a 58-35 victory over the Wildcats in Wednesday’s opening round of the Neosho Holiday Classic.

At A Glance

NEOSHO (MO.) HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Wednesday

Carthage, Mo. def. Van Buren by forfeit

Bentonville 58, Neosho, Mo. 35

St. Joe (Mo.) Lafayette def. Morrilton by forfeit

St. Louis Christian vs. Pierce City, Mo., 6 p.m.

Kansas City (Mo.) Ruskin vs. McDonald County, Mo., 7:30 p.m.

Webb City, Mo. vs. West Memphis, 9 p.m.

Today’s Games

Neosho vs. KC Ruskin-McDonald County loser, 11 a.m.

Bentonville vs. St. Joe (Mo.) Lafayette, 12:30 p.m.

St. Louis Christian-Pierce City winner vs. KC Ruskin-McDonald County winner, 2 p.m.

Morrilton vs. St. Louis Christian-Pierce City loser, 3:30 p.m.

Carthage vs. Wichita (Kan.) Sunrise Christian, 5 p.m.

Memphis (Tenn.) Sheffield vs. Webb City-West Memphis winner, 6:30 p.m.

The Tigers (8-2) showed no signs of rust from their holiday break and were never threatened after jumping out to a 21-4 lead in the first quarter. Bentonville cruised to a 33-15 halftime lead and extended it to 47-22 after three quarters.

“Our kids did a real good job,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “They’re older, and they trust us in believing that you have to come out with energy and not let those kind of teams hang around.

“Our kids did that at the start and built the big lead, which was nice.”

The big cushion also allowed McMahan to empty the bench and keep the starters rested for the rest of the tournament, especially with four games in as many days. Bentonville had 13 players score, with Nick Smith hitting a team-high 11 points.

“We dressed the whole team out,” McMahan said. “The advantage of playing some of these things is it’s better than trying to motivate the kids in practice.”

Bentonville returns to action with a quarterfinal game today against St. Joe (Mo.) Lafayette, which advanced with a forfeit win because inclement weather prevented Morrilton from arriving on time. The game, originally scheduled for 2 p.m., has been moved up to 12:30 p.m. to help accommodate Morrilton’s travel problems.

BENTONVILLE 58, NEOSHO, MO. 35

Bentonville 21 12 14 11 — 58

Neosho 4 11 7 13 — 35

Bentonville (8-2): N. Smith 11, Heard 7, Dixon 7, Guillory 6, Head 4, McNee 4, B. Smith 4, Drechny 4, Sanchez 3, Williams 3, Estrada 2, Livingston 2, Haggard 1.

Neosho (0-9): Turner 11, Williams 7, Roy 5, Hendricks 5, McKee 3, Stuart 2, Lett 2.

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