BENTONVILLE — In a season to remember, the Bentonville girls basketball team put together a first quarter on Friday that no one will soon forget.
The Lady Tigers, who had already wrapped up their first-ever 7A/6A-West Conference championship, poured it on visiting Fayetteville from the opening minutes.
Kendall Coleman sparked the outburst with three 3-pointers and Bentonville got stingy defense throughout, building a 21-0 lead after one quarter on its way to an easy 51-35 victory in Tiger Arena.
“I was pleased with the overall intensity and focus,” Lady Tigers coach Tom Halbmair said. “The first quarter was one of those deals where the kids felt it. They came out and did a good job, and it was a different kind of situation with Senior Night and all.”
As good of a start as it was for Bentonville (26-2, 13-1 7A/6A-West), things were equally as bad for the Lady Bulldogs. Fayetteville turned the ball over five times in the first eight minutes and managed just four field goal attempts and four missed free throws in the scoreless first quarter.
“Bentonville started really hot. They shot the ball really well, and we didn’t come out with a lot of energy,” Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. “But on the flip side of that, I thought we competed hard. We got it down to 10 points and had a couple of shots to get it closer.
“So I don’t know if we could have won, but I was really proud of the girls’ effort.”
Fayetteville (11-16, 7-7) slowly chipped away at the 21-point first-quarter deficit. The Lady Bulldogs pulled to within 15 at halftime and got it to 38-28 with 2 minutes, 49 seconds left in the third quarter before Bentonville got four straight points from Taylor Lee to help pull away for good.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the kids to go out like that,” Halbmaier said. “Fayetteville gave us a push, got it back to 10, and I thought we defended their guards really well down the stretch.”
Julia Garrard had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Kindal Coleman added 11. Sydney Crockett led Fayetteville with 7.
The Lady Tigers earn a bye in the first round of next week’s Class 7A state tournament in Fayetteville, and will play the winner of North Little Rock and Fayetteville at 4 p.m. Thursday.
The Lady Bulldogs face North Little Rock at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
BENTONVILLE 51, FAYETTEVILLE 35
Fayetteville 0 16 12 7 — 35
Bentonville 21 10 11 9 — 51
Fayetteville (11-16, 7-7): Crockett 7, Austin 6, Brewer 5, White 4, Breden 4, Robinson 4, Howard 3, Schuldt 2.
Bentonville (26-2, 13-1): Garrard 13, Coleman 11, Secrest 8, Lee 8, Casey 4, Mabeus 3, Potts 3, Byford 1.