Bentonville’s girls avoided what could have been a horrendous week by making the most of a bad situation Friday night.

The Lady Tigers traveled to Siloam Springs without coach Tom Halbmaier — who served his one-game suspension after he was whistled for two technical fouls in Tuesday’s loss to Rogers High. They also were without leading scorer Taylor Lee in the starting lineup for the first time this season because of illness.

Bentonville, however, avoided further disaster with a 54-36 victory and stayed tied with Rogers Heritage and Rogers High for first place in the 7A/6A-West Conference standings. The Lady Tigers (16-2, 4-1) put the game away in the third quarter, when they outscored the Lady Panthers by an 18-7 margin for a 39-22 lead.

Bentonville’s boys didn’t enjoy a similar fate. The Tigers suffered their first conference loss, dropping a 62-53 decision at Siloam Springs, and fell out of first place in the league standings, one game behind preseason favorite Fayetteville.

The Tigers (14-4, 4-1) never recovered from being outscored 18-9 in the second quarter, which led to a 34-25 halftime deficit. Bentonville couldn’t get any closer than 51-48 on a Nick Smith basket midway through the fourth quarter.

Plays of the Night: Bentonville’s defense forced four consecutive turnovers to start the second half against Siloam Springs. It allowed the Lady Tigers to score nine unanswered points and turn a six-point halftime lead into a 30-15 cushion.

Players of the Week: Junior guard Kindal Coleman hit a pair of buzzer-beaters in the first half of Tuesday’s game against Rogers, then scored a team-high 12 points in Friday’s win. Senior guard Austin Heard scored a game-high 29 points in Tuesday’s win, then followed that with a 14-point outing in Friday’s loss.

Notable: Assistant coach Randy Richardson filled in for Halbmaier during Friday’s game. ... Lee, a senior guard who scored in double digits in all of Bentonville’s first 16 games, wasn’t expected to play earlier Friday, but she did see limited action and scored five points. ... Jamayne Potts took Lee’s spot in the starting lineup and contributed with nine points, four rebounds and six steals. She had four points in the Lady Tigers’ 9-0 run to start the second half. ... Rashaun Casey and Julia Garrard both fell one rebound short of finishing Tuesday’s game with double-doubles. ... Freshman guard Tyrik Dixon returned to the Tigers’ starting lineup after not playing in the last two games.

The Lingo: “It was nice to see a lot of people and people I taught school with, people I know don’t normally come to basketball games. For me, it’s all about the game, and I wish we could have played better.”

Jason McMahan

Bentonville boys coach

Up Next: Bentonville returns to its home floor Tuesday night for 7A/6A-West Conference action against Springdale High, then closes out the first half of league play with a trip to Fayetteville and the first visit to the new gym.

That Figures

4 — Bentonville girls who fouled out Tuesday in the loss to Rogers High

29 — Fouls called on Bentonville’s girls Tuesday in the loss, including three technical fouls