Lee Bounces Back; Bentonville Rolls

— A healthier Taylor Lee had Bentonville’s girls in better condition and left Springdale High feeling under the weather Tuesday night.

The senior guard regrouped from her worst week of the season and scored 20 points, lifting the Lady Tigers to an 63-44 victory over the Lady Bulldogs during 7A/6A-West Conference basketball action in Tiger Arena.

Lee, who didn’t start in Friday’s game at Siloam Springs because of illness, needed less than 10 minutes to match the seven points she scored in last week’s games. She finished the game a perfect 9-of-9 inside the 3-point arc, racing past Springdale defenders for driving layups on a few occasions.

“We needed that,” Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. “Taylor did a good job of being aggressive, attacking the basket.

Bentonville 63, Springdale High 44

Springdale 11 6 15 12 — 44

Bentonville 13 12 20 18 — 63

Springdale (6-12, 1-5): Jurgens 20, Perez 8, Daniels 5, Dederich 5, Long 4, McPherson 2.

Bentonville (17-2, 5-1): Lee 20, Coleman 12, Casey 7, Mabeus 7, Potts 7, Garrard 4, Byford 2, Martin 2, Secrest 2.

JUNIOR VARSITY SCORE: Bentonville 46, Springdale 14.

“Her and Jamayne Potts attacked the basket. Our perimeter shooting, it wasn’t that great, they did a nice job of opening up the penetration lanes for us. I was really pleased with them.”

Springdale (6-12, 1-5) was still within striking distance early in the fourth quarter. Bentonville (17-2, 5-1) entered the final eight minutes with a 45-32 lead, but Ashley Dederich hit five straight points to make it a 45-37 game with 6 minutes, 51 seconds remaining.

Lee responded with a pair of driving layups, sparking a 9-0 spurt as Bentonville extended its lead to 54-37 on Julia Garrard’s bucket midway through the fourth quarter. The Lady Tigers’ defense took care of the rest, limiting Springdale to just one more field goal before the game ended.

“At halftime it’s 25-17, and we feel we’re still in the game,” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “We felt if we could continue to rebound and hit a few more shots that this game could get close.

“It was in the third quarter when Taylor Lee busted loose on us a few times. We gave up a few too many transition buckets to Taylor Lee. She’s a heck of a player, and we knew that.”

Kindal Coleman was the only other Bentonville player in double figures with 12 points. Brittany Jurgens was the only Springdale player in double digits with 20.

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