Red’Dogs Stun Tigers At Home

Bentonville’s Austin Heard takes the ball to the basket over Springdale’s Brendan Cook during the Tigers’ game Tuesday at Tiger Arena in Bentonville.
Bentonville’s Austin Heard takes the ball to the basket over Springdale’s Brendan Cook during the Tigers’ game Tuesday at Tiger Arena in Bentonville.

— Tereke Eckwood’s key steal helped Springdale High’s boys take a critical 7A/6A-West Conference basketball road win Tuesday night.

Eckwood thwarted Bentonville’s plans when he pilfered an inbounds pass, and his four free throws helped the Bulldogs pull away for a 57-50 victory in Tiger Arena.

Jordan Johnson’s bucket with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining gave Springdale (12-7, 4-2 7A/6A-West) a 49-47 lead, then Bentonville (14-5, 4-2) called timeout in its frontcourt to set up a play. Eckwood, however, stole the inbounds pass, and his two free throws gave the Red’Dogs a 51-47 cushion with 2:57 left.

Springdale High 57, Bentonville 50

Springdale 20 7 12 18 — 57

Bentonville 15 14 10 11 — 50

Springdale (12-7, 4-2): Stark 26, Scharlau 13, Eckwood 8, Johnson 4, Gause 3, Wymer 2, Cook 1.

Bentonville (14-5, 4-2): Smith 24, Haggard 12, Heard 10, Dixon 2, Bachman 2.

“It was a big play,” Springdale coach Brad Stamps said. “We had just talked about it during the timeout. I told them they were going to run a set at you and to be overly aggressive.

“He made a great play and hit the free throws. From that stretch, we sold out those last three or four possessions on defense — the way we needed to in order to get a hard road victory.”

Bentonville pulled within three on two occasions, the last coming when Austin Haggard’s reverse layup made it 53-50 with 1:07 left. The Tigers, though, never scored again, while Springdale put the game away with a bucket by Alex Scharlau and two free throws by Josiah Wymer.

“We didn’t do anything right after that timeout, and that was the second time it had happened,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “You just can’t win conference games against good teams if you can’t do your stuff.”

Springdale won despite going for more than 11 minutes without a field goal. Dashaun Stark’s jumper gave the Red’Dogs a 22-17 lead early in the second quarter, but Bentonville went on a 17-5 run and had a 34-27 lead before Stark ended that dry spell with a three-point play.

Treshawn Gause’s 3-pointer at the buzzer helped Springdale tie the game at 39 to end the third quarter. Both teams then traded points before the Red’Dogs late spurt decided the outcome.

“It’s kind of funny because in practice, Treshaun isn’t known as a shooter,” Stamps said. “The guys give him a hard time about it, then he steps up and hits a 3. It shows what he is made of.”

Stark led Springdale with 26 points, while Scharlau finished with 13. Nick Smith had 24 points to pace Bentonville, followed by Haggard with 12 and Austin Heard with 10.

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