FAYETTEVILLE — Daryl Fimple repeatedly told his North Little Rock players to play like there was no tomorrow.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 63, BENTONVILLE 54
North Little Rock 15 10 20 18 — 63
Bentonville 13 14 11 16 — 54
North Little Rock (19-7): Collier 18, Monk 12, Hardamon 9, Giles 6, Mays 6, Hill 6, Webb 6.
Bentonville (25-3): Garrard 15, Secrest 12, Lee 10, Potts 5, Mabeus 4, Casey 3, Adkins 3, Martin 2.
Because they responded, there is no tomorrow for Bentonville’s girls basketball team.
The Lady Tigers had one of their most successful seasons in school history come to an end Thursday night with a 63-54 loss during second-round action at the Class 7A State Tournament in Bulldog Arena.
North Little Rock (19-7) took over in the final 5 minutes, 34 seconds of the third quarter. Jasmin Mays’ 3-pointer put the Lady Charging Wildcats ahead to stay and sparked a 12-4 run for a 45-38 lead entering the final eight minutes.
“In the second half, we started giving up uncontested layups,” Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. “North Little Rock was just statistically better than us as far as rebounding and creating turnovers — things of that nature.
“They were getting offensive rebounds off missed free throws. You know, they’re just a real good team. They were just too much for us in the fourth quarter.”
Bentonville (25-3) pulled within five points on four occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time when Julia Garrard’s bucket made the score 57-52 with 1:18 remaining. North Little Rock then sealed the victory with free throws, hitting six of eight from the line.
“I think, right now, we’re playing our best at the right time,” Fimple said. “We’re playing really fast. Really, really fast. So fast some times that it’s probably the reason I’m gray-headed, I think.
“Everything is icing on the cake from here on out. We have a young team that doesn’t know what’s going on right now. Our scouting report on this game lasted five minutes. We’re not going to overload them with too much information.”
The lead changed hands nine times through the first half, with neither team leading by more than five points. Bentonville led 24-19 after a Taylor Lee bucket with 2:13 before halftime, but North Little Rock pulled within one before Lee’s free throw gave the Lady Tigers a 27-25 cushion at the break.
North Little Rock opened the second half with five straight points and pulled ahead again, but Brooke Mabeus’ layup helped Bentonvlle regain a 34-33 edge. It lasted just 13 seconds before Mays’ 3-pointer put North Little Rock ahead for good.
Freshman Kyra Collier led the Lady Charging Wildcats with 18 points, while Leondra Hawkinson added 12. Garrard led a trio of Lady Tigers in double figures with 15 points, followed by Jasmine Secrest with 12 and Lee with 10, all in the first half.