NEOSHO, Mo. -- If Bentonville's girls were going to put any distance between themselves and Van Buren, stopping Jamilyn Kinney became a priority.
That's where Lauren Hargus entered the picture Tuesday night. The Lady Tigers' sophomore guard was given the defensive role and held the freshman standout to four points in the second half as Bentonville claimed a 49-33 semifinal victory in the Neosho Holiday Classic.
How They Scored
Bentonville 49, Van Buren 33
Bentonville^12^15^10^12^—^49
Van Buren^7^16^5^5^—^33
Bentonville (9-3): Martin 14, Brittain 14, Taylor 12, Hargus 6, Clark 2, Murch 1.
Van Buren (6-5): Kinney 17, Goodwin 8, Glassco 6, Sheppard 2.
"Lauren did a nice job on her throughout the game, especially in the second half," Lady Tigers coach Tom Halbmaier said. "It was one of those deals where we needed to clean it up a bit, and she wasn't gambling as much. She did a good job of keeping the kid in front and trying to make her shoot as she hopped back."
Kinney kept Van Buren (6-5) within reach throughout the first half by hitting four 3-pointers, including back-to-back shots from beyond the arc that tied the game at 17 with 4 minutes, 48 seconds before halftime. Her fourth 3-pointer trimmed Bentonville's lead to 24-23 before Madison Brittain hit one just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
The Lady Tigers (9-3) -- who blistered the nets for 89 points against an outmanned Buffalo, Mo., junior varsity team Monday -- pulled away when they opened the second half with 10 unanswered points and extended their lead to 37-23 on another Brittain 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. Van Buren did pull within single digits again, scoring seven straight points and making it a 37-30 game early in the third quarter, but Bentonville went on a 9-1 spurt and stretched its lead to 46-31 on a Lauren Hargus bucket inside midway through the fourth quarter.
"This has been the only true contest we've had since Christmas break," Halbmaier said. "I was pleased with the girls and how well they were focused.
"Our post play also did a nice job, and we just need to get more consistency out of it. Right now, it's pretty dry. They're doing OK defensively, but offensively we just have to get more production out of the paint."
Jordan Martin scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the first quarter and shared high-point honors with Brittain. Peyton Taylor added 12 for the Lady Tigers, who will play Springdale High in the Gold Division championship at 3:30 p.m. today at Neosho High School.
Kinney finished with 17 points to lead Van Buren and was the only Lady Pointer in double figures.
Sports on 12/31/2014