Tigers Handle Curves, Lead 7A/6A West Race

Bentonville’s boys basketball team occupies the driver’s seat halfway through 7A/6A-West Conference play, but the path it chose to reach first place in the league standings has been anything but a straight one.

The Tigers have encountered a number of curves with little room for error along the way, playing in four games where the final outcome has been determined on a shot in the closing seconds. That included two this week, and Malik Monk’s pair of buzzer-beaters gave Bentonville(13-3, 7-0) victories over Springdale High and Fayetteville.

“We’ll take the lead, but the thing is we need to continue to get better,” BentonvilleAT A GLANCE THAT FIGURES 2ff Malik - Buzzer Monk -beating shots by 4ff Bentonville - Consecutive ’s girls losses by 5ff the - Lead final changes 4 minutes during of the Bentonville-Fayetteville boys game Fridaycoach Jason McMahan said following his team’s 52-49 win Friday night over Fayetteville. “We could easily be 2-5. Five of our games have been razorclose.

“We’ve just got to continue to grow to be a better basketball team.”

Bentonville’s girls have taken another route during 7A/6AWest play, and it’s one the Lady Tigers wish they could have avoided. Bentonville, which opened conference play with a 3-0 mark, have now suff ered four straight losses following setbacks Tuesday at Springdale and Friday at home against Fayetteville.

Play of the Week: Either one of Monk’s buzzer-beaters will suffice, and ESPN replayed both of them during Saturday morning’s edition of “SportsCenter.” The sophomore guard caught an inbounds pass and fired an off-balance 3-pointer from the left wing in the final 0.8 seconds of Tuesday’s win over Springdale, then he avoided two defenders in the final 15 seconds and delivered a shot from the top of the key during Friday’s home game against Fayetteville.

Players of the Week: In addition to his two buzzer-beaters, Monk combined to score 50 points in Bentonville’s two wins. He scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game against Fayetteville, including a pair of dunks that helped the Tigers take their fi rst lead.

Peyton Taylor, who Bentonville has converted from a guard to a post player this season, had 12 points and pulled down six rebounds in a loss to Fayetteville. She hit 5 of 9 shots, including a bank shots with seconds left in the first half to give the Lady Tigers a 19-16 halftime cushion.

Notable: Athletic director Scott Passmore said about 250-300 people had to be turned away Friday night after Tiger Arena reached overflow capacity and could hold no more, according to fire marshals. … McMahan said this is the first time in recorded school history that a Bentonville boys team started conference play with a 7-0 record. … Sophomore Tyler Robinson enjoyed his best of the game with 10 points Friday, including a tip-in that tied the game at 49 with 42 seconds remaining.

Up Next: Bentonville enjoys an open date Tuesday before starting the second half of conference play Friday against Van Buren.

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/02/2014

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