CONWAY — The highest-ranked recruit in Arkansas got a crack at the most talented team in Class 7A in the state tournament semifinals Monday.
Not even Malik Monk could keep up with North Little Rock.
How They Scored
Boys
North Little Rock 77
Bentonville 64
Bentonville^16^15^13^20^—^64
NLR^23^14^19^21^—^77
Bentonville (19-6): Monk 30, Dixon 18, Robinson 8, Caudle 5, Carter 3.
NLR (25-2): Beard 28, Allen 28, Hill 8, Eldridge 5, Ekeh 4, Gulley 4.
Monk scored a game-high 30 points, but North Little Rock's highly touted duo of Arkansas signee Anton Beard and junior Kevaughn Allen each scored 28 to lead the Charging Wildcats to a convincing 77-64 win over Bentonville.
North Little Rock (25-2) advanced to the state title game with the impressive win in front of a capacity crowd. The Charging Wildcats led by as many as 21 points as Beard and Allen combined to hit nine 3-pointers in the rout of Bentonville and Monk, the state's highest-ranked recruit.
"Basically we came into this game knowing the emotion was going to be there because we were playing Malik and Bentonville," Beard said. "And that's the game everyone was talking about the whole year. ... I played a little hype. Really just playing against Malik just brings out the best in me. And that's what I think really led me to that victory."
Beard was dominant, hitting 11-of-17 shots, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. He and the rest of the Charging Wildcats were locked in from the opening tip, scoring on six of their first seven possessions, hitting four 3-pointers in the first few minutes and jumping out to an early 16-6 lead.
The Charging Wildcats rotated athletic defenders on Monk throughout the game with Beard, Allen and junior K.J. Hill primarily guarding the 7A/6A-West's top scorer. The strategy largely worked for three quarters before Monk scored 15 in the fourth to finish 11-of-20 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
"We just wanted to make him make tough shots," North Little Rock coach Jonny Rice said. "He scored 30, but I still think a lot of them he had to work to get. ... We kind of said, 'Who wants (to guard) him?' And everybody stepped up."
North Little Rock maintained its hot long-range shooting throughout, finishing 11-of-20 from 3-point range. But Bentonville (19-6) hung with the Central's top seed for a half, largely thanks to the efforts of sophomore point guard Tyrik Dixon, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the opening half.
"He really played well. ... I was really proud of the way we responded," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "We came out a little tight and nervous. Then I think we settled down after called a timeout and responded. I was really proud, because we played all the way to the end."
But Beard and North Little Rock had an answer every time Bentonville threatened. Monk drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the North Little Rock lead to three in the final seconds of the first half only to have Beard answer by hitting an even deeper 3-pointer at the buzzer to put North Little Rock up 37-31 at intermission.
"That was a big shot for Anton," Allen said. "I kind of knew he was going to make it because that wasn't his first (buzzer beater) he made. That was like his third or fourth."
Beard scored the first five points of the second half as North Little Rock quickly asserted itself and never looked back, stretching the lead to 56-44 through three quarters and maintaining a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
"You have to kind of pick your battles against them," McMahan said. "And we wanted to try to make them beat us from the 3-point line. And you've got to give them the credit. They did it. Because you know that athleticism is going to be tough."
Sports on 03/11/2014