BENTONVILLE -- A sense of bewilderment filtered through Tiger Arena when Malik Monk broke for the basket Tuesday night and opted for the breakaway layup instead of one of his flashy dunks.
Bentonville's boys didn't catch everybody by surprise again as the Tigers continued their winning ways with a convincing 77-49 victory over Alma in their final home game until 7A-West Conference play begins next month.
Boys
Alma^9^16^13^11^—^49
Bentonville^15^29^20^13^—^77
Alma (0-2): Cluck 10, Harms 9, Beneux 8, Friddle 5, Jensen 5, Johnson 4, Corder 4, Dotson 2, Whitney 2.
Bentonville (4-0): Hemphill 16, Monk 16, Constantini 9, Robinson 9, Hutchinson 7, Jackson 7, Estrada 4, Pratt 4, Hornsby 3, Akbar 2.
Girls
Bentonville 46, Alma 29
Alma^17^5^0^7^—^29
Bentonville^6^18^12^10^—^46
Alma (0-2): Ostrander 11, Fagan 8, Cochran 6, Dunbar 4.
Bentonville (4-0): Brittain 8, Clark 8, Hargus 8, Hughes 6, Johnston 6, Murch 6, Hernandez 2, Roberts 2.
Monk, who averaged 36 points in Bentonville's first three games this season, finished with 16 and shared high-point honors with Jordan Hemphill as the Tigers had 10 of their 11 players score.
"I think a lot of our guys did a good job of coming off the bench and making some plays for us," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "It was just the way things fell. It was more instinctual reaction to the night, and Alex Jackson and some of those guys came in and played with a lot of energy and played well."
Monk's layup gave Bentonville (4-0) a 24-12 lead with 5 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first half, only to see Alma (0-2) get five straight points by Heath Friddle and make it a seven-point game. The Tigers, however, responded with nine straight points and put their lead back in double digits for good, then went on to post a 44-25 halftime lead, thanks to Jackson's 3-pointer from the wing just before the buzzer.
Bentonville went on to extend its lead to 64-38 through three quarters but didn't make the sportsmanship rule until Gabe Hornsby's layup made it a 75-44 game with 3 minutes remaining.
"This is only the second week we've had our full squad together, so we're just kind of getting started," Alma coach Stan Flenor said. "I saw some things I didn't see last week and some improvements, and it's going to be a step-by-step process. We'll get there by January, but any time you're playing teams like Bentonville, it's going to be tough."
Monk and Hemphill were the only players in double figures for Bentonville, which travels to Jonesboro for a Friday game against Arlington, Tenn., in the Natural State Shootout. Will Cluck had 10 points to lead Alma.
Girls
Bentonville 46, Alma 29
Bentonville limited Alma to just 10 points over the final 22 minutes after the Airedalettes (0-3) took an early 19-7 lead.
Krista Clark's bucket with 1:44 before halftime gave the Lady Tigers (4-0) a 24-22 lead, then Bentonville outscored Alma 10-0 in the third quarter to pull away.
Clark, Madison Brittain and Lauren Hargus each had eight points for Bentonville, which returns to action Thursday in the Vinita (Okla.) Big Dawg Invitational. Abbye Ostrander had a game-high 11 for Alma.
Sports on 12/09/2015