BENTONVILLE -- It's a given Malik Monk will get his fair share of points in most 7A-West Conference basketball games he plays.
What makes Bentonville's boys a dangerous team is when the other players shoulder some of the scoring load.
How They Scored
Bentonville 72, Springdale Har-Ber 48
Har-Ber^11^5^19^13^—^48
Bentonville^20^13^18^21^—^72
Har-Ber (14-5, 5-2): Cline 17, Eckwood 16, Brandon 9, Benson 2, Knight 2, McNee 2.
Bentonville (12-6, 6-1): Monk 34, Loy 10, Robinson 9, Carter 6, Hemphill 6, Smith 5, Head 2.
The Tigers used that supporting cast to take over sole possession of first place in the 7A-West Conference as they rolled to a 72-48 victory over Springdale Har-Ber to round out the first half of league play Tuesday night in Tiger Arena.
Monk still finished with a game-high 34 points, including nine straight points during an 11-0 run to end the second quarter as Bentonville (12-6, 6-1) pulled away for a 33-16 halftime cushion. The other players, however, made their contributions at various times.
Hunter Loy scored eight of his 10 points in the first half and Tyler Robinson scored seven of his nine in the second half.
"When the other guys are doing their thing, how do you stop Malik and how do you stop us?" Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "We have such good shooters and can spread the floor, while Malik and Jordan Hemphill are so good at driving with the ball to the basket. It's a challenge to the other teams that is really tough."
When Har-Ber (14-5, 6-1) tried to utilize a triangle-and-two defense in order to keep the ball away from Monk and Ben Smith, it was the outside shooting of Loy and Trent Carter that doomed the Wildcats early. The two guards combined to hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and helped Bentonville set the tone after five lead changes in the first four minutes.
Each one of them hit one from beyond the arc in the final minute -- with Monk not in the game at the time -- to extend Bentonville's lead to 20-11 at the end of the first quarter.
"It wasn't Monk that killed us," Har-Ber coach Scott Bowlin said. "It was those guys on our scouting report that said they couldn't hit shots.
"Monk is going to get his points, so it ain't him. It's Carter and Loy that are making shots out there, and everybody we talked to said don't guard them because they're not going to be effective. I don't know how many 3s they made, but it was a bunch of them."
Bentonville then pulled away after the Tigers held Har-Ber without a point over the final 6 minutes, 56 seconds following a Avery Benson basket. Monk capped his 9-0 spurt with a breakaway dunk, and Loy's basket made it a 33-16 game at halftime, then the Wildcats couldn't get any closer than 14 in the second half.
Mason Cline finished with 17 points and Tereke Eckwood 16 for Har-Ber, which starts the second half of conference play at home Friday against Rogers High. Bentonville will have its colors day celebration Friday against Fort Smith Southside.
Sports on 02/04/2015