FORT SMITH -- Bentonville's boys almost gave Fort Smith Northside one shot too many at another comeback Tuesday night.
The Grizzlies forced a turnover in the final 4.9 seconds, but Tevin Brewer's running jumper before the buzzer was off the mark, allowing the Tigers to escape with a 56-54 victory during 7A-West Conference basketball action in Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.
Boys
Bentonville 56, Fort Smith Northside 54
Bentonville^22^11^13^10^—^56
Northside^14^19^7^14^—^54
Bentonville (14-6, 8-1): Monk 30, Smith 11, Robinson 4, Loy 6, Head 2, Hemphill 2, Carter 1
Northside (15-8, 5-4): Brewer 20, Patterson 12, Lewis 9, Jones 6, Triplett 6, Barron 1.
Girls
Fort Smith Northside 57, Bentonville 46
Bentonville^10^12^13^11^—^46
Northside^9^13^16^19^—^57
Bentonville (14-7, 5-4): Brittain 11, Taylor 10, Martin 8, Johnston 8, Byford 3, Clark 3, Murch 3.
Northside (22-1, 8-1): Jackson 18, Krissman 11, McDonald 10, Alston 9, Shepard 5, Hood 4.
Bentonville (14-6, 8-1) threw the inbounds pass to Hunter Loy, who stumbled and threw the ball to a Northside player in the Grizzlies' frontcourt. Brewer then drove into the lane, but his shot was too hard and went off to the right side of the rim.
"At halftime, we talked about if we could make just one more play," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "On the last play, Daniel Head made a great play, contesting the last shot. I thought our kids came down here with grit and determination to pull this thing out."
The Tigers led 48-40 on Tyler Robinson's putback early in the fourth quarter, but Northside (15-8, 5-4) rallied and tied the game at 50 on Brewer's bucket with 1 minute, 56 seconds remaining. That lasted until the 1:17 mark, when Malik Monk drained a 3-pointer and put Bentonville ahead to stay.
Daniel Carter added a free throw to make it 54-50 with 51 seconds left, then Monk followed another Brewer bucket with two free throws with 21.1 seconds on the clock. Northside, however, set the stage when Dedric Patterson hit two free throws with 4.9 seconds left and made it a two-point game.
"We got that steal at the end, and I think he didn't realize how much time was still on the clock," Northside coach Eric Burnett said. "He could have taken his time and took the shot, but those things happen."
Brewer finished with 20 points to lead the Grizzlies.
Monk finished with a game-high 30 points, while Ben Smith was the only other Bentonville player in double figures with 11. Patterson added 11 points for Northside, which had its five-game win streak snapped.
Girls
Fort Smith Northside 57, Bentonville 46
Northside pulled away in the final three minutes as the Lady Bears outscored Bentonville 14-5 after Maren Johnston picked up her fifth personal foul and had to leave the game.
Johnston hit two free throws with 3:57 remaining to pull the Lady Tigers (14-8, 5-4) within 43-41, and Bentonville had appeared to get a steal when a ball was popped up in midair. However, Johnston was called for the foul, and Northside (22-1, 8-1) scored the next eight points for a 51-41 cushion.
Madison Brittain had 11 points and Peyton Taylor 10 for Bentonville. Alyia Jackson led Northside with 18 points, followed by Lauren Krissman with 11 and Tiarra McDonald with 10.
Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry.
Sports on 02/11/2015