Monk helps Tigers take share of 7A title

BENTONVILLE — Springdale High boys basketball coach Brad Stamps knew he couldn’t afford to have Chris Owens or Treyshawn Gause pick up any more fouls Wednesday night.

Those two players sat for much of the third quarter after they picked up their third fouls, and that was when Malik Monk found his scoring touch. The B entonville junior scored 17 of his 28 points during that 8-minute stretch and led the Tigers to a 58-50 victory in a 7A-West Conference makeup game in Tiger Arena.

“That was a big stretch right there, with both of those guys on the bench,” Stamps said. “You hate that they have to come over there. It’s a lot more comfortable when they are on the floor, I assure you.

“Malik’s a great player, and he’s going to make plays. They’re a good basketball team, and the best team in our league. I felt like we stayed toe-to-toe with them, so we have nothing to be ashamed.”

Monk scored all but one point in a 13-4 Bentonville run, and his bucket with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Tigers (16-6, 10-1) a 40-32 cushion. Springdale (8-15, 3-8) pulled within three on two occasions, the last being 44-41 on a Chris Owens bucket, but Monk answered with a three-point play to give the Tigers a six-point lead as they entered the fourth quarter.

Bentonville then took its biggest lead when Jordan Hemphill’s back-toback buckets made it 55-46 with 3:20 remaining. This came as Monk sat on the bench with his fourth foul.

“Malik did a good job of hitting the defensive glass, which gave us opportunities to get out in transition,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “That allowed some driving gaps and lanes, and I think he did a good job of being in an attack mode.

“I do think that turned the game, but Springdale did a good job of making it a broken rhythm, and they had a nice game plan.”

Hunter Loy added 10 points and was the only other player in double f igures for Bentonville, which clinched a share of the 7A-West title with its win and Springdale’s Har-Ber loss to Fayetteville. Owens f inished with 20 for Springdale, including all of the Bulldogs’ points in the fourth quarter, while Kylar Mahar added 11.

GIRLS SPRINGDALE HIGH 61, BENTONVILLE 53

Ryann Goodsell scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter to fuel a Springdale comeback against Bentonville.

The Lady Red’Dogs (12-12, 3-8) went on a 21-11 run over the final 8 minutes, including a Goodsell bucket with 6:47 remaining that gave Springdale the lead for good.

Ja’Vonda Daniels had 19 points to lead Springdale, while Kierra Lang added 13 and Chasidee Owens had 10. Peyton Taylor had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Bentonville (15-9, 6-5) before fouling out in the final seconds, while Jordan Martin added 10.

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