BENTONVILLE -- Bentonville had lots to play for Tuesday night and the Lady Tigers played like it.
Bentonville shot a blistering 57 percent from the floor, including 9 of 17 from 3-point range, to roll over Rogers Heritage 65-32 to lock up the No. 3 seed in 7A-West girls basketball in Tiger Arena.
How They Scored
7A-West Conference
Girls
Bentonville 65, Rogers Heritage 32
Heritage^7^10^5^10^—^32
Bentonville^14^19^20^12^—^65
Rogers Heritage (9-16, 2-10): Jobst 10, Tiles 7, Giesen 7, L. Thompson 3, S. Thompton 3, Seiler 2.
Bentonville (17-9, 8-5): Martin 10, Taylor 10, Johnston 8, Brittain 7, Stewart 6, Kincy 6, Gifford 6, Woods 4, Clark 3, Murch 3, Hargus 2.
Boys
Bentonville 54, Rogers Heritage 42
Heritage^9^11^10^12^—^42
Bentonville^14^14^17^9^—^54
Rogers Heritage (15-10, 6-6): Hirsh 15, Hobbs 12, Olsen 6, Coover 5, Breedlove 2, Jensen 2.
Bentonville (18-6, 12-1): Monk 15, Hemphill 12, Smith 6, Loy 6, Robinson 4, Carter 4, Head 4, Jones 3.
Lady Tigers coach Tom Halbmaier could not have been more pleased with his team's focus on senior night.
"A lot of the kid wanted to make sure we went out on a good note on senior night," Halbmaier said. "Collectively, it was probably one of the best shooting displays I've ever been associated with. It's great to get a win on senior night against a good Heritage team and be able to get all the seniors in. The kids have meant so much to this program.
The Lady Tigers (17-9, 8-5 7A-West) put together an 11-0 second-quarter surge to grab a 30-12 lead. Bentonville did damage in lots of different ways. Jordan Martin started it with a driving layup. Later Martin canned a 3-pointer from the corner. Maren Johnston scored off a lob twice and Madison Brittain hit a pair of free throws.
Heritage coach Kevin Ramey said Bentonville played with plenty of purpose and struggled to get clean looks at the basket.
"You can tell they are still in the playoff hunt," Ramey said. "They are still fighting for something. They made a lot of shots, but they got a lot of good, clean looks. We struggled to find those clean looks and that led to how it went. They shot it so well, it kind of takes the life out of you.
"But they really got rolling in the second half. They execute their stuff so well. They hit you from everywhere. How are you gonna stop them? We tried to go zone, they hit threes. We went to a different man and they hit threes. In between that, they scored inside as well."
Martin and Peyton Taylor tied for game-high honors with 10 points each.
The Lady War Eagles, who have lost eight in a row, managed just one field goal in the third quarter as Bentonville took command with a 16-0 run to start the second half. Emilie Jobst led Heritage (9-16, 2-10) with 10.
Boys
Bentonville 54, Rogers Heritage 42
The Tigers ended the third quarter with a 12-0 run to pull away for the victory.
Heritage (15-10, 6-6) was within 33-30 after a free throw by Lexus Hobbs with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left in the quarter. Bentonville (18-6, 12-1) turned up the defensive pressure, forcing three turnovers in the final 90 seconds and holding the War Eagles without a field goal for more than five minutes in the second half.
Hunter Loy's 3-pointer in the corner at the third-quarter buzzer put Bentonville in command 45-30. Malik Monk continued the run to start the fourth quarter with a steal and two-handed dunk.
Monk led Bentonville with 15 points, while Jordan Hemphill added 12. Connor Hirsh led Heritage with 15, while Hobbs added 12.
Sports on 02/25/2015