ROGERS -- When the Bentonville Tigers needed a big bucket Thursday night, they simply turned to their biggest guy.
Elijah Wilhelm's bucket with 1 minute remaining broke a 44-44 deadlock, and Bentonville hit 7 of 8 free throws in the closing seconds to secure a 53-46 victory over Rogers Heritage during 6A-West Conference action at War Eagle Arena.
The 6-9 Wilhelm stationed himself near the basket to get a clear inbounds pass from Javyn Williams to get the go-ahead bucket and give the Tigers (8-5, 2-0) their eighth win in their last nine games.
"He's obviously different to defend in there," Bentonville Coach Dick Rippee said. "The guys did a great job in finding him. The younger and better-looking coach [assistant Ryan] Rippee did a good job of drawing it up inside, and our guys executed and did a good job.
"I'm proud of our effort. That was two teams that competed really hard. Give [Heritage Coach] Tom [Olsen] and his bunch a lot of credit. They're going to win a lot of games in this league. They've got some nice players and nice pieces."
The War Eagles (7-5, 0-1) lost a chance to tie or take the lead when they were called for traveling on their ensuing possession with 36.4 seconds remaining. Javyn Williams and Owen Dehrmann each hit two free throws to give Bentonville a 50-44 cushion with 23.4 seconds left, and Williams hit two more from the line with 14 seconds left to make it a 52-46 game.
This came after the Tigers trailed for most of the game, with their biggest deficit being 40-32 late in the third quarter after Ben Manuel hit two free throws. Wilhelm, who finished with 10 points, came up with a three-point play to give Bentonville a 44-42 lead with 2:33 remaining -- its first lead since the opening minute -- but Heritage tied it on Jordan Dipley's drive to the basket just 16 seconds later.
"Credit goes to them. They just played harder than us for a lot of the game," Rippee said. "It wasn't that we weren't competing, but they were playing hard and playing well.
"But our guys have been winning some of these slugfests. The game Tuesday night [against Rogers] helped us. Down the stretch we made some plays and got some stops. I think when we defend, we rebound and we compete, we have a chance to win some games in our league. And our league is really good."
Williams finished with 16 points to lead Bentonville, while Dehrmann had 13 and Ma'aiki Dauda 10. Manuel led Heritage with 23 points, followed by Bryson Jackson with 11.
Bentonville West 42, Rogers 41
Caleb Crusinbery hit a layup with 5.4 seconds remaining as West slipped past Rogers in a 6A-West game in Wolverine Arena.
Rogers (7-6, 0-2) led 16-13 after one quarter and 29-21 at halftime, but West (5-6, 1-1) used an 11-4 run to pull within 33-32 to start the fourth quarter. Lane Jeffcoat, a 6-9 senior, scored inside to give the Wolverines a 40-38 lead with 2:30 remaining, but the Mounties regained the lead on Nathaniel Jones' three-pointer in front of the Rogers bench with 25 seconds remaining.
Jeffcoast finished with 12 points and Que Thompson 11 for West. Aidan Chronister had 18 points for Rogers, while Jones added 12.
GIRLS
Bentonville 40, Rogers Heritage 26
Bentonville held Heritage without a field goal for more than 11 minutes of the second half, then went on to earn the win.
Teagan Holt's score with 33 seconds before halftime pulled the Lady War Eagles (5-7, 0-1) within 18-15, but they didn't hit another field goal until Mya Doucoure scored from inside with 4:47 remaining. That allowed the Lady Tigers (5-8, 2-0) to go on an 11-2 run in the third quarter for a 29-17 cushion, and they clinched the win with 11 of 14 free-throw shooting.
Anna Lee Kulka had 10 points and was the only Bentonville player to finish in double figures. Sophie Sarratt led Heritage with nine.
Rogers 63, Bentonville West 33
Callie Wooldridge had 15 points to lead four Lady Mounties in double figures as they pulled away in the second half to defeat West in Wolverine Arena.
Rogers (6-6, 1-1) owned a 28-19 halftime lead, then outscored West 15-6 in the third quarter for a 43-25 cushion. The Lady Mounties then finished off the game with a 20-8 run over the final 8 minutes.
Kiara Owens and Brooklyn Owens each added 11 points for Rogers, while Sybell Solis chipped in 10. Hallie Ford had nine points to lead West (8-7, 0-2).