ALMA -- Bentonville West's boys still have a month to go before they get to play a basketball game in their home arena.
In the meantime, the Wolverines must find success on the road and do so with a lot of new faces. That success came Friday as West used its 3-point shooting to claim a 63-41 victory over Sheridan in the first night of Charles B. Dyer Classic.
The Wolverines (1-2) connected on 11 shots from beyond the arc, four of them coming by Dillon Bailey, while Sheridan (1-2) hit only two.
"That's going to be one of our strengths," West coach Greg White said. "In the first quarter, I pulled Kade Ruffner and Riley Buccino aside and said, 'do you know what I'm going to tell you?' And they said, 'Make the next one.'
"They know I have all the confidence in the world in them, and we want them to believe in us. So we want them to shoot the ball and shoot freely. We're laid-back and pretty relaxed about it, but they know when it matters we're going to put the ball in the hole."
West did all of its scoring from 3-pointers in the first quarter and took a 12-11 lead when Bailey hit one before the buzzer sounded. The Wolverines never trailed again as they scored seven straight points to start the second quarter, with Buccino's two free throws making it a 19-11 game with 6 minutes, 24 seconds before halftime.
Sheridan pulled within 24-23 on Jarius Adams' 3-pointer with 3:05 left in the first half, but West regrouped and stretched its lead to 31-25 at halftime and 45-34 after three quarters. The Yellowjackets briefly closed the gap to single digits before the Wolverines used a 3-pointer by Buccino, two more by Bailey and a three-point play by Ruffner to turn the game into a rout.
"This schedule is tough, and not because it's all on the road," White said. "It's the opponents we're playing -- Little Rock Parkview, Conway, Sheridan, Jonesboro coming up and Batesville Southside. We want to put these guys through a test because we know what our conference does.
"This is a special group and has a chance to do something special. You saw the energy, and they love to share the ball. I'm happy with how we played. A win, obviously, was great, but the way we won is what I'm happy about. The defense was solid and our offense was really good."
Buccino finished with 16 points for West, which plays Batesville Southside this afternoon, while Ruffner added 15 and Bailey 14. Tyler Cacciatori was the only Sheridan player in double figures with 20.
BENTONVILLE WEST 63, SHERIDAN 41
Bentonville West 12 19 14 18 -- 63
Sheridan 11 14 9 7 -- 41
Bentonville West (1-2): Buccino 16, Ruffner 15, Bailey 14, Allen 8, White 6, Honeycutt 2, George 2.
Sheridan (1-2): Cacciatori 20, Morris 7, Hollinger 6, Adams 5, Alexander 1, Lucas 1, Hill 1.
Alma 67, Batesville Southside 32
Cejay Mann and Austin Cluck combined for 32 points as Alma cruised to a victory over Batesville Southside.
Alma (2-0) outscored Southside 24-4 over the last 10 minutes of the first half and turned an 11-9 deficit into a 33-15 halftime cushion. The Airedales closed out the third quarter with nine unanswered points for a 54-25 cushion, then Nathan Whalen's bucket to start the fourth quarter forced the running clock into play.
Mann finished with 18 and Cluck had 14 for Alma, while Whalen added 13. Devan Halford led the Southerners (2-2) with 14 points.
Batesville Southside 11 4 10 7 -- 32
Alma 16 17 21 13 -- 67
Batesville Southside (2-2): Halford 14, Painter 8, Burrows 3, Shane 3, Sutton 2, Long 2.
Alma (2-0): Mann 18, Cluck 14, Whalen 13, D.J. George 5, McCalister 4, Stahler 3, S. George 3, Dyer 3, Wood 2, Gibson 2.
Girls: Batesville Southside 58, Alma 46
Batesville Southside scored 18 unanswered points to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish as the Lady Southerners defeated the host school.
Southside (4-1) closed out the first half with 10 straight points for a 24-19 lead, then added eight more to start the third quarter for a 32-19 cushion. Hillarie Mata then scored 10 points during a 14-2 Alma run and pulled with Lady Airedales (1-1) within 34-33 with 1:21 left in the third quarter, but Southside pulled away again in the fourth quarter.
Mata and Lydia Mann each had 14 points for Alma. Olivia Allen led Southside with 22, followed by Reese Gardner with 17.
Batesville Southside 9 15 13 21 -- 58
Alma 10 9 14 13 -- 46
Batesville Southside (4-1): Allen 22, R. Gardner 17, Cuzzort 9, B. Gardner 6, Warden 4.
Alma (1-1): Mata 14, Mann 14, Carmack 8, McGhee 8, Kelley 2.
Preps Sports on 12/07/2019