FORT SMITH -- Bentonville started Friday's game against Fort Smith Southside by not missing many shots.
That trend continued throughout the contest at Ramsey Gym.
Bentonville shared the ball early and often and got a huge second quarter from Harrison Hicks to pull away for a 63-29 victory over the Mavericks.
The Tigers shot 72.7% (8 of 11) in the first quarter to take a 21-8 edge. Bentonville had seven different players score in the first quarter before Hicks took over with 15 points in the second quarter.
"That is us," Bentonville Coach Dick Rippee said. "We want to share the basketball. The best player is our team. When we are sharing the ball and making the right passes, we are pretty good. We had a good start."
Hicks finished with a game-high 21 points to pace Bentonville (8-1, 2-0 6A-West). Thane Spencer also chipped in 10 points off the bench. The Tigers had 10 different players score in the contest.
Southside (2-10, 0-2) was guided by a team-high 10 points from reserve Ki Kolls. Ethan Vaughn also chipped in six points for the Mavericks with a pair of three-pointers.
Bentonville scored the game's first 11 points to jump on Southside early. Point guard Jaylen Lee got the offense going with several assists in the opening quarter.
The Tigers closed the quarter by scoring the final eight points, including a deep three-pointer at the buzzer from Mason Krakau.
Hicks guided the offense in the second with his hot shooting. He made four shots from behind the arc and was fouled on another attempt, making all three shots from the free-throw line. His free throws gave Bentonville a 42-22 lead heading into halftime.
"We did a good job finding guys that were making shots," Rippee said. "Harry got going in the second quarter. Our guys did a good job of finding him. We don't see a lot of zone. But our guys attacked the defense, did a good job drawing two and then finding the next guy."
Bentonville ended the first half shooting 6 % (13 of 20), while the Mavericks made 40% (8 of 20).
"When you are shooting it that well, it tells you are taking good shots," Rippee said. "I don't remember many bad shots. Our guys have a great awareness with what we want to do. We found the right guys at the right spots."
The Tigers have now gotten off to a 2-0 start in league play in eight of the last nine seasons. Bentonville was 1-3 last season to open conference play, so Rippee is happy for this year's fast start.
"You can't ask for more than getting out of the first week of conference play and being 2-0," Rippee said. "Road wins are always nice. We haven't played here before. It's a good start for us. We are a young team still. I love the way we play."