BENTONVILLE -- The more balanced Bentonville's boys are with their scoring, the more dangerous the Tigers can be throughout the basketball season.
Malik Monk remains Bentonville's offensive leader, but Tyler Robinson and Chip Pratt made significant contributions Thursday night as the Tigers claimed an 86-58 victory over Little Rock Mills in the opening day of the Crabtree Invitational in Tiger Arena.
Bentonville 86, Little Rock Mills 58
LR Mills^19^8^15^16^—^58
Bentonville^13^19^16^38^—^86
LR Mills (2-2): Toney 14, Hall 11, Marshall 11, McCrary 7, Brown 4, Curne 3, Easter 3, Ricks 3, Ware 2.
Bentonville (2-0): Monk 31, Robinson 15, Pratt 12, Hemphill 7, Jackson 6, Wallace 6, Akbar 5, Hornsby 2, Hutchinson 2.
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Crabtree Invitational
at Bentonville
Thursday’s Scores
Girls
Pea Ridge 47, Bentonville JV 30 (G)
Bentonville 67, Clarksville 44
Boys
Bentonville 86, Little Rock Mills 58
El Dorado vs. Shreveport (La.) Huntington (n)
Today’s Games
Clarksville vs. Bentonville JV (G), 4:30 p.m.
El Dorado vs. Little Rock Mills (B), 6 p.m.
Bentonville vs. Pea Ridge (G), 7:30 p.m.
Bentonville vs. Shreveport (La.) Huntington (B), 9 p.m.
Robinson, a senior forward, scored 15 points in one of his better games with the Tigers, while Pratt, a sophomore guard, scored nine of his 12 points in the first half. That included a 3-pointer that broke a 25-25 tie with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first half.
"It felt good trying to get my shots through the offense and doing what I can to help my team win some games," Pratt said. "It's a work in progress, but we're getting there. I think we can be a very dangerous team as we try to win conference and state."
Pratt and Robinson became helpful cogs through the early stages as Monk went almost 10 minutes before he hit his first field goal. Mills (2-2) took advantage of that and led 19-13 after one quarter, but Monk put Bentonville ahead 23-21 when he hit a 3-pointer and added the free throw after he was fouled.
Pratt hit the first of two 3-pointers to give the Tigers a lead they kept until the 3:22 mark in the third quarter, when Mills went back in front 38-37 on Quawn Marshall's 3-pointer. Cy Wallace, however, answered with a 3-pointer to put Bentonville back in lead for good, then the Tigers blew the game open when they outscored the Comets 38-16 in the fourth quarter.
"I thought Tyler was great all night long, in every aspect of the game," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "Jordan Hemphill was a big playmaker in that first half, distributing the ball and setting up the shots that Chip and some of the others were getting.
"It was a two- or three-possession game for most of the game. Little Rock Mills is a really good team, but we were able to get some offensive rhythm late in the game and got away from them with some big threes."
Monk heated up in the fourth quarter with 16 of his game-high 31 points, including four 3-pointers. Jeremiah Toney led Mills with 14 points while Marshall and Darius Hall each added 11.
Girls
Bentonville 67, Clarksville 44
Bentonville used a 12-0 run in the third quarter to pull away from Clarksville and win its first home game. The outburst helped the Lady Tigers (2-0) turn a 30-20 halftime cushion into a 49-28 lead.
Ashley Murch and Krista Clark each had 12 points as four Bentonville players finished in double figures. Lauren Hargus added 11 and Maren Johnston chipped in 10 for the Lady Tigers (2-0), while Sam Childers had 10 for Clarksville.
Pea Ridge 47, Bentonville JV 30
Pea Ridge put together a 22-3 run in the third quarter to surpass Bentonville's junior varsity team in the first girls game.
Jennifer Anthony and Maggie Fletcher had nine points to pace Pea Ridge, while Avery Hughes had 12 points for the Lady Tigers.
Sports on 12/04/2015