Basketball: Garrett, 3-ball push Har-Ber past West, 72-49

SPRINGDALE -- Tyler Garrett knows Springdale Har-Ber's opponents will be keyed in on sophomore guard Tylor Perry and forward Zane King -- and rightfully so.

But the junior guard is playing his best basketball of the season the last two weeks and has made teams pay for leaving him unattended. Garrett scored a game-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers, in Har-Ber's 72-49 win against Bentonville West Tuesday.

7A-WEST CONFERENCE

Boys

Springdale Har-Ber 72, Bentonville West 49

Bentonville West^11^11^15^12^–^49

Springdale Har-Ber^15^17^18^22^–^72

West (11-13, 4-7): Barron 10, Muldrew 9, Collier Blackburn 8, Hornsby 7, Wilmot 4, Rutherford 4, Larson 2, Ray 2, Gibson 2.

Har-Ber (19-6, 10-1): T. Garrett 16, Taylor 12, Perry 11, Kaunitz 11, King 8, A. Garrett 8, Williams 2, Bishop 2, Ragsdale 2.

Girls

Springdale Har-Ber 51, Bentonville West 40

Bentonville West^14^4^7^15^–^40

Springdale Har-Ber^13^6^17^15^–^51

West (3-20, 1-10): Wilson 18, Montgomerey 10, Reid 5, Crowson 4, Dodd 2, Mahone 1.

Har-Ber (15-10, 5-6): Smith 13, Shannon 10, Mains 9, Terry 6, Weber 4, Juliza Brown 4, Juella Brown 2, Whaley 1.

The Wildcats move to 19-6 overall -- winners of 14 of their last 15 -- and 10-1 in 7A-West play. Garrett poured in at least 15 points for the fourth consecutive game and is averaging 16.3 in that span.

"He's on a roll. He keeps doing that and he takes us to the next level," Har-Ber coach Scott Bowlin said of Garrett. "He's really started making shots -- big shots -- the last two weeks."

While Garrett headlined Har-Ber's offense, he had plenty of help. Four Wildcats reached double figures in the win and six players added at least eight points as Bowlin's club connected on 12 of 22 3-pointers. Ryan Taylor finished with 12 points -- his third double-figure game in his last four -- while Matt Kaunitz and Tylor Perry added 11.

"We talked about limiting their other guys," West coach Greg White said. "Once they got rolling ... we never felt out of it until late. We were down 10-12, but getting down 15 feels like 30. It's time to turn the focus to Friday."

Zane King -- four blocks -- and Austin Garrett -- eight rebounds -- pitched in eight points as well. The freshman, who entered Tuesday 0 of 6 from deep for the season, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as well.

"That's a luxury," Bowlin said of his team's balance. "That's not something you have every year. Survive and advance. That's what we're doing right now."

A 7-2 run to open the second half handed Har-Ber, at the time, its biggest lead of the night at 39-24. The Wildcats led by as many as 21 late before Cole Bishop added free throws and Jack Ragsdale's layup set the final score. A roadtrip to Fayetteville on Friday awaits Har-Ber, who's moving closer to clinching the league's 1-seed in the state tournament.

"One of our goals this year is to win conference, and not only that but to make noise at state," Tyler Garrett said. "Everybody contributed tonight. We can be real scary when that happens. Our confidence is high."

Boston Barron led West with 10 points and Cobe Muldrew added nine

Girls

Springdale Har-Ber 51, Bentonville West 40

Har-Ber (15-10, 5-6) and the Lady Wolverines exchanged leads five times in the opening 18 minutes Tuesday night at Wildcat Arena, but a strong second-half performance lifted Jaime Green's club to its third consecutive win in 7A-West play.

Led by Khanni Shannon's 10 points -- all in the second half -- and a lineup change, Har-Ber put away West behind a 14-4 run to close the third quarter. Har-Ber never led by fewer than eight in the fourth quarter.

Krislyn Smith led the Lady Wildcats with a team-high 13 points and Maci Mains, in her first home conference home game, added nine. West's Shania Wilson led all scorers with 18 points and Imani Montgomery added 10 and seven rebounds.

Sports on 02/15/2017

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