PREP BASKETBALL: Bentonville girls avoid letdown with rout of Rogers

Jada Brown (35) of Bentonville takes shot over Taylor Treadwell (33) of Rogers at Tiger Arena, Bentonville,  AR, Tuesday, January 19, 2021/ Special to NWA Democrat-Gazette/ David Beach
Jada Brown (35) of Bentonville takes shot over Taylor Treadwell (33) of Rogers at Tiger Arena, Bentonville, AR, Tuesday, January 19, 2021/ Special to NWA Democrat-Gazette/ David Beach

BENTONVILLE -- There was no way the Bentonville girls were going to let themselves get caught in a trap Tuesday night.

The Lady Tigers showed no signs of a letdown as they stormed to a 68-31 rout of Rogers during 6A-West Conference action in Tiger Arena.

Bentonville (10-2, 4-0) maintained its grip on first place in the 6A-West standings as Nadia Akbar scored her eight points during an early 16-2 run, and the Lady Tigers were never threatened.

"Nadia set the tone with her aggressive style of play," Bentonville Coach Tom Halbmaier said. "Against Fayetteville, she didn't play her best, so she had something to prove. That set the tone for everybody else.

"Our defense, it was probably the best we've played all year in terms of communication and moving. We had concerns of a letdown, especially with no school Monday, but our kids came in focused."

Rogers (11-5, 3-2) didn't help its cause when leading scorer Kate Miller picked up two fouls in the opening minute and spent most of the first half on the bench. When the Lady Mounties went six minutes between buckets, Bentonville seized the moment with 12 unanswered points and a 16-2 cushion after Jada Brown's three-pointer.

The Lady Tigers then scored the first 21 points of the second quarter, including nine in a row by Maryam Dauda. Brown closed the run with five in a row as Bentonville owned a 42-10 halftime cushion.

"Our whole team, I was shocked at how it looked," Rogers Coach Preston Early said. "We're pretty embarrassed by it. I think our players are embarrassed, the coaches are embarrassed. I think our whole team had that look about them.

"We'll give credit to Bentonville when we get it handed to us that bad. I'm really disappointed in us. I think our players are better than that."

Bentonville led 61-18 after three quarters and took its biggest lead when Madison Hodes' three-pointer made it a 66-18 cushion early in the third quarter.

Brown finished with 17 to lead the Lady Tigers, while Dauda had 15. Miller finished with 10 points and was the only Lady Mountie in double figures.

BOYS

Bentonville 45, Rogers 42

Bentonville held off Rogers to remain unbeaten in 6A-West play despite going scoreless for more than 5 minutes in the fourth quarter,

The Tigers (11-1, 5-0) owned a 41-34 lead on Abel Hutchinson's three-point play with 6:27 remaining, but they didn't score again until Jaylen Lee's putback with 1:10 on the clock. That allowed Rogers to close the gap to 41-40 after Donnell Cunningham's free throw with 2:03 remaining.

The Mounties (5-4, 2-3) answered Lee's bucket with one by Alonzo Porchia with 56 seconds remaining and had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds. The Mounties threw the ball away with 8.2 seconds left, and Hayden Shanks hit two free throws to close out the scoring.

Shanks had 12 points and was the only player in double figures for Bentonville. Will Liddell led Rogers with 12 points and was the only Mountie in double figures.

Henry Apple can be reached at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry.

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