SPRINGDALE -- Freshman Brooklyn Kannady upstaged the upperclassmen on Senior Night at Springdale.
Kannady scored all 11 of her points in the second half to lead Van Buren to a 42-40 comeback victory over Springdale. Kannady has eight points in the fourth quarter for Van Buren, which trailed 22-10 at halftime.
"Brooklyn's a gamer. She's made a lot of big plays all year for us," Van Buren coach Chris Bryant said. "She's a competitor, and she certainly came through for us down the stretch."
Springdale appeared in control for over half the game with Marquesha Davis, the University of Arkansas signee who finished with 17 points in her final home appearance. Davis scored the first eight points for Springdale, and she had more points at halftime (15) than the Lady Pointers (10).
"We expected Marquesha to come out and take over, and she certainly did that," Bryant said. "At halftime, we recommitted to doing everything we could to limit them to one contested shot and doing the best we could at securing the rebound. We got into a rhythm, offensively, and gained some confidence."
The momentum shifted after Davis picked up her third foul late in the third quarter and Van Buren continued its comeback with the help of consecutive 3-pointers from Kannady and Rylee Ryan.
Kannady drove for three baskets and added two free throws to help Van Buren to its first lead of the game, 39-37, with two minutes, 28 seconds left to play. Both teams missed free throws and Springdale had some critical turnovers down the stretch while playing again without its injured point guard, Thaly Sysavanh, who watched the game while on crutches.
Lexie Miller added 11 points for Van Buren, which will enter the Class 6A state tournament next week as a No. 4 seed. Springdale is the No. 5 seed.
Van Buren 7 3 16 16 -- 42
Springdale High 12 10 9 9 -- 40
Van Buren (15-12, 8-6): Kannady 11, Miller 11, Evans 9, Schnakenberg 4, Greebe 4, Rylee 3
Springdale (13-12, 6-8): Davis 17, Gause 8, Minchew 7, Griffin 5, Bahena 2, Keeling 1
Bentonville 78, Bentonville West 37
Bentonville junior forward Bella Irlenborn found herself at the right place and time when senior guard Avery Hughes' second quarter, last-second shot attempt clanked off the top of the backboard and landed in her lap.
Her buzzer-beating fadeaway jumper was anything but luck, and she raised both fists in the air and laughed to celebrate a play that ultimately served to represent the entirety of Bentonville's (24-3, 13-1 6A West) 78-37 road victory over archrival Bentonville West (10-16, 5-9) on Friday.
The contest marked the final regular season game for both teams, and the result was similar in nature to the 63-29 blowout the Lady Tigers enjoyed in their first matchup. Bentonville asserted its dominance right from the tip, and three of its players scored eight points by halftime. For comparison, the Lady Wolverines had only seven as a team at that point.
Bentonville girls coach Tom Halbmaier said he hadn't seen a similar high-volume scoring circumstance.
"No, not at this level, not at this quality of play," Halbmaier said of the first-half stat. "I didn't know that, and I'm just proud of my kids and all the hard work they bring. As a coach, it's kind of fun to watch them reap what they've been working on."
Hughes led the Lady Tigers with 12 points. She hauled in four rebounds and added an assist. Had Halbmeier not subbed in the majority of his reserves due to the massive third-quarter lead, more players would have undoubtedly registered a double-digit scoring mark. Sophomores Alyssa Baker and Kadie Kultgen racked up nine apiece as Bentonville's next-highest scorers.
"We just started hitting shots, and when we're on, it's just 100 percent," Hughes said. "You can't stop us. We just had a good game, and I'm really happy about it."
Needing just five points to pass Martha Hancock (1995-97) on Bentonville's career scoring list, Hughes will more than likely eclipse that mark in her team's first state tournament game.
"It's awesome," Hughes said of her potential standing in Bentonville's records. "I couldn't be there without my team. They made me better each and every day, and I'm so excited."
With the win, Bentonville extended its winning streak to double digits. Its most-recent defeat came at home to Fayetteville on Jan. 15--a loss that was avenged when the teams played in Lady Bulldogs territory Feb. 12. The victory over a rival gave the team a chance to stay in the moment rather than instinctively look ahead.
"Whenever you play your sister school, it's always one of those deals where you know it's going to be a good game," Halbmeier said. "This game right here is no different. To get a victory like this on their home court, it says a lot about my kids, how hard they've worked and how they've approached it."
Senior guard Anna Kash poured in 18 points as Bentonville West's only double-digit scorer.
Bentonville 16 27 13 22 -- 78
Bentonville West 2 5 16 14 -- 37
Bentonville: Hughes 12, Baker 9, Kultgen 9, Hayes 8, Irlenborn 8, Skidmore 8, Smith 6, Danda 4, Eaves 3, Johnston 3, Sanders 3, Wagner 3, Bengtson 2
Bentonville West: Kash 18, White 5, Wood 5, Schaible 4, Tapp 3
Rogers 62, Rogers Heritage 35
Rogers had two players score in double-digits as the Mounties completed the sweep of cross-town rival Rogers Heritage on Friday night.
Rogers was in control from the tipoff after Ally Figenskau and London Hatch combined for 12 in the first quarter to help the Mounties to a nine-point lead. The team would keep the lead the whole night thanks to the Mounties strong shooting from behind the arc.
The Mounties hit six three-pointers, including four in the third quarter, as the team kept getting open looks on kick-outs from Figenskau and Taylor Treadwell. Figenskau led the team with 13 points and Courtney Story followed with 11.
"Tonight, she had some opportunities early, and she did a good job of going to the offensive glass and getting to the foul line," Rogers coach Preston Early said. "Those things are really big and then, all of a sudden, she gets a lot of attention, and that's why we got some open three-point shots."
Pam Seiler provided Heritage with some offense in the second half, knocking down two three-pointers, but Rogers' lead was too much to overcome as the Mounties won both games against the War Eagles by more than 20 points.
Rogers Heritage 8 8 7 12-- 35
Rogers 17 9 15 21 -- 62
Rogers Heritage (5-21, 1-13): Knight 7, Seiler 6, Dickerson 6, Jones 4, Lynge 4, Frazier 4, Mahmens 2, Pabon 2
Rogers (17-3, 9-5): Figenskau 13, Storey 11, Hatch 8, McConnell 8, Cates 8, Covington 4, Davidson 4, Treadwell 2, Brockhoff 2, Carr 2
Fayetteville 50, Springdale Har-Ber 27
Using defense as an indicator, Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer believes the Lady Bulldogs are primed for the postseason after Friday's win against Springdale Har-Ber.
Fayetteville (19-4, 12-2), which will enter next week's 6A State Tournament at Bentonville West as a No. 2 seed, fell six seconds short of shutting out the Lady Wildcats (9-18, 2-12) in the second quarter.
Har-Ber freshman Kaylan Coons, who led her team with 12 points, grabbed a long defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a short jumper to prevent the shutout. It ended a 17-0 Fayetteville run that blew open a close game after the Purple'Dogs led 6-4 late in the first half.
"The defensive end, to me, is the barometer or the test of how you're really playing going into the tournament," Rimmer said. "We've gotten lots better defensively and we've had a lot of young kids on the floor, but once they buy in (to defense) and the technique, we continue to get better.
"If we play defense like we did tonight, I think we have a chance to win a lot more games."
Fayetteville's full-court press was relentless during the second half when the Lady Bulldogs forced 9 of Har-Ber's 22 total turnovers in the game. On one possession, the Purple'Dogs' defense was so smothering Har-Ber's offense ran nearly two minutes off of the clock without even getting a shot attempt off.
"We seem to do that a lot where we hold teams without a shot for long stretches," Rimmer said. "That's why I'm a proponent of having a shot clock (in high school basketball) because we'll wear ourselves out on the defensive end like that."
Springdale Har-Ber 4 2 10 11 -- 27
Fayetteville 8 15 18 9 -- 50
Springdale Har-Ber (9-18, 2-12): Koons 12, Joyner 6, Stubbs 5, Hambelton 2, Starks 2
Fayetteville: Beck 13, Goforth 12, Releford 10, Bailey 4, Byars 3, Bobbitt 2, Kincaid 2, Saitta 2, Williams 2
Sports on 02/23/2019