Bentonville rolls over Rogers

ROGERS -- Bentonville High used an 18-0 scoring run to open up a big lead and rolled to a mercy-rule win Friday night against Rogers High in 7A-West Conference basketball in King Arena. The win locked down at least a No. 2 seed for the Tigers in the upcoming Class 7A state basketball tournament with two games left in the regular season. Bentonville still has a shot at the conference title and the No. 1 seed heading into the final week of the season. The Tigers (15-10, 10-2 7A-West) led 4-3 after Rogers sophomore Jake Early drained a long 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 34 seconds left in the first quarter. That was the last time Rogers would score for the next 8:08. Over the time frame, Bentonville went on an 18-0 run, keyed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Michael Shanks, who scored a game-high 19 points. Kurt Jarrett and Asa Hutchinson also hit shots from behind the arc in the run that finally ended with 3:16 left in the second quarter on Early's runner in the lane. "(The Mounties) were trying to be patient offensively, and we were trying to be disciplined defensively and we wanted to get out ahead of them because it's hard to be patient when you're not ahead," said Bentonville coach Jason McMahan. "I was really proud of our kids and how they stayed disciplined and didn't go gamble for steals and just took what was there." Bentonville scored the last four points of the second quarter to take a 26-7 lead at halftime, then opened the third quarter with a 7-1 run to build a 33-8 lead and Rogers was never a factor the rest of the way. The Tigers got scoring production from 10 players as McMahan emptied his bench early in the fourth quarter. Rogers coach Wayne Herren said the Mounties (7-18, 0-12) had a chance to keep the game close as the first quarter came to an end, but a missed shot with just over 20 seconds left allowed Bentonville to score twice late to extend the lead. "We had a hard time all night getting floor space," Herren said. "We play on a shorter court than anyone else does in our league, and when you play against a team with great length in a zone, it's hard to find spots and you've got to be able to make a pin-point pass. They expand so much and keep you from making those passes." McMahan praised the play of his team's defensive and rebounding and is pleased with his team's play heading into tournament time. "The big thing for us is we want to win all the games we can and get all the momentum we can for the playoffs," McMahan said. "I love our group and our character and our focus all the way through our team. We had some injuries early, but I think it's all starting to come together."

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BENTONVILLE ROLLS OVER ROGERS

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Arkansas Online | 2/18/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville Athletics