CENTERTON -- Bentonville High will enter the Class 7A state tournament with momentum after a 60-38 win against crosstown rival Bentonville West on Friday.

The Lady Tigers (13-14, 6-8 7A-West) started slow, but used its experienced to build a comfortable halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way.

Bentonville will be the No. 6 seed from the West in next week's state tournament in Van Buren. The Lady Tigers will play the 4 p.m. game Wednesday against the No. 3 seed from the 7A-Central.

"I was really pleased with our effort tonight," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "We had a lot of just point-blank shots that we just didn't finish, but the girls did a great job of getting second opportunities and just get more shots on goal than. We got a lot of hustle balls and 50-50 balls tonight."

West (4-22, 2-12), a first-year program without a senior or any players with varsity playing experience coming into the season, hung close in the early going as sophomore post Shania Wilson scored six of her game-high 16 points in the first quarter.

Kelsie Mahone opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer for West and a 12-10 lead, then Wilson later hit back-to-back buckets for a 16-12 lead. But Bentonville's Krista Clark scored 12 points over the final 4 minutes, 47 seconds of the quarter and helped the Lady Tigers carry a 28-19 lead into halftime.

Three of Clark's points came at the free-throw line with 1:28 left after West coach Randy Richardson was hit with a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game after arguing a foul call on one of his players.

"The problem is, with a young team, the more physical the game, the bigger disadvantage we have," Richardson said after the game. "I was fighting for our kids. It was an over-the-back call that I thought. I got kind of emotional about it.

"I mean, I deserved the technical."

West fought back to close the deficit to 28-23 to open the third quarter as Imani Montgomery hit a shot from the free-throw line, and Wilson made two free throws with 6:21 left in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers held off the charge as sophomore Avery Hughes scored on a lay-up and hit two free throws, helping Bentonville to a 43-29 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

Bentonville's Anna Kash, another sophomore, drained a pair of 3-pointers to extend the Lady Tigers' lead to 46-29 and seal the win.

"This was huge," Halbmaier said of the win in the regular season finale. "You always want to get that last win before you go into state because you want that momentum to carry into the tournament. Tonight was a good win for us."

Clark led three Lady Tigers in double-figures with 15. Hughes and Lauren Hargus each scored 11 for Bentonville.

Boys

Bentonville 77, West 61

The Tigers wrapped up a share of the 7A-West Conference title and will be the No. 2 seed at next week's state tournament.

Bentonville grabbed the big early lead and rode the hot shooting of senior Jordan Hemphill, who scored a game-high 32 points. Asa Hutchinson added 15 and Michael Shanks 11.

West, who will be the No. 6 seed at the state tournament next week and play a 5:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, was led by Cobe Muldrew with 14. Collier Blackburn added 12 and Boston Barron 11.

Bentonville will have a first-round bye and will play at 8:30 p.m. next Thursday in Van Buren.
