The 7A-West Conference basketball season opens a little earlier for Bentonville’s basketball teams as they welcome Fort Smith Southside — probably for the last time as a league foe — for a pair of games Thursday in Tiger Arena.

The conference opener begins a day earlier to help out Bentonville’s boys, who travel to Arlington, Tenn., to play Saturday against Memphis East in the Penny Hardaway Classic.Bentonville brings a 7-3 record into Thursday night’s game following a 2-2 mark and a seventh-place finish in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Rancho Mirage, Calif., capping its trip with an 80-61 win over Milwaukee Rufus King. It’s also the first home game for the Tigers since they hosted Alma on Dec. 8.

The Tigers had four players finish in double figures against Rufus King, and therein lies the secret of this team’s success this season. The more scoring help Malik Monk gets from his teammates, the more dangerous they become.

Southside enters its final season in the 7A-West — and the final season with the Rebels as its mascot — with an 8-5 record after back-to-back losses to North Little Rock and Little Rock Hall in the Coke Classic. The Rebels, who will be known as the Mavericks next season, are led by 6-foot-1 senior Austin West while senior Seth Hawley and junior Zion Releford provide adequate help. 

On the girls side, Bentonville enters Thursday’s game with an 11-1 record and ended nonconference play with a 34-26 loss to Van Buren in the Neosho (Mo.) Holiday Classic final. 

The Lady Tigers have had offensive struggles in three of their last four games. With the exception of a 58-18 rout of McDonald County, Mo., in Neosho, Bentonville compiled 30 and 38 points in wins over Greenwood and Ozark, Mo., respectively, and 40 points in a win over St. Joseph (Mo.) Lafayette last week before its first loss. 

Southside has struggled with a 3-10 mark during nonconference play under first-year head coach Steve Brown, who took over when Sherry White accepted a similar position at Russellville. The Lady Rebels are led by 5-8 senior Lani Meares. 

