Bentonville’s girls not only left Fort Smith Northside with their first conference loss Tuesday night, but the Lady Tigers were also left a little short-handed for Friday’s home game against Springdale Har-Ber.

Bentonville (13-2, 2-1) had to modify their game plan some since starter Alexia Hernandez and top reserve Krista Clark were injured. Both of them saw very limited action — four minutes for Clark and slightly more than a minute for Hernandez — in the Lady Tigers’ 53-47 victory.

Abby Roberts drew the start instead of Hernandez and contributed with seven points, as well as a key defensive role. Baylee Byford picked up some additional playing time in place of Clark and drew a charging foul during a key stretch of the game when the score was close.

Lauren Hargus helped with the scoring role as she and Madison Brittain shared high-point honors with 15 points apiece. Hargus had eight in the first quarter, including a shot she hit where she threw the ball over her head while going away from the basket.

Bentonville’s boys regrouped nicely from back-to-back losses last week with two wins in league play this week. The Tigers (9-5) used the third quarter to pull away from Northside for a 70-54 decision, then did the same thing against Har-Ber to claim a 71-62 victory.

Play of the Week: Bentonville’s girls may have not beaten Fort Smith Northside, but it took the Lady Bears four extra minutes to take the win. Brittain caused that when she hit a 3-pointer — the Lady Tigers’ only one in the game — and tied the game at 47 with nine seconds left in regulation.

Players of the Week: Asa Hutchinson played a vital role in helping Bentonville pull away from Har-Ber. The sophomore guard hit four 3-pointers — three of them in less than 2 minutes and two from the some spot on the floor — and helped the Tigers turn their five-point halftime lead into a 53-38 margin at the end of the third quarter.

Notable: The Lady Tigers won the game despite being outrebounded by a 39-28 margin, but did force 13 turnovers while committing only six. … Bentonville’s girls trailed only once against Har-Ber — from the time Jacie Higgins hit her bucket with 1:07 before halftime until Hargus drove to the bucket and scored less than a minute later. … Tyler Robinson, one of four Tigers in double figures, gave Bentonville’s boys the lead for good when his bucket put them ahead 32-30 with 1:07 before halftime. … Malik Monk had one of the rarest four-point plays when he hit a bucket while a Har-Ber player was called for an intentional foul. Monk then hit both free throws to give the Tigers a 64-47 lead with 2:59 remaining.

Up Next: Bentonville’s boys start the week in Springfield, Mass., where the Tigers will play St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J., at 8 a.m. Monday. Both teams return to conference play Tuesday with home games against Springdale High before ending the week on different notes. Bentonville’s girls will play a conference game Friday at Rogers, while the boys will play El Dorado in a game that will be televised on ESPNU in Tiger Arena before hosting Rogers High in a conference game Saturday.

That Figures

4: Dunks by Malik Monk in the first half Friday night, two of them coming off of rebounds.

4: Asa Hutchinson 3-pointers in the third quarter

10: Rebounds by Maren Johnston in Friday’s game against Springdale Har-Ber
