THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

GREENWOOD -- Bentonville High was able to find high-percentage shots early and often to pull away from Greenwood on Thursday night at H.B. Stewart Bulldog Arena. Bentonville made 21 of its 35 shots in the game using both its height inside and its outside shooting ability in a 61-47 victory in nonconference play. Maryam Dauda, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, led the way scoring a game-high 20 points for the Lady Tigers. Senior guard Avery Hughes also added 15 for Bentonville. "Coming down to Greenwood, it is always tough," Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier said. "This is a great win for us. Greenwood is so tough and relentless. I got to give my girls credit. I thought this was a good team win." Bentonville (3-0) was able to jump out to a 29-21 halftime lead with the help of some hot shooting to start the game. The Lady Tigers were able to make seven of their 10 shots including four 3-pointers to open the game all in the first quarter to take a 19-11 lead. Dauda was a big factor inside blocking two shots and scoring a team-high seven points in the quarter. "We were able to get off to a nice start in a tough place to play," Halbmaier said. "That showed that our kids were ready to go from the start. I loved the effort from start to finish." Greenwood, which made just nine of 33 first-half shot attempts, was able to get back into the game with a strong push in the second quarter. A basket by Kyiah Julian was able to trim Bentonville's lead to 23-19. The Lady Tigers then outscored the Lady Bulldogs 6-2 to close out the first half to help push back out their lead heading into the break. Bentonville was able to take control of the game in the second half, using a scoring stretch to push the edge out to 39-29 with a basket from Riley Hayes in the third quarter. After holding a 45-31 lead heading into the final quarter, the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-4 to open the fourth quarter to make it a 55-35 lead. "They kept hitting shots and we kept trying to stay in the game," Greenwood coach Clay Reeves said. "Things weren't going good there for a while. You have to keep playing. You can't let the offense impact the rest of the game." Greenwood (3-1) was led by sophomores Kinley Fisher and Ally Sockey each scoring a game-high 10 points. Junior Angela Price and Julian, a senior, both added eight points for the Lady Bulldogs. Greenwood, the Class 6A state runnerup last season, was limited to 20 of 68 shooting in the game. The Lady Bulldogs made just four of 21 second-quarter attempts after missing some at the rim and lay-ups. "They shot good and moved the ball well," Reeves said. "But even with the percentage they shot, I feel if we were more aggressive on offense and made the layups we still had a chance." Dauda, who finished with four blocks, was a big impact in the game on the back end of the Lady Tigers' defense. "Their size was an issue," Reeves said. "Dauda affected our shots under the basket, which we knew she would. That makes it tougher. I didn't think we were quite as aggressive off the dribble. We'll learn from this." Greenwood was able to keep itself in the game early with Bentonville committing 24 turnovers in the game with at least five in each quarter. "I give Greenwood all the credit on the turnovers," Halbmaier said. "We can learn from this. We made some of those late and didn't make the same mistakes twice. They are a tough team to play against."

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

BENTONVILLE GRABS ROAD WINS OVER GREENWOOD

HOWARD MCILVAIN

Arkansas Online | 11/30/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville Athletics