Fast start fuels Bentonville High's win over Morrilton

NEOSHO, Mo. -- Bentonville High's boys made seven of their first nine shots from the floor and their first five 3-pointers in rolling to a 68-28 victory over Morrilton on Friday in the 64th annual Neosho Holiday Classic. Bentonville will take on Memphis Craigmont, a 50-49 winner over Kansas City Ruskin, for the Black Bracket title at 5 p.m. today. But Tigers coach Dick Rippee still had a few criticisms, particularly about his team's focus at times in the middle portion of the game. "I thought in the second and third quarter there was a spell there where I felt like we were rushing possessions," Rippee said. "It was kinda like I call it 'my turn.' One pass and it's my turn to shoot it. And we say this a lot, you play the game, not the score and we were playing the score. "We called timeout and kinda addressed it, and I thought we came back out and finished well. We're getting good efforts from a lot of guys. We've got good shooters, and our motion's getting us some good open looks. We feel like we've improved a lot since the beginning of the year." The Tigers (9-3) jumped to a 22-6 lead after a quarter thanks in part to Colton Simmons' red-hot shooting. The 6-foot-5 junior scored 13 points of his team-high 16 points in the opening quarter, including three 3-pointers. Simmons scored 10 of Bentonville's first 14 points thanks to a pair of 3-pointers and four free throws as the Tigers exploded out of the gates for a 14-2 lead. Josh Smith added a 3-pointer to push the lead to 15 late in the opening quarter. Connor Deffebaugh chipped in 12 points and Smith 10 for the Tigers. Xavier Wright was Morrilton's only player in double figures with 10. Simmons scored all 16 of his points in the first half as Bentonville settled for a 34-19 halftime advantage. Deffebaugh added a team-high seven rebounds, while Brayden Freeman dished out a game-high five assists. In a girls' consolation game, Springdale Har-Ber rolled past Shiloh Christian 54-23. The Lady Wildcats (6-6) held Shiloh Christian to just three field goals through the first three quarters and forced 23 turnovers en route to the big win. Freshman Caylan Koons poured in a game-high 29 points, including four 3-pointers to go with seven rebounds and five steals. Kiana Starks chipped in 10. Ryli Ross led the Lady Saints (4-11) with 10. In a boys' consolation game, Joplin, Mo., used a big fourth quarter to rally past Bentonville West, 62-53. The Wolverines (6-6) led 43-41 after three quarters, but Joplin opened the final quarter with a 9-0 spurt and West never recovered. Dawson Bailey led West with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, while Jonas Higson added 14.

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Bentonville High School Athletics

FAST START FUELS BENTONVILLE HIGH'S WIN OVER MORRILTON

PAUL BOYD

Arkansas Online | 12/29/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff