BENTONVILLE 81, Conway 59

Another dominant outing from Maryam Dauda, another trip to Hot Springs for Bentonville. The Lady Tigers' junior center scored 32 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Bentonville (27-1) jumped out of the gates quickly to beat Conway in the semifinals. Sophomore guard Jada Brown scored 15 points, senior guard Natalie Smith had 14 and junior guard Riley Hayes finished with 10 for the Lady Tigers, who shot their way to a 22-7 lead in the first quarter and never slowed down en route to earning their second consecutive berth in the title game. "Our guards did a great job of setting the tone and making shots," said an emotional Bentonville Coach Tom Halbmaier, whose Lady Tigers also beat Conway in the semifinals last year. "Maryam had a rough start at first by missing some easy buckets. When she started warming up, we got better. But this one is special for these kids. "I get more excited watching them work hard. To see all the work they've put in pay off like it has, that's big for me." Freshman guard Chloe Clardy had 22 points and sophomore forward Kalayna King added 10 points for Conway (22-8), which trailed 48-31 at the half but was down just 52-40 and in possession of the ball with 4:48 left in the third quarter. The Lady Wampus Cats turned it over on three of their next four trips. Bentonville scored on two of those miscues and closed the period on a 13-3 surge to restore control. The Lady Tigers, who also got 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals from senior forward Bella Irlenborn, finished 28 of 54 (51.8%) from the floor and held a 30-23 rebounding edge. Conway was 23-of-55 (41.8%) shooting.

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BENTONVILLE 81, CONWAY 59

ERICK TAYLOR

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 3/8/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville High School Athletics