Bentonville West 49, Bentonville 46

With a state tournament berth on the line, Bentonville West needed to earn an unlikely victory over a Bentonville team that coasted to a 15-point victory when the squads played in January. Some late-game heroics on the defensive end provided the extra push the Wolverines (11-15, 6-8) needed to pull out a Senior Night victory, 49-46, over their rival Tigers (20-8, 10-5). "Three weeks ago, people were counting this team down and out, and they responded," said Bentonville West coach Greg White. "Before the game, I had nine guys from last year in the locker room. This is a program that's new, but we're so strong in our beliefs on defense, and we said, 'let's get a stop.' That's what our program is built on." Bentonville rode a strong second-half performance from senior combo guard Connor Deffebaugh to build a 45-44 lead with fewer than 15 seconds left, and the Tigers called a timeout to draw up an inbounds play. A steal off the pass resulted in a go-ahead layup for senior guard Traven Hardiman, and then a five-second call after another timeout gave the ball right back to the Wolverines. Senior guard Dawson Bailey was fouled and made both free throws to seal West's lead. "We talked about switching and what we'd do, and we said, 'let's just be who we are'--a tough, lockup team, and that's what we did," White said. Dawson Bailey led his team with 15 points, while Dillon Bailey poured in 11. Senior forward Austin Conner and Hardiman scored 10 apiece to round out West's double-digit scoring. On the other side, Deffebaugh's 14 paced Bentonville, and he was joined by senior forward Michael Shanks' 13.

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BENTONVILLE WEST 49, BENTONVILLE 46

ALEX NICOLL

Arkansas Online | 2/24/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville West Athletics