Lady Mustangs Struggle Against Lady Tigers
The Bentonville Lady Tigers made short work of the McDonald County Lady Mustangs in Tuesday’s opening round of the girls’ division of the Neosho Holiday Classic.
Bentonville pitched a first-quarter shutout, taking a 25-0 lead at the end of the first period, on the way to claiming a 58-18 decision over the Lady Mustangs.
“That was the best team we have played this year, but at the same time we did not do anything we went over in the game plan,” said coach Blake Short. “We didn’t rebound. Our defense was a defense I haven’t seen. We were just not ready to play. We are not where we need to be at this point of the season. We have a lot of things we need to figure out. Hopefully, at some point it is going to click.”
The score was 27-0 when McDonald County’s Kelsey Thornton hit a three-pointer with 5:48 left in the second quarter for the Lady Mustangs first points. Megan Mills and Dakota Bunch added a pair of baskets before Baili Nelson hit a three-pointer. Bentonville led 41-10 at halftime as McDonald County scored 10 of its 18 points in the period.
The Lady Tigers stretched its lead to 48-15 after three quarters. Bunch’s layup and Thornton’s second trey of the game accounted for McDonald County’s third quarter points.
Bunch hit three charities in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a team high seven points while Thornton had six, Nelson
three and Mills two to round out the scoring. Bentonville’s balanced scoring attack was led by Abby Roberts with 10 points.
McDonald County falls to 2-8 for the season heading into games on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 in the tournament’s consolation bracket.