Struggles continue for Tigers with loss

BENTONVILLE — There are growing pains that come with youth and inexperience, and Bentonville’s boys are having their share of them so far this season.

The Tigers’ early struggles continued Tuesday night with their offense, and it allowed Springfield (Mo.) Parkview to take a 44-34 victory at Tiger Arena.

Bentonville (0-4) fell into a double-digit hole after the Tigers hit just one field goal over a 10 1/2-minute span, and the Tigers never completely recovered against a Vikings team that was playing its season-opener.

“We’ve got a very young and inexperienced team, especially on the back end of our bench,” Bentonville Coach Dick Rippee said. “And these first four opponents have been really good. We’re trying to get our guys up to the pace of the game.

“It seems like we make some adjustments, but our starters have been something that have hurt us. We’ve just got to continue to get better, and these are the types of teams we need to play to get prepared for conference. We get to Dec. 19 and our record is going to be 0-0.”

Bentonville led 5-0 after Elijah Wilhelm’s free throw at the 5:24 mark in the first quarter, but the Tigers’ only other points before the quarter ended came on a bucket by Ma’aiki Dauda. That allowed Parkview to get untracked and close out the first quarter with a 10-7 lead.

The Vikings then went on a 12-1 run to start the second quarter and extended their lead to a 22-8 margin before Bentonville finally got another bucket from Dauda with 2:50 before halftime. Parkview then went on to take a 30-16 halftime cushion, thanks to a buzzer-beating putback by Eli Govan.

“Our lead could have been more,” Rippee said. “We missed free throws, missed a couple of shots inside. It could have been higher than 5-0.

“It was their first game of the year, and we thought they would be a little sluggish. When that first hoop went through, they relaxed a little bit and they started playing. They have a lot of guys that compliment each other.”

T.J. Hill, who scored a game-high 22 points, gave Parkview its biggest lead when his three-pointer made it 37-20 with 1:49 left in the third quarter. Bentonville then pulled within 39-27 before the quarter ended, then would get within 41-34 on Dauda’s bucket with 55 seconds left before Govan’s three-point play closed out the scoring.

Dauda finished with 14 points and was the only player in double figures for Bentonville, which will travel to Willard, Mo., for a tournament next week.