Van Buren edges Bentonville after Kinney’s huge second half

The Van Buren Lady Pointers capped a two-win start at home to open 7A-West play with a thriller on Tuesday night. Jamilyn Kinney scored all 19 of Van Buren’s second-half points to pace Van Buren to a 37-34 win over Bentonville. “Credit Bentonville for coming in here and playing like the really good team they are,” Van Buren head coach Chris Bryant said. “Our girls fought every play. I think we have a lot of these long drawn-out nights ahead of all of us. We were fortunate to get a ball or two to go our way.” Tuesday, it was close the whole way. Bentonville led, 10-9, after a quarter and Van Buren took an 18-16 lead at the half. Kinney drilled three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter to push Van Buren up, 27-20 but Bentonville answered with a 6-0 flurry to end the quarter and then scored the opening four points of the fourth quarter to take a 30-27 lead with 5:24 left. Kinney hit another trey, but Maryam Dauda put back a miss for Bentonville for a 32-30 lead. Kinney answered with 2:06 left with a long 3-pointer near the bleachers in front of the youth cheering section at Clair Bates Arena to put Van Buren back up, 33-32. Dauda’s two free throws gave Bentonville the lead at 34-33 with 1:12 left. Kinney drove and was fouled, and hit both free throws with 53 seconds left for a 35-34 lead. Related More high school basketball Bentonville turned the ball over with 23 seconds left but Van Buren missed the front end of a one-and-one. Van Buren knocked a pass away underneath and Bentonville committed another turnover with 1.4 seconds left. Kinney salted the win away with two free throws. Kinney finished with 24 points, including six 3-pointers. “Jamilyn stepped up and hit some big shots,” Bryant said. “These girls made some big defensive plays down the stretch. At one point or another, they all gritted up and found a way to get a stop.” Bentonville’s inside tandem of Dauda, a 6-4 freshman, and 6-0 senior Fess Hawkins combined for 26 points and 21 rebounds. Bentonville out-rebounded Van Buren by a 33-13 count, including 13 offensive rebounds. Bentonville had seven putbacks off offensive rebounds. “Their best offense was to get it up in the air,” Bryant said. “They’re very good at that aspect, and we’re not exactly built for that but we found a way to get it done.” Dauda had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Hawkins finished with 11 points and 11 boards. Van Buren managed just four offensive rebounds. “We weren’t going to quit playing until they told us we had to leave the floor,” Bryant said. Bentonville 56, Van Buren 52 (OT) BOYS — Two games to open conference play, two overtime games, and two wins. Bentonville went to overtime again on Tuesday night and won another close one, beating Van Buren, 56-52, in overtime. Friday, the Tigers beat Fayetteville, 78-76, in overtime. Asa Hutchinson IV opened overtime with his sixth 3-pointer and closed the overtime period with the clinching two free throws with 5.6 seconds left. Hutchinson, who scored 41 against Fayetteville in the conference opener, finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Van Buren led 17-13 after quarter and 35-27 at the half before Hutchinson drilled consecutive treys to tie the game at 38-38 with 4:26 left in the third quarter. Colton Simmons and Michael Shanks capped the quarter with a two-basket run as Bentonville took a 42-38 lead after the quarter. Jordan West and Presley Kindrix opened the fourth quarter with successive 3-pointers for Van Buren for a 44-42 lead. Shanks hit a 3-pointer and added a driving layup for Bentonville, but Kindrix tied the game with a trey with 4:30 left at 47-47. Max Chambers answered for Bentonville, and Kindrix hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:37 left to again tie the game at 49-49. Van Buren missed its first six shots of overtime before Kindrix hit his seventh 3-pointer with 11 seconds left before Hutchinson’s clinching foul shots. Cadarius Baggett added 12 points for Bentonville. Kindrix finished with 27 points. Jordan West added 15. K.J. Stewart had eight points and 10 rebounds.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN EDGES BENTONVILLE AFTER KINNEY’S HUGE SECOND HALF

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 1/12/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics