Prep Hoops: Enough In The End
Benton won its ninth straight contest to open the season and improved to 3-0 in the SIRR Ohio with a 67-51 victory at Harrisburg Tuesday night.
Jordan Gould hit a 3-pointer as time expired to pull Harrisburg to within 30-29 at halftime, but that would be as close as the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2) would get.
Benton put some distance between itself and Harrisburg out of intermission thanks to some turnovers and some outside shooting. The Rangers outscored Harrisburg 22-12 in the third quarter.
"I thought in the second half we really played well," said Benton coach Ron Winemiller. "We made a little adjustment offensively and a little adjustment defensively on how we were guarding the ball screen, and I thought we did a much better job on (Isaiah) Saulsberry in the second half."
Saulsberry finished with 18 points to lead Harrisburg. Senior Noah Ferrell was in double figures with 11 for the Bulldogs.
Three Rangers (9-0, 3-0) did a majority of the damage on the offensive end. Junior Parker Williams scored 20 points, while teammates Austin Wills and Derek Oxford dropped in 19 and 16, respectively.
"I am happy with our performance, we just have to do it for 32 minutes, and that is very hard to do against a team that is as skilled as the Rangers are," said Harrisburg coach Randy Smithpeters.
The Rangers will next play Dec. 27 at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic against Trenton Wesclin and Olney in the 12-team pool play event.
Harrisburg opens as the No. 4 seed at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and will take on Hamilton County in the first round Dec. 26
Harrisburg won Tuesday's junior varsity contest 56-53.
Benton 67 Harrisburg 51
Benton 17 13 22 15 - 67
Harrisburg 14 15 12 10 - 51
Benton (67): Willis 8 0-0 19, Oxford 6 2-2 16, Henson 1 2-2 4, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Page 2 0-0 4, Wynn 0 2-2 2, Williams 9 2-2 20. Totals 27 8-8 67.
Harrisburg (51): Saulsberry 6 4-5 18, Gould 2 2-2 7, Bartok 3 0-0 6, Ferrell 4 1-2 11, Smith 2 1-2 5, Burtis 2 0-1 4. Totals 19 8-12 51.
3-pointers: Benton 5 (Wills 3, Oxford 2), Harrisburg 5 (Ferrell 2, Saulsberry 2, Gould). Team fouls: Benton 16, Harrisburg 12.