Rangerettes defeat Massac 39-36 in Ohio Division match up

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangerettes picked up a big victory Thursday night, knocking off Massac County 39-36 in a SIRR Ohio Division match up.

The Rangerettes jumped out to a 17-8 first quarter lead and extended the lead to 11 at halftime, leading 26-15. Benton Coach Andy Sloan said he felt his team missed an opportunity to put Massac away in the first half.

“We played with a lot of energy early and got the lead,” Sloan said. “I really felt like we could have extended the lead even more in the second quarter but made some poor decisions with the ball and we had too many turnovers.”

The Lady Patriots outscored the Rangerettes 21-13 over the final two quarters but Benton held on for the important conference win.

“We were in foul trouble and that was a big issue for us in the second half,” Sloan said. “Carlton (Zoe) and Wallace (Madyson) sat most of the third quarter with four fouls. We gave up the lead late but came back and got it right back. That’s a credit to our kids. We fought hard the entire game.”

Sloan said his team “did just enough to get the win.”

“But, we will take them any way we can get them,” said Sloan. “We were only 11-27 from the free throw line so if we hit our free ones it wouldn’t have been as close. But, credit our kids for not giving up.”

The Rangerettes were led in scoring by freshman Addisyn Miller who tallied 17 points, the lone Benton player in double figures. Wallace, despite sitting out much of the second half in foul trouble, scored eight points. Rounding out the scoring Katy Johnson scored four points, Ember Milby and Macie Cockrum had three points each and Eb Casey and Zoe Carlton each scored two points.

The win improved the young Benton team to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Division play. Benton is back in action on January 9 when they travel to Herrin for an Ohio Division match up and then travel to Du Quoin on January 11.