Rangerettes rally from 15 down to defeat Herrin in Ohio Division matchup

By Jim Muir

BENTON — It was clearly a tale of two halves for the Benton Rangerettes on Tuesday night.

In the home-opener and the kick off to the SIRR Ohio Division the Rangerettes trailed by 13 points at halftime and by as many as 15 early in the third quarter before putting together a furious second half rally to defeat Herrin 54-46.

“For as bad as we played in the first half I thought we really played well in the second half,” said Coach Andy Sloan. “We picked up the defensive intensity in the second half and created some much-needed offense from our defense. It was a great comeback.”

And the longtime and successful Benton girl’s coach was not exaggerating when he pointed out that his team got the offense rolling in the final two quarters. The Rangerettes managed only 13 first half points and trailed 27-13 at halftime. Whatever the halftime talk consisted of must have hit home as the Rangerettes exploded for 41 second half points. Benton outscored Herrin 21-12 in the third frame to cut the Herrin lead to 39-34 heading to the fourth quarter. The Rangerettes turned up the heat some more in the fourth quarter outscoring the Lady Tigers 20-7 to pick up an important Ohio Division victory. Overall, the Rangerettes trailed by 15 in the first minute of the second half and won by eight – a 23-point swing in only 15 minutes of basketball.

While Sloan had praise for the second half effort he pointed out that his team has developed a pattern of starting slow, something he hopes to correct.

“We have to find a way to get off to a better start in games,” Sloan said. “But I have to say that this team does not have any quit in them at all.”

Only one week into the season, Sloan said his young team is getting better.  “We’re a work in progress,” Sloan said. “But, we’re going to figure it out.”

Senior Eb Casey led the Rangerettes in scoring with 17 – 14 coming in the second half. Casey hit five 3-pointers in the contest. Also in double figures was Madyson Wallace with 11 points – 10 in the decisive second half. Freshman Addisyn Miller also hit double figures with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Rounding out the scoring Zoe Carlton added eight points, Ember Milby chipped in six points and Katy Johnson had two points. Madison Russell led Herrin with 16 points followed by Kristen Wade with 11.

The victory improved Benton to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in Ohio Division play. The Rangerettes are back in action on Monday, December 4 when they host Hamilton County in a non-conference matchup.