By Jim Muir

The Benton Middle School Junior Rangers improved to 5-1 on the young season with a solid 57-37 road victory at Harrisburg Tuesday night.

The Junior Rangers outscored Harrisburg 17-3 in the second quarter to break open a tight game and cruise to its second win in as many nights. BMS knocked off Carmi-White County on Monday night by a score of 44-35.

BMS coach John Cook, center, gives instruction to his team during a timeout at Harrisburg Tuesday night. The Junior Rangers notched a 57-37 victory to move to 5-1 on the season.

In last night’s action Harrisburg led 13-12 after one quarter but Benton ratcheted up the defense in the second quarter and rolled to a 29-16 halftime score en route to the Big 7 Conference victory.

“We made some defensive adjustments between quarters and took away some of their outside shooting,” said Cook. “It was a nice win for us on the road.”

The BMS squad could take on the handle of ‘road warriors’ with the sterling 5-1 record coming without ever playing a home game, a point that Cook said speaks volumes about his team.

“I’m thrilled with where we are at right now,” said Cook. “This is a very unselfish group of kids.”

Derek Oxford turned in a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and a pair of steals and Austin Wills also hit double figures with 12 points and also grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists.

Cook gave high marks for the play of Oxford and Wills.

“They are as good as any guard tandem you will see in junior high in Southern Illinois,” said Cook. “They do a good job of spotting up for a shot and also do a good job of finding their own shots. They can both grab a rebound and take it up the court and they really play off each other very well.”

Rounding out the scoring for BMS was Tyson Houghland with seven, Gehrig Wynn with five, Brett Bonenburger and Jordan Richey with two each. Also seeing action in the win was Oliver Davis, Scott Mosley, Blane Pankey, Hamilton Page, Parker Williams, Lance Cockrum, Tony Tillman and Jourdan Garbo.

In the seventh grade game Benton also notched a victory to remain undefeated at 3-0 with a 39-26 victory over Harrisburg. The seventh grade team, coached by Andy Davis, trailed 18-16 at halftime but outscored Harrisburg 13-1 in the decisive third quarter to cruise to the victory Leading the way for Benton was Hamilton Page with eight points, followed by Parker Williams with seven, Gehrig Wynn with five, Brett Bonenburger and Mason Wills with four each. Joey Craig added three points and Eldon Owens and Blane Pankey each chipped in two points.

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The Benton Middle School eighth grade team picked up a hard-fought 44-35 road victory on Monday night against Carmi-White County.

The Junior Rangers trailed 12-8 at the end of one quarter and 22-20 at halftime but put together a big third quarter outscoring the Bulldogs 16-4 to take a 36-26 lead after three quarters.

Benton coach John Cook said Carmi’s game plan was to shut down the Junior Rangers leading scorer Derek Oxford, who saw double and triple teams throughout the contest. Oxford scored six points and also pulled down a game high seven rebounds.

Road Warriors – BMS eighth grade basketball team picked up another road win Tuesday night defeating Harrisburg 57-37 to improve to 5-1 – with all six games on the road. The Junior Rangers will be at home for the first time on Nov. 19 when they host Marion in a key conference battle.

“It’s not a secret that Derek (Oxford) and Austin Wills are the guys we look to go to,” said Cook. “But, we’ve got other kids that can step up which is the mark of a good team.”

Wills led Benton with 16 points and Tyson Houghland had a solid all-around game with 10 points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Rounding out the Benton scoring in the game against Carmi-White County was Oliver Davis and Gehrig Wynn with five points each, and Blane Pankey with two points.

In the seventh grade contest BMS defeated Carmi-White County 36-26, jumping out to a 12-2 first quarter lead and extending it to 20-6 at the intermission.

Andy Davis’ seventh grade squad was led in scoring by Hamilton Page with 12 points followed by Brett Bonenburger and Gehrig Wynn with six points each. Bonenburger also had three rebounds, three steals and one assist while Wynn had three steals and three assists. Parker Williams turned in a solid all-around game with four points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Also scoring was Drew Owens and Mason Wills with four each and Joey Craig with two points.

The Benton Middle School seventh and eighth grade teams will finally get to play in front of a home crowd when they host Marion on Monday, Nov. 19.