By Jim Muir

The Benton Middle School Junior Rangers seventh and eighth grade teams completed the 2012 portion of their schedule Wednesday night with a pair of victories over Hamilton County.

The BMS eighth grade team improved to 11-3 overall with a solid 48-29 victory over the Foxes. The Junior Rangers were never headed in the contest jumping out to an 18-5 first quarter lead and then extended the margin to 30-11 at the intermission.

BMS coach John Cook said one of the keys to the victory was the match up problems that Benton’s Derek Oxford creates with his inside-outside scoring prowess.

“Last night’s game was a great example of the match up problems that Derek creates,” Cook said. “Hamilton County goes 6-feet-4 and 6-feeet1 inside with their bigs, but they were reluctant to send either of them out to the perimeter to guard Derek. He recognized the mismatch with the smaller guy guarding him and took his game inside for a majority of the night.”

That strategy paid off smartly for Benton as Oxford led the team in scoring with 24 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.

But Cook pointed out that one of the strengths for his team is the unselfishness and the role play of the entire team.

“Austin Wills didn’t have his best night shooting the ball but he and Tyson Houghland combined for 16 points and 15 board,” said Cook. “And that shows that they can contribute and help this team in many other ways.”

Cook called the victory over Hamilton County “a true team effort.”

“We received big minutes from Blane Pankey and Jordan Richey as they battled much bigger guys on the post all night,” said Cook. “And Oliver Davis and Gehrig Wynn did a great job of protecting the ball and distributing, while doing a great job of guarding their shooters on the perimeter.”

Following Oxford’s game leading 24 points the Rangers also got 10 points and eight rebounds from Wills and six points and seven rebounds from Houghland. Also helping in the win was Pankey with six and Wynn with 2. Also seeing action for Benton was Davis, Hamilton Page, Richey, Lance Cockrum, Scott Mosely, Brett Bonenberger, Parker Williams, Troy Tillman and Jourdan Garbo.

Cook said the road victory against Hamilton County was a nice way to head the the Christmas break.

“With each game we play we become less and less of a one or two-dimensional team,” Cook said. “I think other teams are starting to take notice.”

In the seventh grade contest BMS jumped out to a quick 16-9 first quarter lead and then put the game away in the second stanza outscoring the host Foxes 21-3 to take a commanding 37-12 lead at halftime. Every Benton player saw action in the second half as the seventh grade squad cruised to the 57-20 victory.

Balanced scoring was the theme for Coach Andy Davis’ team as four players scored in double figures with Hamilton Page leading the way with 12 points, followed closely by Parker Williams with 11, and Gehrig Wynn and Brett Bonenberger with 10 each. Barely missing double figures was Blane Pankey with eight points. Rounding out the scoring for Benton was Drew Owens with four points and Avery Potter with two. Also seeing action for Benton was Mason Wills, Eldon Owens, Parker McGuire, Triston Summers, Ethan Kreiger, Jordan Bowlin, Joey Craig, Robbie Moore, Braxton Lutz, Branden Luster, Peyton Mosely and Logan Darr.

Both BMS squads are idle through the holidays and will return to action on Jan. 3 when they host the Christopher Junior Bearcats.

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.