by Steve Dunford

Action from Monday night’s game. (Taken from Foxes-Fans.net video)

I included this in my preview Monday night but I am going to cover the Foxes from now on.  Hamco is well covered with Danny Anslement of FoxesFans.net, and Tom Mauding on WMCL.

I found out the Foxes have little print coverage.  With Danny broadcasting every game on video. I can watch them in the archives and make a full story.  This story is coming from the video.

I have a good friend that has covered the Foxes for years, Charlie Pendell (Super Fox).  I know his health is failing and he is continually in my prayers.  I hope I can even come close to his excellent coverage.

Now on to the game.  The Foxes came out and was very patient.  They hung around with the Rangers for twelve minutes.  At the end of the first quarter they were only down 14-11  They were playing well on both ends of the floor.

Austin Wills was unreal in the closing minutes of the second quarter, hitting four threes.  Gehrig Wynn and Derek Oxford had one each as the Rangers outscored the Foxes 25-9 to take a 39-20 lead.

Both coaches subbed freely in the second half as they have four more games ahead of them as the Rangers won 68-39.

The Rangers improve to 14-1 on the season and 1-0 in the BIT.  The Foxes fall to 4-13 and 0-1 in the tournament.

Hamco has the opener against the Meridan Bobcats at 5:30.  Benton plays Carlyle at 8:30.

Austin Wills led the Rangers on the night with 18 points.  Derek Oxford added 17.

Oakley Dial led the Foxes with 15 points. Jake Whipple added 11.

BOX SCORE:

Benton (68)  Wills 3 4 0-0 18; Oxford 3 3 2-2 17; Willams 4 0 1-2 9; Henson 3 0 1-1 7; Wynn 2 1 0-0 7; Thomas 1 1 0-0 5; Page 0 1 0-0 3; Pankey 1 0 0-0 2; Tillman 0 0 0-0 0; Morris 0 0 0-0 0; Mosley 0 0 0-0 0; Mosley 0 0 0-0 0; Lutz 0 0 0-0 0;  Avery 0 0 0-0 0

Hamilton County (39)  Dial 4 1 4-5 15; Whipple 1 0 1-2 11; N. Rapp 1 0 3-3 5 E. Rapp 2 0 0-0 4; Rubenacker 2 0 0-0 4; Potter 0 0 0-0 0 Pike 0 0 0-0 0; VanAbba 0 0 0-0 0; Neal 0 0 0-0 0; Miller 0 0 0-0 0; Gray 0 0 0-0 0; Downen 0 0 0-0 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

Benton                       14   25    21    8  –  68

Hamilton County     11     9     12    7  –  39

METROPOLIS- The Benton Rangers went down to Massac County and picked up a 53-40 win Friday night.  Massac has been a buzzsaw and burial ground for teams in the SIRR Ohio  With Joe Hosman on the sidelines, the veteran with over 700 wins will find a way to keep his team in the game.

I grabbed Coach Ron Winemiller’s comments off Saturday Morning Talking Sports on Q106.  A lot of the comments are about the second half of the game.  The Rangers went to the locker room tied with the Patriots.   Here was his keys to the Ranger win:

• The press was much more effective
• They rebounded much better
• They tweaked how they guarded Isaiah Thompson.  He was coach Winemiller’s biggest concern going in when I talked to him earlier in the week.  When I watch at team, I always look how teams that are opponents of Franklin County schools will match up.  I saw the potential of him giving the Rangers problems.  He had 18 on the night, but the Rangers walked away with the win.
• The bench gave him some big minutes, especially Gehrig Wynn popping three home run balls in the second quarter.

I think it is noteworthy but whoever guarded Darius Roundtree did an awesome job holding him to five points.

One thing that will stick with me for a long time, he mentioned how his kids hate to lose and been in big situations.  They have been in other situations.   He mentioned how Derek Oxford a four year starter and Austin Wills a three year starter was faced with a big put.  (You might as well call Timmy Henson a four year starter with his time at Thompsonville.  When he was a freshman, the GEC tournament is full every night and the crowd is very loud.)

He mentioned how Hamilton Page and Blaine Pankey faced some big time situations on the gridiron.  He also mentioned for the ones that played baseball has walked up to the plate facing situations with second and third, two outs in the bottom of the seventh, down a run.

The Rangers improved to 13-1 on the season and 4-0 in the SIRR Ohio.  The Murphysboro Red Devils will be coming to Rich Herrin Gym on Friday.  This is a game that can have huge implications on the SIRR ohio race.

Massac County stands 4-6 and 1-2 in the conference.  They dropped a 57-48 decision at DuQuoin last night.  They host the West Frankfort Redbirds Friday night in a girls/boys doubleheader.

BOX SCORE:

BENTON (53)  Oxford 0 4 3-4 15; Wills 2 3 0-0 12; Wynn 0 3 0-0 9; Willams 3 0 2-2 8;  Henson 0 1 3-3 5; Page 1 0 2-2 4

MASSAC COUNTY (40)  Thompson 7 0 5-7 19; Brugess 2 0 2-2 6; Roundtree 2 0 1-2 5; Fortman 2 0 1-2 5; Miller 2 0 1-3 5

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

BENTON (13-1)                   15    10    14    14  –  53

MASSAC COUNTY (4-6)    17     8      9      6   –  40