Benton's size too much for Gallatin County in season opener
Benton put two players and got balanced scoring from the rest of the team as the Rangerettes went into Gallatin County Monday night, picking up a 54-27 win to start the season.
Benton (1-0) got 14 points from both Addisyn Miller and Ember Milby, while Madyson Wallace netted nine in the win. Zoe Carlton scored seven points for BCHS, while Macie Cockrum and Lacey Jerkins both finished with five points.
Benton head coach Andy Sloan said the bus ride to Junction gave him time to ponder where his scoring was going to come from this season. Suffice to say, he was pleased with the final outcome.
"Coming over here, I was going over in my head 'where are we going to get our points from?'" Sloan said. "I was kind of hoping Wallace would get to double digits. Milby Is really going to have to step up this year and (Monday) she did. We got to get some from Carlton. I thought it was really balanced. I thought we played good team basketball."
Gallatin County hung tough with Benton in the early going and trailed 16-12 after one quarter.
Benton made adjustments by taking advantage of their size and the mismatch against the Hawks' defense, thus leading to 14 first half free throws for the Rangerettes, where they made 10 and took a 29-18 lead at halftime.
Gallatin County (0-1) had just Audrey Jackson finish in double figures as the junior put up 10 points for Tiffany Sauls in the season debut.
The game got away from Sauls and company in the second half, but she was pleased with the overall effort.
"We played really hard for the first quarter," Sauls said. "(Benton) used our mismatches. We're not really tall. My freshman are the tallest that I do have but we're not experienced enough. We'll get there, it just has to take time.
"We worked tremendously hard in the first quarter and (Benton) has a lot of legs. We don't have that. We don't have a deep bench, but as far as running our offense and defense, I thought we did exceptionally well."
Morgan Oldham, Megan Morgan and MaKenzie Russell all had four points for the Hawks, while Gracie Sauls tacked on three points and Molly Newton tossed in two points.
The first game out served as an opportunity to get out of the practice gear and shake some rust off and give both coaches a better idea of where they're at as they start the season.
Sloan thought his team made strides on the defensive end as the game went on.
"I thought we played extremely hard. Defensively, I think we're getting better. On the second half, we held them I think nine points. Like I mentioned before, we're not great offensively so we have to get it done on the defensive end. We're going to have to be size, have to rebound, and I thought tonight we did a pretty good job on Jackson. Especially after the first quarter. We put her to the line too much in the first half but after that we played much better."
Sauls knows foul trouble will be a concern this year as her team finished with 14 fouls, but three starters had three or more at games end.
"We're going to have to be better in our man defense," Sauls said. "I don't prefer a zone, but sometimes we might have to do that."
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Benton 16 13 13 12‑ 54
Gallatin County 12 06 04 05 ‑ 27
Benton (1-0): Miller 3 5-6 14, Carlton 3 1-4 7, Milby 6 2-2 14, Cockrum 2 1-2 5, Wallace 4 0-2 9, Jerkins 1 3-4 5. Totals:19 12-20 54
Gallatin County (0-1): Sauls 1 1-2 3, Oldham 2 0-0 4, Jackson 2 6-6 10, Newton 1 0-0 2, Zirkelbach 0 0-1 0, Morgan 1 2-2 4, Russell 2 0-0 4. Totals: 9 9-11 27.
3-point FG: BCHS 4 (Miller 3, Wallace), GCHS 0. Fouls: BCHS 14, GCHS 14.