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Rangerettes beat Massac in O.T.

Benton guard Mady Wallace hit a lay-up with 7.3 seconds left in overtime here Thursday night, giving the Rangerettes a 48-47 conference victory over Massac County.

Leading by as many as 10 points on two occasions in the second quarter, the Rangerettes took a 27-22 lead to the lockers at halftime. The Rangerettes led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The Rangerettes managed to maintain a four- to-five point lead throughout the third quarter and led 37-30 at the end of three.

Massac took a 41-39 lead with 2:30 left in the game. Addisyn Miller then hit from underneath with 2:15 to go to tie the contest at 41-all. Massac regained the lead at the 1:45 mark and Miller canned two free throws on the one-and-bonus with 38 seconds left for a 43-43 deadlock.

Benton had a chance to win the game in regulation as coach Andy Sloan, celebrating his 48th birthday, called a time out. However, the Rangerettes failed to get a shot off in regulation, leading to the four-minute overtime session.

"We're starting to show some resiliency and starting to believe in each other. We had that big lead and Massac did some things to turn us over and got us out of sync. We could've easily folded in the overtime after we didn't get that shot," Sloan said.

"We came down here to win. We won. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but I'm proud of the kids and their effort."

Massac County led by as many as three points in O.T., however, the Lady Patriots missed an opportunity to increase that margin when they missed the front end of the one-and-bonus with 48 and 28 seconds left, respectively.

Zoe Carlton knocked down two free throws with 38 seconds remaining, Massac missed its free throw chance, leading to Wallace's winning bucket. Both teams called time outs, following Wallace's bucket. Massac missed a shot just over half court in the closing seconds, giving the Rangerettes the victory.

Benton improved to 4-1 in the conference. Massac County, with only 11 players in its program, fell to 3-8 and 1-3.

Wallace led Benton with 15 points. Miller contributed 12, and Carlton and Ember Milby added seven points each. Benton shot 38 percent from the field and was 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.

The Rangerettes continue to play without two of their starters – Macie Cockrum and Lacey Jerkins – who have lower body ailments.

On Saturday, the Rangerettes dropped a 42-29 decision to Triad at the Breese Central Shootout. The Rangerettes are now 12-6 on the season.