Talented Herrin five pops Lady Bulldogs
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Herrin's Ka'Daizha Benjamin was just too much inside for Harrisburg to overcome as the Lady Bulldogs dropped their Southern Illinois River to River Ohio Division opener 57-35 to the Tigers Tuesday night at Davenport Gymnasium.
Benjamin scored 25 points, with 17 coming in the second half helping the Tigers improve to 6-0 after having been idle for over a week since winning the Marion Tournament.
The rust for Herrin showed early while Harrisburg enjoyed a quick 2-0 lead before Herrin got on the board for the first time midway through the first quarter.
But then the Tigers found their groove on the offensive end. Herrin rallied to go on an 18-0 run before Harrisburg scored again in the second quarter and led 18-4.
Victoria Beasley scored a game-high 16 points for the Lady Bulldogs, including four three-pointers, but too much frontcourt action for Herrin was the difference.
"Victoria had a great night shooting the ball which I was glad to see because teams pack everything in a zone on us and it showed right there that we could hit some shots a little bit," said Harrisburg coach Steve Vinyard.
Herrin returned four starters from a team which won over 20 games last year, with one being five-foot senior point guard Diamond Timmons who scored seven of her 10 points in the second quarter, helping Herrin to a 32-11 lead at intermission.
Vinyard said he's happy to have seen Benjamin and Timmons for the last time at Harrisburg. The two have seen varsity minutes since their freshmen season for the Tigers and have been a handful to try and contain.
"I told the Herrin girls at the captains meeting before the game that I was absolutely tickled pink that this was their last game here because I was getting tired of seeing them for four years in Davenport Gym," Vinyard joked.
Junior Austyn Ridings was a third Tiger in double figures with 10 points. Teammate Danielle Boren scored eight.
Other scorers for Harrisburg included Kelsey Piche and Blaine Bundren each with five points, Megan Sullivan four, Dani Price and Heather Street two, and Corie Rice one.
With the loss, Harrisburg dropped their fourth consecutive contest after starting the season with three straight victories. But a difficult stretch against the likes of Carmi, Carbondale, West Frankfort and now the Tigers have the Lady Bulldogs itching to get back in the win column when they host Du Quoin Thursday night.
The matchup against the Lady Indians is a game which Harrisburg won last year, and will be the eighth straight home game to open the regular season for HHS before wrapping up the homestand next Monday with Eldorado.
"Hopefully we can get one Thursday with Du Quoin, but I can't fault the effort tonight," Vinyard said.
Herrin also took the jayvee contest 31-13.
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Herrin 57, Harrisburg 35 Herrin 12 20 15 10-57 Harrisburg 2 9 15 9-35 HERRIN (6-0, 1-0)
Timmons 4 0-0 10, Boren 3 2-4 8, Ridings 4 1-2 10, Bailie 0 2-2 2, Benjamin 11 3-3 25, Elders 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 8-11 57. HARRISBURG (3-4, 0-1)
Beasley 6 0-0 16, Piche 2 1-2 5, Bundren 2 0-0 5, Price 1 0-0 2, Rice 0 1-2 1, Street 1 0-0 2, Sullivan 1 2-2 4. Totals 13 4-6 35.
3-point goals- Herrin 3 (Timmons 2, Ridings), Harrisburg 5 (Beasley 4, Bundren). Team fouls- Herrin 6, Harrisburg 8. Fouled out- none.