The Benton Courier

Benton falls in 2nd straight

By Tony Lenahan tlenahan@bentoncourier.com

BENTON – After beginning the season 2-0, the Benton Lady Panthers have struggled of late, dropping Tuesday’s contest 49-36 to Cabot at home before falling in a close one to the

West Memphis Blue Devils Thursday to start the Benton Holiday Classic at Benton Arena. The Lady Devils would edge the Lady Panthers 46-44 to open the Classic. Benton took on Alma in the Classic on Friday night and wrap its host competition today against Beebe at 1 p.m.

“We had lots of opportunities, but it was really kind of similar to Tuesday’s game,” Benton Coach Jerry Chumley explained. “Had one good game out of one player.”

Benton senior All-Stater Alyssa Houston started hot making her first nine shots while scoring 18 points in the first half, but she was held to just two points in the second half on 1-of-6 shooting. Houston added 10 rebounds in the loss, but no other Lady Panther could muster double digits.

“They started collapsing down on her and really made it difficult to even get the ball in there,” Chumley said of the Blue Devils holding Houston down in the second half.

Benton held a 15-12 lead after one quarter and led by a slim margin, 28-27, at the half. The Lady Panthers (2-2) even held a 37-33 advantage going into the final quarter, but could not hold onto the lead vs. West Memphis.

“Back and forth in the fourth,” the Coach said. “We missed four free throws in the fourth and a couple shots in the lane. They were able to go down and get the game back in their favor.

“Just not shooting it well. Not taking advantage of some of the opportunities that we get. We had the game like we wanted it. We wanted it lowscoring, slower pace, and got all that. We felt like if we held them in the 40s we would be in good shape, but we just didn’t get the scoring out of anybody else.”

Seniors Zayyah Bufford and Addison Davis scored seven points each, with senior Madison McIntire adding five. Junior Hannah Cantrell hit a 3-pointer at the end of the game to make it closer for three points, while junior Ashley Wallace had an early bucket for two points. The Lady Panthers were also without sharp-shooting senior Presley Chism, who is out with a broken toe for at least the next week, possibly two.

“We’re just not getting the production out of kids with Chis (Chism) out,” Chumley said. “We need some kids to step up and knock down some shots. Davis did knock down a couple of big shots for us against a really good team like that, we just need a little bit more.”

Benton was also 9 of 16 from the free throw line, including those four misses in the fourth.

“There’s some opportunities there that could have flipped the game, but the kids are playing hard,” Chumley said. “They’re playing well defensively. No one has scored 50 points on us yet this year, but our trouble is not our defense, it’s getting more production from other players.”

Alma, Benton’s Friday opponent in the Classic, blew out Beebe 60-23 on Thursday, with the Lady Panthers taking on the Lady Badgers today at 1 p.m. at Benton Arena.

“Beebe graduated a lot so they’re a little down, but they’re going to play hard,” Chumley said. “Coach (Greg) Richey always has them ready to go and ready to play.”

SPORTS

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://bentoncourier.pressreader.com/article/281651079132749

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