By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Benton girls' basketball team (16-5) got off to a 10-0 start in the first quarter and rode that momentum throughout in a 52-34 win over Lafayette at Springer Gymnasium Tuesday night.
The win was Benton's fourth straight this season and their sixth consecutive over their North Side rival Irish.
"Our team has one goal and one goal only and that is to win the next game," Benton head coach Chris Michaels said. "That's all we care about is winning the next game and we're not 100% happy with how we play sometimes. But, we're happy with winning the game. That's all we care about."
Lauren Burright led Benton with 17 points - seven of that came in the second quarter. Peyton Anderson finished with 10. Jaida Cox had eight on a pair of made three-pointers.
"We shared the ball and we came out on defense," Burright said. "I'd say we did the little things right like rebounding, boxing out. They little things are the most important in games like this."
Lafayette (14-7) was led in scoring by Jalicia Byrd, who tallied 18 points. Jazlyn King logged seven.
The Benton girls play at Maryville Thursday. The Irish, who had a three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, will play at LeBlond Thursday.
LeBlond, who's ranked No. 6 in Class 2, defeated Cameron 58-23 Tuesday, improving the Eagles' record to 18-4.
Coy, Mauzey lead Benton to historic win over Lafayette
Just like the girls' team had done, Benton started hot against Lafayette Tuesday, leading 22-7 after the first quarter. The Cardinals, however, had to fend off a furious charge from the Irish to hang on for a 78-71 win at Benton High School Tuesday.
It marks Benton's first win over Lafayette in boys' basketball since 2007.
"This is something that they earned," Benton head coach Jared Boone said. "But, they know the job isn't done. They know we're going to have to run into (Lafayette) down the road, and it's going to be even more juiced up the next time we see them."
Kason Mauzey and Allan Coy got things going early, as they combined to make a trio of threes in the first quarter. The Cardinals made three more triples in the second quarter and led 41-25 at halftime.
Still trailing by double digits entering the fourth, Lafayette (10-6) scored 28 points over the final eight minutes, led by Drave Davison's 12 fourth quarter points, but the Cardinals weathered the storm and prevailed.
"Lafayette is a good team," Boone said. "That's a heck of a ball club over there. KB (coach Kevin Bristol) does a heck of a job with them. They have some studs over there. We knew they would go on a run. We just couldn't let it be one of those runs where they'd go on a long run and get a lead on us and give us trouble down the stretch."
Coy, who surpassed 1,000 career points Tuesday, led Benton with 22 points. Mauzey had 17, while Carson Schmidt scored 12.
"I have been trying to do that my whole life," Coy said on the 1,000 point mark. "And to finally see that happen is a big accomplishment for me."
Mikey Thomas led Lafayette with 22 points himself. Drave Davison had 15 and Kevin Shell scored 10.
The Benton boys are back home to face Maryville Friday. Lafayette is home to LeBlond on Wednesday night. Tip-off there is set for 7 p.m., following the freshman and JV games.
Mid-Buchanan boys blow out Plattsburg, avenge earlier loss to Tigers
After falling to Plattsburg by double figures in the North Platte tournament a couple of weeks prior, Mid-Buchanan was expecting a tough fight when they went on the road to play the Tigers in their home gym.
This time, Mid-Buchanan was better prepared, as the Dragons (16-6) were sparked by three first quarter threes by Jackson Sauvage and cruised in a 50-26 win at Plattsburg High School Tuesday in a battle of the top two KCI Conference teams.
"You know, I thought the boys executed on defense pretty well," Dragons coach Bryce Kemper said. "We had some rebounding issues in the first half and early in the second half, but then we kind of picked it up. Once we shut the glass off, it became very difficult (for Plattsburg)."
Plattsburg (16-6) had no answer offensively against Mid-Buchanan, as the Tigers made just 11 total field goals on the night, and no Plattsburg players scored in double figures.
Mid-Buchanan, meanwhile, was led by Caiden Bailey, who had 16 points. Blake Hunter had 14 and Sauvage had 11.
"We came in more prepared," Bailey said. "We tried to get everyone involved instead of just me and Joe (Clark) the whole time. It just helped a lot, getting everyone more involved and it spread them out to give them more open looks, too."
Luke Schroeder led Plattsburg with 8. The Tigers have another test Friday when they travel to West Platte (16-6). Mid-Buchanan is home Lawson (10-13) Thursday.
The Mid-Buchanan girls (13-9) were also victorious Tuesday, defeating Plattsburg 43-34. Khania Clark led the Dragons in scoring with 11 points. Hannah Williams scored eight. Savannah Bingham led the Plattsburg girls with 13 points.
The Dragons have been resurgent as of late, winning three of their last four games. Plattsburg stands at 10-10 on the season.
Matt Pike and Clifton Grooms contributed to this report.
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