By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Lafayette girls' basketball team kept things close throughout the first half against Benton, only trailing the No. 3 Cardinals 32-25 at halftime.
Benton (17-3) outscored Lafayette 21-9 in the third quarter, however, and the Cardinals ended up with a 69-48 win over the Irish at Lafayette High School on Tuesday night.
Benton came out firing early, getting off to an 11-2 start. Lafayette (7-15) answered back quickly with a 13-3 run to briefly take the lead, but the Cardinals still led 16-15 entering the second quarter.
With the game still up for grabs at the start of the second half, Benton was able to get out in transition a bit more, and their offense had an overall better flow to it. A pair of big threes by sophomore Andrea Simmons helped the Cardinals build a 53-34 advantage headed to the fourth.
The Irish never got any closer, and Benton walked away with a 21-point win. Senior Kelsey Johnson led the scoring with 16 points. Fellow senior Peyton Anderson had 14. Simmons had 14 as well, while freshman Eliana Arambula scored 13.
"We've always in the past had a couple of pretty big scorers," Anderson said. "I feel like this year, points are spread and everyone is getting baskets here and there, and that's what we needed from (Arambula and Simmons) especially."
Junior Honor Mannings led Lafayette with 16 points. The win for Benton is their fifth straight and their eighth win in their last nine games. It's also the eighth straight for the Cardinals against their North Side rival.
Things are trending the right way as the regular season enters its final couple of weeks, but Benton head coach Chris Michaels says the team will always be looking for ways to improve.
"We haven't really shown a perfect game," he said. "I'll be honest, I don't know if we will. It's pretty hard to be perfect. Specifically, when you play good teams. We're excited to see what happens with our growth, because we're going to keep growing from where we are right now."
The Benton girls are home to Maryville Friday. Lafayette is home to Bishop LeBlond on Thursday.
Lafayette boys create separation, hold off Benton in the end
Lafayette scored 20 points in the third quarter to go up 10 entering the fourth quarter, and the Irish were able to hold their lead for the remainder of the game in a 71-65 win over Benton in the North Side on Tuesday.
The Irish (13-6) trailed Benton 18-16 at the end of the first, but led 33-30 at halftime after a very back-and-forth first half. The game featured 12 lead changes in all.
Lafayette head coach Kevin Bristol challenged his team to be more aggressive on defense in the second half.
"The second half, we improved it," Bristol said of his team's defensive effort. "Still not where I want it to be, but we improved it. I would say offensively, same thing. We didn't shoot too well in the first half, but we were able to make points in the right way and get downhill."
The Cardinals (9-11) were held to just two made field goals in the third quarter, while Lafayette made four three-pointers in the third to build a multi-possession lead.
Benton didn't go down without a fight. The Cardinals hit three triples in the fourth quarter to pull back to within single digits, but Lafayette was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line in the final quarter, helping the Irish to preserve a victory.
Senior Mikey Thomas also had a critical 'and one' in the final minute to help the Irish stay up by two possessions.
Senior and Missouri Western signee Camden Bennett led the way with 27 points, including five made three-pointers. Thomas had 17, while fellow senior George Galloway had 12.
"I'm really proud of us," Bennett said. "We pushed through, especially towards the end. We just have to be smarter about certain things and play a little harder defense toward the end. I think we can do a little more than what we've shown, but overall, we did pretty good toward the end."
Freshman Lincoln Goodwin led Benton with 16 points. Sophomore Myles Bachali had 12. Lafayette has now topped Benton in boys' basketball in 26 of the last 27 meetings.
Lafayette heads to Bishop LeBlond Friday. Benton is home to Maryville on Friday as well.
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