By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Benton girls' basketball team grabbed a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and kept things rolling in a 61-14 takedown of Mid-Buchanan at Springer Gymnasium Tuesday night.
The Cardinals (13-3) went up 38-8 at halftime and then 54-11 headed to the final period. Mid-Buchanan (6-11) never scored more than four points in a quarter.
Senior and Missouri Western signee Kelsey Johnson led four Benton players in double figures with 14 points. Freshman Eliana Arambula was close behind with 13.
"It was a really good win," Arambula said. "(Mid-Buchanan) is still a good team. The fact that we could still be up by that much was a pretty good thing, because they're a pretty good team."
Senior Peyton Anderson and sophomore Andrea Simmons each contributed 12 points. Benton was also a perfect 11-for-11 at the free-throw line Tuesday.
Jordan Thornton led Mid-Buchanan with four points.
It was a nice bounce back win for Benton, who fell just shy of a Kearney tournament title against Liberty North this past Friday.
The Benton girls stay home to face Notre Dame de Sion Friday.
Benton boys creates separation, pull away from Mid-Buchanan
The first quarter-and-a-half of Tuesday's boys' basketball showdown between Benton and Mid-Buchanan was a blow-for-blow battle. The game was tied 19-19 with 3:30 to go in the second quarter.
Sparked by a four-point play from freshman Lincoln Goodwin, Benton used a 6-0 run late in the second to go up 25-21 at halftime.
That was just the beginning, though, as the Cardinals (6-9) outscored the Dragons 23-10 in the third quarter and wound up with a 61-41 victory at Springer Gymnasium.
Benton got hot from downtown, knocking down eight total three-pointers. Goodwin led the Cardinals with 16 points, including three made triples.
"It was good," said Goodwin on the victory. "We all played together. It was teamwork. When you do that, you can accomplish anything. Just played well."
Senior Denver Domann followed with 12 points. Senior Adrian Byrd had nine, while junior Zach Smith tallied eight.
Senior Joe Clark led Mid-Buchanan with 22 points. The loss snapped what was a four-game winning streak for the Dragons.
The win for Benton, though, was a nice mental bounce back after taking a 62-45 drubbing against Central at home this past Saturday in the Cardinal Classic.
"We all wanted it bad," Goodwin said of Tuesday's game. "That one (against Central) stung pretty bad."
The Benton boys go to St. Michael the Archangel Friday. The Mid-Buchanan boys and girls both go to Lathrop Friday as well.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.