By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Benton held Maryville to just eight second half points and zero fourth quarter points as the Cardinals (21-5) shut down the Spoofhounds in a 41-20 victory in the Class 4 District 16 semifinals at Springer Gymnasium at Benton High School Monday.
Benton, who has now won nine straight games, got off to a quick 6-0 start in the first quarter, but Maryville (15-10) countered with a pair of made threes later in the first, and only trailed 12-8 at the end of one.
Benton turned on the jets later in the second, ending that quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 25-12 at the break. The Cardinals led by double digits the rest of the way.
"For the most part, we did a pretty good job of making sure we had a hand in their face," Benton head coach Chris Michaels said. "Our press and our defense is what we live on. It's nice to score 60 points, but it's really, really nice to keep people under 30."
Maryville, who lost to Benton 65-35 at home on February 10, made just seven field goals in the entire game Monday and were held scoreless for the final eight minutes.
"I think we played real aggressive," said Benton junior Kelsey Johnson, who led her team to victory with 15 points. "Good defense, everyone hustled and boxed out. We all worked good together as a team, and I think that really helped."
Senior Lauren Burright scored nine points for Benton, while freshman Andrea Simmons had five.
"Just coming out strong defensively was our main goal," Burright said. "It always is our main goal. Our goal is to always keep (opponents) under 30 (points), so we accomplished that and came out with a win."
Benton had to go to top-seeded and perhaps, Class 4 favorite, Maryville last year for the district title game, and pulled off a massive 45-40 upset. The Cardinals made it all the way to the Final Four in Springfield, where they finished fourth.
Benton, the No. 1 seed in districts this year, gets to stay home to host Chillicothe (23-4) in the district title on Thursday night at 6 p.m.
Whether this year's road to state is harder than last is tough to say. But, Michaels and his team are treating it as such.
"Last year, we were a bit more of the underdogs," Burright said. "No one really expected us to come out and play that way. This year, I feel like we have more of a target on our back and we're the team everyone wants to beat, so we just have to come out and do the little things right."
Chillicothe topped Lafayette in the other semifinal Monday, 52-43. The Hornets and Cardinals played twice in the regular season. Chillicothe won on Dec. 1, 34-28, in the Savannah tournament, but Benton dominated the rematch in the South Side, winning that one 55-25 on Feb. 4.
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