By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Benton girls' basketball winning a district title has become something of a family tradition.
The Cardinals (22-5) have claimed their second straight district championship and the seventh in the last nine years after a 47-39 win over MEC rival Chillicothe at Springer Gymnasium Thursday.
It's a family tradition, because, well, that's how the South Side sees it.
"It does feel that way," Benton girls' basketball coach Chris Michaels said, just after placing the cut down net around his neck. "In our locker room, it feels that way. When we talk at practice, we don't just talk about basketball. I know more about their lives than they know about their life.
"Because, they'll tell you anything you want to know if you ask them. So, it's about as family as you can get."
The Benton faithful packed their home gym Thursday, and they were treated to a physical game right from the get-go. The Cardinals' press forced 17 Chillicothe turnovers, and there were a combined 31 fouls called.
The Cardinals, who have now won 10 straight games, got off to an 8-2 start in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead. Benton went on a 7-0 run midway through the second to lead 24-14 with 3:52 to go in the second.
Leading 26-17 at the break, the Cardinals scored the first points of the second half and would lead by double figures several more times, but Chillicothe (23-5) made three second half triples to keep it within single digits most of the time.
Benton's lead was trimmed down to 39-36 in the last two minutes, but the Cardinals made 7-of-10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter alone to put the game away.
"It feels great," junior Kelsey Johnson said on the victory, after leading her team with 19 points. "We've been working hard at practice for this and it really paid off. We've been in here every day looking at the banners and wanted to hang another one, so it feels great."
Fellow junior Peyton Anderson scored 12 points on a trio of three-pointers. Senior Jaida Cox scored six.
"We have to earn one more," Anderson said on the path forward in the postseason. "Which comes from working hard in practice, film work. We can't take anything for granted. We just have to earn one more."
Junior Jessica Reeter led Chillicothe with 19 points. Senior Essie Hicks had 11, as the Hornets finished their third 20-plus win season in the last four years.
Benton, who seeks its second straight trip to the Final Four and its first state championship since 2016, will see Odessa (13-13) in state sectionals on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Liberty North.
"We just continue to earn one more game," Michaels reiterated. "We've done that all season long. We've told them every day when they come to practice and in the locker room, 'We're 0-0. It doesn't matter what happened before this point. You have to be 1-0 at the end of the day."
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