Benton Academy’s Raiders and Lady Raiders each took a loss during a trip to Canton Academy on Monday night.
Lady Raiders 27,
Lady Panthers 42
The Lady Raiders of Benton Academy took a tough 42-27 loss to the Lady Panthers.
According to Benton Academy head basketball coach Hall Redfearn, scoring is the major issue for the Lady Raiders.
“They were a pretty good team,” Redfearn said. “The difficult part is that we aren’t able to score right now. We’re trying to figure out how to get better at that.”
Ana Posey Jones led the Lady Raiders with 10 points in the defeat.
Madilyn Manor had eight points in the losing effort.
Redfearn has had to tinker with the lineup with Manor back from injury.
“I’m still trying to figure out who my top five are right now,” Redfearn said. “Getting Madilyn back changed the dynamic a little. I needed to see her on the court with the others. I think I have it figured out now, but it took a little while to get it corrected.”
Raiders 38,
Panthers 58
The final result of the battle between the Raiders and Panthers does not properly convey just how heated and tight the game was for a majority of the contest.
In the first half, the two teams exchanged blow after blow until the whistle blew for the break, and at that point, Canton held a 21-20 lead.
In the second half, however, things unravelled for Benton in a hurry.
The Raiders went cold offensively, and the Panthers heated up, leading to a 58-38 win for Canton.
According to Benton Academy head basketball coach Jimmy McGregor,
“They were a pretty good team,” McGregor said. “They may be the best team in the conference. We just couldn’t score in the second half. It was close until halftime, but after the half, they came out and hit some 3-pointers, and we couldn’t hit anything.”
Roger Hancock led the Raiders in scoring with 16 points in the loss.
Hancock’s partner in crime, Gage Pierce, was second on the team in scoring with 14 points.
Both Benton Academy teams will try and turn things back around on Thursday when they face rival Tri-County Academy in key conference match-ups.
McGregor believes his team needs to try and get a win against their rival.
“We just have to regroup and get better,” McGregor said. “We need a conference win on Thursday against Tri-County. We have to play four full quarters. We can’t just play two like we did against Canton.”
Tip-off for the first game of the night at Tri-County is set for 3 p.m.
