Benton Academy’s Lady Raiders have dropped three games in three straight days thanks in part to an offensive slump.
According to Benton Academy head coach Casey Arbuckle, the offensive issue just recently started in earnest.
“We’ve been struggling a lot on offense lately,” Arbuckle said. “We’ve had some of our lowest percentage shooting games of the year recently. We’ve been tough defensively, and we’re still shooting 60-70% from the free throw line, but we’ve struggled to make shots.”
As far as Arbuckle can tell, the issues stem from rushed shots.
“I think our problem is that we’re rushing our shots,” Arbuckle said. “Some of that comes from inexperience. It’s something we’re working through. Hopefully, we can slow down, continue to play defense, and put it all together for a playoff run.”
Their struggles began on Monday night when the fell to Carroll Academy 55-23.
The Lady Raiders had their lowest shooting percentage of the season in the loss to Carroll.
Madilyn Manor led Benton in scoring against Carroll with 10 points.
Catie Merrell was right behind her with nine points.
On the following night, Benton faced off with St. Joe.
The Lady Raiders were outscored 17-4 in the first quarter, and they were never able to dig out of that hole.
Benton lost to St. Joe by a score of 49-31.
Even though the Lady Raiders fell to St. Joe, there were plenty of positives to take away, particularly down in the paint.
“Since I’ve been here, the girls have been really, really tough,” Arbuckle said. “We’re a much better rebounding team than I give us credit for being. Against St. Joe, Catie Merrell had 16 rebounds by herself.”
Manor led the Lady Raiders against St. Joe with 13 points.
Avery Eldridge chipped in five points.
On Wednesday, the Lady Raiders played their third game in as many days.
This time it was against rival Tri-County Academy.
Unfortunately for Arbuckle and the Lady Raiders, some of their recent flaws carried over, particularly their inability to play a complete game.
“It was a ball game against Tri-County, an absolute ball game,” Arbuckle said. “We once against played a great 3.5 quarters. That’s sort of been our identity lately. It was a 4-point game at the half. Both teams made adjustments. We played hard down the stretch, but we didn’t play well.”
Tri-County took an early lead in the contest by outscoring the Lady Raiders 14-11.
In the second quarter, Tri-County extended their lead with a tough 8-7 quarter, making it a 22-18 game at the half.
In the third quarter, the momentum was still slightly in the Lady Rebels’ favor, as they outscored Benton 12-8 to extend their lead to 34-26.
The half of a quarter that plagued Benton was in the fourth. They began turning the ball over couldn’t make shots. The end result was an 18-7 quarter, making the final score 52-33.
Madilyn Manor led the Lady Raiders with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Eldridge was right behind her with eight points.
Merrell put up a respectable six points in the loss.
Benton will try to finally put it all together on Tuesday night when they face off with St. Joe in the play-in game.
Tip-off at Greenville Christian is set for 6:30 p.m.
