Benton Academy’s Raiders took the first leg of basketball’s rendition of the BAMA Bowl against Manchester Academy in dramatic fashion by a score of 59-57 on Tuesday night.
After falling down double-digits at times in the first half, the Raiders stormed back in the second half to win the game.
The win was Jimmy McGregor’s first as the head coach of the Raiders, and he felt his team beat a very good ball club.
“Manchester is a pretty good team,” McGregor said. “They have a good, well-coached club. I think they were undefeated coming into it. It was great to get a win. We had some great post play and made free throws down the stretch. That was the difference for us.”
Manchester Academy head coach John Harris, on the other hand, felt like it was a missed opportunity for the Mavericks.
“I feel like we let our guard down,” Harris said. “We got complacent. We were up as much as 13 in the first half, but they made a run and cut the score to six by halftime, and the second half was a dogfight. We’ve got to learn to play with a lead. We got a technical in the second half on a play where they scored, and it killed us. We went from up two to down three in the blink of an eye. We have to be better.”
The Mavericks came out hot to start the contest, relying heavily on the scoring of senior point guard Matt Liddon.
Manchester got up as much as 13 points, but in the final minutes of the second quarter, Benton scored five points quickly to cut the score to 29-23, proving to be a sign of things to come.
In the second half, the two teams battled valiantly, but the post duo of Roger Hancock and Gage Pierce proved to be too much for Manchester.
The Raiders took the contest 59-57.
In the days heading into the game, McGregor decided to focus on getting his big men the ball, and it paid off.
“We decided to do things a little different against Manchester,” McGregor said. “I’m still getting to know them, and they’re getting to know me. We changed our thought process on using the post players. We ran more sets to try and get them the ball, and that paid off. We’re inexperienced in a lot of places, and we’re going to have to count on them a lot this year.”
Roger Hancock led the Raiders in scoring with 26 points in the win.
Gage Pierce was right behind Hancock with 21 points.
The damage caused by Benton’s post duo came as somewhat of a shock to Harris.
“I thought we would match up better against their post players than we did because we have a little size ourselves,” Harris said. “I should have had a better plan for them. They’re seniors, so they have experience. They’re a tough twosome to deal with, and they willed that team to a win. That’s on me. I have to have a better plan.”
Manchester was led in scoring by Matt Liddon, who put up 16 points.
Jay Warren was second in scoring for the Mavericks with 13 points.
Benton faced Carroll Academy on Thursday as their last game before Thanksgiving, but it was not upon completion by press time.
Manchester had a bit of a grind following the loss to Benton.
They faced St. Al and Canton on the road on Thursday and Friday, neither of which were completed by press time, and they face Pillow at home on Monday.
“That’s the thing about basketball,” Harris said. “You don’t have time to dwell on a loss. District play is here, and we need to be prepared. We need to go out and get a win.”
Tip-off between Manchester and Pillow is set for noon.
