Benton Academy’s Raiders and Lady Raiders each dropped back-to-back games in the conference tournament to fall to fourth place.
Raiders
After earning a first round bye in the tournament, the Raiders of Benton Academy faced Greenville Christian in the semifinals.
The problems that plagued Benton in the first two battles with GCS were still prevalent on Thursday night.
According to Benton head coach Ralph Vanlandingham, the Raiders’ inability to control the ball doomed them.
“We didn’t take care of the ball very well,” Vanlandingham said. “We turned the ball over, and they made shots.”
The speed of Greenville Christian was simply too much, and they won the contest 63-39.
Roger Hancock led the Raiders with 20 points in the loss.
Gage Pierce was second on the team with 14 points.
The Raiders met Central Holmes Christian School in the consolation game on Saturday.
The first two games between the Raiders and Trojans were close affairs, and this one was no different.
The game was so close that four quarters was not enough time to determine a winner.
In the end, Central Holmes was able to pull out a 64-60 win because of their ability to make free throws when the game was on the line.
Vanlandingham believes that the Trojans’ shooting carried them to a victory.
“They beat us at the free throw line,” Vanlandingham said. “They hit free throws down the stretch. They also hit nine 3-pointers. Some were contested and some weren’t.”
Hancock once again led Benton in scoring with 18 points in the loss.
Kendall Prescott, Gage Pierce, and Wyatt Street all had 12 points in the defeat.
Lady Raiders
After defeating Greenville Christian on Tuesday, the Lady Raiders were pitted against the monster that was Canton Academy on Thursday night.
The Lady Panthers jumped on the Lady Raiders very quickly, outscoring them 15-9 in the first.
In the second quarter, where Canton outscored Benton 13-2, tragedy struck for Benton when Ana Posey Jones suffered a tough knee injury.
Benton Academy head basketball coach Hall Redfearn believes that the Lady Raiders will have to change how they do things for the rest of the year.
“Ana Posey Jones got hurt at the beginning of the second quarter,” Redfearn said. “She dislocated her knee cap. She’s done for the year. I don’t think she will have to have surgery. We will have to make some adjustments from what we can and cannot do now. It changes the dynamic of our team.”
Madilyn Manor had five points in the loss to Canton, while Lake Shipp and Ana Posey Jones each had four points.
Benton came back on Saturday and faced rival Tri-County Academy in the consolation game.
Without Jones, the Lady Raiders struggled to score against TCA. They were outscored 15-0 in the first quarter.
The second quarter was much closer, but TCA still put up 14 points to BA’s 12 points, giving them a 29-12 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Rebels extended their lead with a 16-7 quarter to make it a 45-19 game.
Despite being outscored 13-11 in the fourth quarter, Tri-County defeated Benton 56-32.
Manor was the leader in scoring again with 11 points.
Alayna Arinder was right behind Manor with seven points.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders played on Tuesday, but the games were not upon completion by press time.
