For the first time during this athletic season, the boys of Benton Academy stood tall in victory after defeating Central Holmes Christian School 43-42.
According to Benton Academy head basketball coach Steve Flemming, it was a well-deserved win after a lot of close opportunities in recent weeks, and he hopes that it will spark a new confidence in his players.
“That really does a lot for our program,” Flemming said. “We’ve struggled all year. We came close in football a few times and had some opportunities in basketball earlier in the season. We couldn’t get over the hump. Other than helping their feelings, we hoped it gave them confidence. There were a lot of happy faces in the locker room. It was good to see them have that joy after a ball game.”
The first win for the Raiders did not come easily.
For a long while, it seemed as if their losing streak would continue.
The Trojans came out of the gate scorching hot, outscoring the Raiders 21-10 in the first quarter of play.
In the second quarter, the game slowed down, as defense prevailed. Central Holmes outscored Benton 7-6 in the second to take a 28-16 lead into the half.
The Raiders came out of the half renewed and dominated in the third quarter. They outscored the Trojans 15-1 in the third to take a 31-29 lead.
Flemming believed that crucial third quarter was the definitive turning point in the contest.
“They lost their momentum, and we gained our confidence,” Flemming said.
Both the Trojans and Raiders put up their best performance the fourth quarter. Neither team was willing to give an inch.
With very little time remaining and down two points, the Raiders called a timeout to work up a play.
“I had called a timeout with 10 seconds left,” Flemming said. “We wanted to get Arion Warren open. We had a ball screen from the sideline to get him open. He dribbled for a couple of second then shot.”
And the shot went flawlessly in.
Arion Warren made a 3-pointer with three seconds left to win.
The Raiders stole the ball in the final seconds to end the game to end it at 43-42.
It was the first win in the athletic season for the boys of Benton Academy.
Arion Warren led the Raiders with 12 points in the victory.
Dylan Moore had nine points in the winning effort.
Zac Nesbit rounded out the top three with eight points.
The Raiders followed their win up with a 56-29 loss to Humphreys Academy.
Arion once again led the Raiders with seven points.
Wil Saxton had six points in the win.
