2nd half surge powers Benton

Rick Dunaway
Sports Reporter - St. Joseph News Press

Alicia Bell can thank the outside shooting of her teammates for giving her the freedom to explode for 19 points Friday night in the Benton girls' 49-31 victory against Smithville.

The Cardinals (11-0) got off to a slow start in the Midland Empire Conference opener for both teams but turned a two-point game into a second-half bulge of as many as 20 points.

Smithville led 7-5 after the first quarter, as the Warriors' defense stymied the cold-shooting Cardinals. But that gradually changed in the second quarter.

"The second quarter we had a mental lapse," Smithville coach Trevor Mosby said. "We were not supposed to leave Alicia Bell. We helped off a few times, and Benton's very good about recognizing help and hitting the open man before we could rotate. I think we gave up six easy baskets to her."

The Cardinals went up 17-11 at halftime but couldn't shake Smithville. McKynlee Westman drove the lane for her only bucket of the night with 4 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 19-18. After two consecutive Benton buckets, a 3-pointer by Mallory Craig brought Smithville back to within two points at 23-21.

The Warriors (10-3) could get no closer, however. Benton closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run that featured 3-pointers by Jenni Musser and Blair Brown, as the Cardinals' shots finally began to fall with regularity.

"We couldn't make anything in the first half," Benton coach Brett Goodwin said. "But when we started knocking down the outside shot, it allowed Alicia a little more freedom to work on the

inside."

Like Goodwin, Mosby lamented his team's cold shooting early. But the Warriors didn't have an answer for the Cardinals late.

"I don't know if we mentally got a little tired, but there toward the fourth quarter we got out of some assignments and gave up some easy buckets," Mosby said. "Then we had to start gambling a little bit because we were down, and they capitalized and made it look worse. I don't think it was as bad as the score showed."

This was Smithville's second straight loss. The Warriors suffered a costly loss to Grandview in the championship game of the Penn Valley Tournament when point guard Kendra Wright went down for the season with a torn ACL.

Still, Goodwin said he was surprised to see his team go up by 20 points in the game's late stages.

"These were two very evenly matched teams," Goodwin said. "We were just the fortunate one to come out and finish strong. I just think they match up with us really well. They pose some problems for us defensively, and we really had to fight for everything we got tonight."

Musser hit three 3-pointers for the Cardinals to finish with nine points. Smithville was led by forward Vanessa VanBleisem, who tallied nine points, all but two of which came in the third quarter.

Benton's next action will be next week in the Kearney Tournament. Smithville travels to Oak Grove next