Benton fights back for win
HOT SPRINGS – Down big early in the second half, the Benton Lady Panthers showed resilience late to claim a come-from-behind victory over the Lakeside Lady Rams Saturday in Hot Springs. Down 29-13 early in the third quarter, the Lady Panthers won 46-43 to end nonconference play and improve to 8-3 going into 5A Central action on Tuesday.
But things didn’t start well for the Lady Panthers. After an even, 13-13, first quarter, Benton was held scoreless in the second quarter and trailed 22-13 at the half. A big reason for the Lady Panthers anemic offense in the second quarter was because Saline County leading scorer, sophomore Alyssa Houston, was in foul trouble most of the first half.
“Offensively we really struggled,” Benton Coach Jerry Chumley said. “Alyssa got two fouls in
the first quarter with about three minutes to go. We went about 11 or 12 minutes without her and we just didn’t score. We got a lot of shots, missed a lot of wide-open shots.”
The Lady Rams pushed their lead to 29-13 after three straight buckets to start the third, but the Lady Panthers didn’t lie down.
“We grinded it out, the press started working, started getting into their legs a little bit and got them to turn it over some,” Chumley said. “We started making the comeback and they sped up offensively a little bit, which helped us.”
Lakeside still held a
41-29 advantage heading into the fourth. Hitting a late three in the third to get Benton within 12 points, Lady Panther sophomore Presley Chism continued her hot hand in the fourth quarter, scoring the first three buckets, including another three, and finished with a career-high 24 points.
“We just started chipping away,” Chumley said. “In the fourth, quarter Presley Chism started going off. She hit a three at the end of the third quarter to help start the run. She scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter.”
Benton would outscore Lakeside 17-2 in the fourth quarter to pick up the win.
Chism added five rebounds and shot 9 of 11 from the free-throw line.
Houston would net season lows of eight points and five rebounds after starting the season with nine double-doubles through the first 10 games. Houston also added four steals and two blocks.
“They were completely taking away the lane,” Chumley said. “They had a big, sagging man-to-man where pretty much all five defenders had a foot in the lane. They were basically begging us to shoot the basketball. They just didn’t want Alyssa to hurt them. We really didn’t make any shots until the second half.”
Freshman Wesleigh Ferguson added seven points, sophomore Madison Mcintire had three points and three rebounds, and sophomore Addison Davis and senior Tuesday Melton scored two each.
Benton begins conference play next week against two of the top teams in the league, hosting Sylvan Hills Tuesday and Little Rock Christian Friday.
“Sylvan Hills is the best team we’ll play so far,” Chumley said. “And then we have Little Rock Christian on Friday. Two very talented teams coming to our place. What a great way to get off to a good start in conference if we can get one of them … or get them both.”