After three days of celebrating their first SIRR Conference championship, the Benton Rangers (28-2) made a long trip to Salem for their final regular season game. It was the Wildcats' senior night, but their energy did not match up against the Rangers who took a 56-51 victory.
"It's a great way to cap off what can be called a great season," said Ron Winemiller, Rangers' coach. "I'm happy for the kids. It was a huge deal to come here and win."
The Wildcats started the game fast with a 3-point bucket to kick things off. But the Rangers responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Derek Oxford (16 points) to take the lead which they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
Austin Wills (18 points) added to the Rangers' total and Gehrig Wynn (6 points) helped as well with his own trey. Junior Hamilton Page (4 points) and senior Timmy Henson (6 points) also assisted to give the Rangers a 14 point lead in the final minute of the quarter. The Wildcats added a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put them behind by only 11 (21-10) after one quarter.
"We just came ready to play," Oxford said after the victory. "We wanted to go out of this season strong."
In the second quarter, the Rangers earned most of their points at the free throw line as the Wildcats found themselves in penalty trouble. Henson scored a solo free throw while Oxford tallied a pair which he followed up with his third 3-pointer of the night. Cade Thomas also went to the line and drained both shots.
Going into the half, the Rangers were up by 9 points (29-20) and they had no intention of slowing down.
To show this, the Rangers opened the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers by Wills who later on added three more jumpers in the quarter. Teammate Parker Williams (4 points) got on the board as well in the third.
Headed into the final quarter, the Rangers held onto an 8-point lead (45-37), but the Wildcats were determined to not go down without a fight. They opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and then tallied a pair of free throws to bring themselves within two points (46-44).
"They did good at getting their quick guys in the inside," Winemiller said. "We were lucky we walked out of there with the win."
Oxford said that the environment may have gotten to his team a little, but they stuck together and continued to work to maintain their lead.
He scored his final 3-pointer of the night to give the momentum back to his team and after several trips to the free throw line, the Rangers earned their final victory of the regular season.
Now, Winemiller said the focus will turn to the first round of regionals when the Rangers will face Marion on Wednesday.
"I'm excited," Oxford said. "We all are excited. Everyone is back to 0-0 and we have to take it one game at a time. Anything can happen."
