This game was the final of Benton's Rangerette Christmas Classic tournament. Up to this point in the tournament, the Rangerettes, led offensively in the past few games by Ally Fischer and Makala Abney, and supported by a strong defense, dominated every squad that has squared up against up against them. They've been so dominant in fact, that they’ve won the first three games in their home tournament by a minimum of 20 points, and that dominance continued on the court Wednesday.
Speaking of the 23-point victory against Union County (Ky) on Tuesday night, coach Andy Sloan said, "We have to use this momentum going into tomorrow night". When asked if he was concerned about Carterville considering how dominant his team has played so far, Sloan replied, "Oh absolutely," adding that Carterville is "one of the better teams in the south." Sloan also mentioned that shutting down Avery English would be a key to victory.
"We were lucky enough to beat them at the Marion tournament earlier in the year," Sloan said, adding "I'm sure they're wanting some payback. So we're gonna have to come in focused and ready to play.”
Like Meredian and Union County, who Benton beat in previous Christmas Classic games this week, the Carterville Lady Lions is a team that likes to play a fast full court press style offense and keep the tempo of the game fast and furious.
Carterville, coming into Wednesday's game with an 11-4 overall record, had a tougher fight getting to the finals, coming out of Tuesday night’s game against Johnston City with a one point nail-biter of a victory. Before that night’s squeaker they had run roughshod over Goreville in a 60-24 thrashing. Avery English came into the game with a ton of momentum after scoring 36 points, a career high, in the Johnston City game. Aside from English, the Rangerettes were also looking to close down Carterville’s other main offensive weapon, Maddi Meyer which for the most part, they did.
This game was a defensive war. By the end of the first quarter Benton trailed Carterville 9-4. In the second quarter both team’s offense grinded to a half with each team only scoring one basket, making the score 6-11 going into the half.
Benton trailed Carterville all the way until the second half of the fourth quarter when a series of good breaks finally went their way. The turnaround started when Ally Gischer made a key three point play drawing a foul off of a drive to the lane. What turned out to be the game winning shot was laid in by Makala. Both Makala and Gischer wound up with 12 points total for the game. Carterville’s top scorer wound up being Megan Barrett who also finished with 12 points. Carterville’s Cora Gurrieri received an ovation from both sides of the crowd after going down with an injury late in the fourth quarter.
After the game Makala said that so far this was the biggest game of her life, but that she is ready for “many more to come.” She said that clinching this tournament winning game at home felt “awesome” and that she was “extremely happy” to get to enjoy the moment with her family and teammates.
