Benton capped off its 2021 season with a pair of wins, ending the campaign Saturday with come-from-behind win over Goreville.
Earlier in the week, Benton rebounded from Tuesday night's loss to Massac County to beat West Frankfort.
In the matchup against Goreville, Reid Baumgarte had a team-high 15 points and Reece Johnson closed out his career with 14 points. Jacob Seidel tossed in 12 points and Wyatt McClintock rounded out the double figure scoring with 11 points.
Landon Bolen and Peyton Bayless each scored six points for the Rangers.
Goreville had 22 turnovers, losing a 10-point 36-26 halftime lead s they were outscored 19-7 in the third quarter in the loss.
Chase Quigley led the Blackcats with 16 points, while Kanon Webb finished with 15 points and Briley Dunn also finished in double figures with 12 points.
Anthony Lewis scored seven points for Goreville, while Dylan Compton and Rhet Schultz each had four points and Carter Bishop had two points.
In Benton's comeback, the Rangers outscored Goreville 38-24 in the second half.
Benton head coach Ron Winemiller said that despite no postseason, Saturday's game had a playoff feel to it.
"That had a little bit of a March feel to it," Winemiller said. "Not because of it just being March but there was some big possessions there and guys really competing both ways. Not just for them or for us. There were some guys that laid it out on the line tonight. I thought about six minute mark of the second quarter is when we toughed up and matching their physicality and did a better job of guarding them. That was a very physical basketball team we just played."
Benton 71, West Frankfort 39
On Thursday, Benton closed out SIRR Ohio play with a win a 71-39 win over West Frankfort.
Reece Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, while Reid Baumgarte tossed in 11 points and Wyatt McClintock tacked on 10 points.
Jacob Seidel and Mitch Giaccone each added eight points for the Rangers, while Landon Bolen and Peyton Bayless both scored four points. Hunters Roberts had three points, while Ayden Newcomb had two points.
Massac County 51, Benton 48
Massac County edged Benton 51-48 to claim the Southern Illinois River-To-River Conference Ohio Division after going 9-1 in league.
Benton went 7-3 in conference play, went ahead 18-11 in the first quarter and despite being outscored 16-11 in the second quarter led 29-27 at the break. Massac County outscored Benton 10-8 in the third quarter to knot the score at 37-all and in the final eight minutes the Patriots outscored Benton 14-11.
Jacob Seidel had a team-high 16 points for the Rangers, while Reece Johnson tossed in 12 points. Peyton Bayless and Mitch Giacone each scored six points. Wyatt McClintock and Reid Baumgarte both finished with four points.
Winemiller said the goal of the season was to compete for a conference crown and despite not being able to win the title, he learned a lot about his squad that graduates seven players.
"Losing Tuesday night and not having that chance to share that conference, that's all you were playing for. I thought our guys showed a lot of grit (against Goreville) coming out against a really good team and finding a way to win in our last game.
"We're maybe a little tougher than what I gave them credit for. I thought we showed a great deal of toughness tonight and hopefully that can spring board us into next year."
Jo Jo Johnson 2,575 points
Bruce Baker 1,710 points
Doug Kirk 1,661 points
Derek Oxford 1,589 points
Reece Johnson 1,446 points
Rick Yunkus 1,443 points
Trevor Myers 1,315 points
Bob Crawford 1,313 points
Bill Smith 1,311 points
Keith Tabor 1,276 points
Ryan Fraulini 1,224 points
Steve Stewart 1,131 points
Jay Schafer 1,112 points
Jim Adkins 1,103 points
Austin Wills 1,078 points
Paul Dinkins 1,036 points
Danny Johnson 1,034 points
Jim Semanski 1,017 points
Bob Deitz 1,007 points
Seiger Shurtz 1,004 points
