Play kicks off at Goreville Invitational, Rangers open season tonight

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangers will open the 2012-13 basketball season Tuesday night at the Goreville Invitational Tournament in a 6 p.m. contest against Egyptian.

The Rangers have kicked off the season the past 14 years at the Du Quoin Tip Off Classic but made the move to Goreville to the five-team, round robin tournament. Each team receives a bye during one session in the tournament that runs Nov. 26, 27, 29, 30 and Dec. 1.

Play opened on Monday night with Johnston City defeating Anna-Jonesboro 60-59 when the Wildcats couldn’t get a shot to drop in the final seconds. Johnston City led by as many as nine points in the opening half only to see A-J roar back to tie the game at the intermission 32-32.

The Indians began the second half on a 12-2 run to open up a 44-34 lead but again the Wildcats fought back to actually take the lead in the fourth quarter. After a pair of Hunter Zeigler free throws to give Johnston City a 60-59 lead with 8.1 seconds the Wildcats set up a final play but a Noah Fuller jumper on the baseline lipped off the rim securing the hard fought win for Johnston City.

Luke McCormick led the Indians with 18 points and also in double figures was Hunter Zeigler with 11. Also scoring for JC was Austin McPheron and Levi Tanner with nine, Jake Davison with eight and Derek Smith with five.

A-J was led in scoring by Tyler Vaughn with 14 followed by Noah Fuller with 13 and Ben McFarland with 10. Rounding out the scoring Colton James scored eight, Zach Parr added seven, Jonathan Kemp scored four and Damian Reed contributed three points.

In the nightcap the host Goreville Blackcats jumped out to a quick 17-7 first quarter lead and never looked back in defeating an out-manned Egyptian squad by a score of 75-57. The Blackcats extended the lead with a 21-9 blitz of the Pharaohs in the second quarter to take a 38-18 halftime lead.

Goreville featured a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures led by Zeke Snell with 18 and Dayton Tripp with 13. Also scoring was Alex Andros with 12 and Blake Gray and Kyefer Cavins with 11 each. Rounding out the scoring for Goreville Nik Dunn had three, J.T. Russell, Daniel Lanham and Caleb Belcher each had two.

Leading Egyptian was the one-two punch of Justin Prewett and Devantae Price who contributed 19 and 17 points respectively. Cameron Grueninger also scored in double figures with 10 with Alex McCrite adding four and Austin Murphy and Brandon Woodson adding two each and Bryce Bigham adding a free throw.

Here is a schedule for the rest of the week at the Goreville Invitational.

Tuesday, Nov. 27

Benton vs. Egyptian 6 p.m.

Goreville vs. Anna-Jonesboro 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 29

Anna-Jonesboro vs. Egyptian 6 p.m.

Johnston City vs. Benton 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 30

Benton vs. Anna-Jonesboro 6 p.m.

Goreville vs. Johnston City 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1

Egyptian vs. Johnston City 6 p.m.

Benton vs. Goreville 7:30 p.m.

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Benton Rangerettes win Marion Lady Wilcat Invitational

November 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Benton Rangerettes pose with their trophy after winning the Marion Lady Wildcat Invitational. (Christopher Kays / Franklin County News)

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangerettes completed a successful week of basketball Saturday afternoon with a 58-18 victory over Marion and the championship of the Lady Wildcats Invitational.

Benton finished in first place with a 4-0 mark followed by Vienna at 2-2 and Herrin at 2-2. With identical records Vienna took second place because they beat Herrin in head-to-head competition. Marion and Carterville both finished at 1-3 in the five-team round robin tournament.

“It was a good week of basketball for us and I’m proud of the way we competed,” said first-year Benton coach Andy Sloan. “We have a lot of things to work on in order to improve but to come in here and win four games in five days is a great way to begin the season.”

After a thrilling 41-40 victory over Carterville on Friday night the Rangerettes wasted little time disposing of Marion in the finale at Cuss Wilson Gymnasium. Marion actually got on the scoreboard first on a three-pointer and a layup by Daily Williams to take a 5-0 lead. But, those would be the final points by the Lady Wildcats until late in the second quarter as the Rangerettes put together a 25-0 run to take a 25-5 lead before Marion got on the scoreboard again.

Benton held a commanding 29-9 lead at halftime and then extended it to 44-17 at the end of three quarters and then cruised on to the easy victory.

Benton was led in scoring by Morgan Corn with 14 – her fourth time in as many tries in double figures. The Rangerettes had another balanced scoring attack with eight players scoring. Also scoring for the Rangerettes was Evelyn Mendez with nine points, Cali Carney with eight points, Mikala Carney with five, Marcela Mendez and Cassandra Johnson with four each, Also scoring was Rowdee Sanders, Bobbi Wegrazyn and Katlyn Biddle with two each.

Corn was chosen to the All-Tournament team along with Abby Horn, Herrin, Carly Childress and Miranda Chance of Vienna, Allison Gwaltney, of Marion, Savanah Jones, of Carterville and Whitney Woodis of Herrin.

The Rangerettes are back in action on Nov. 27 when they open play in the tough SIRR Ohio Division against the Herrin Lady Tigers.

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Two Benton men charged with burglary

November 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Benton Police have arrested two suspects in a burglary on Aiken Street.

On Nov. 8, police were called about a burglary in progress in the 400 block of Aiken Street in Benton.

After an investigation, Nathaniel S. Casey, 24, and Cory D. Payne, 23, both of Benton were arrested. Both men are charged with burglary and theft. Casey is also charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both men were booked at the Franklin County Jail.

Benton Police also announced the following enforcement actions over the weekend:

Paulie J. Potts, 31, of Benton was arrested Nov. 10 on an active Franklin County warrant for failure to appear.  Potts was charged and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.

On Nov. 11, Benton Police were dispatched to the 1400 block of Della Street in reference to a noise complaint.  Through investigation, police cited three suspects for unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor.  They were identified as Connor L. Babington, 19, Dakota L. Tucker, 19, and Lacy J. DePasquale, 19, all of Benton.  All suspects were issued a citation and a notice to appear.

Timothy A. Topolski, 42, of Benton was arrested Nov. 13 on an active Pulaski county warrant for failure to appear.  Topolski was arrested and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.

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