03-01-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO

In the aftermath of a tornado that devastated their small community just a day earlier, the Bulldogs could have been less than par in a contest that was important to their school and their town.

But on this night, Coach Randy Smithpeters' team showed up ready to play.

Using the one-two combination of junior guards Capel Henshaw and Tyler Smithpeters Harrisburg advanced to Saturday afternoon's sectional final against Pinckneyville with a 56-49 triumph at Duff-Kingston Gymnasium.

Henshaw notched a game-high 22-points while Smithpeters, who got into some foul trouble in the second half and spent time on the bench, added 14-points as the Bulldogs improved to 27-5.

Eli Taborn-Scott, a 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, did his usual good job inside as he also netted 14-points.

“One of the things we talked about was how important this game was for the community. I thought the greatest part of the game was the last ten seconds all of the Harrisburg fans stood up and were happy and cheering,” said Coach Smithpeters. “When people in our community asked me about the game they said 'Are our boys ready tonight?' It is good that these kids can be a bright spot for this community after a bad couple of days. We are very happy that we could win.”

Coach Ron Winemiller's Rangers saw their season close at 19-13.

Benton was led in scoring by senior guard Trey Garrett with 17-points in his final game.

Cody Smith added 12-points for Benton while Tyler Leffler added eight as both of those seniors ended their careers as well.

“I thought the turning point in the game was when we had them on their heels when Tyler (Smithpeters) was in foul trouble, but we got it to four and then got it to three but we never could tie the game,” added Coach Winemiller. “Maybe if we could have tied the game that would have given us a push, but we didn't. Give them (Harrisburg) credit. They made enough free throws down the stretch.”

Despite missing seven fourth quarter free throws, the Bulldogs were good enough defensively in those waning moments to move into the sectional final.

Benton could have made a big move late in the game but the Rangers were just 3-of-11 from the floor in the final minutes, including 0-of-4 from behind the arc.

“The number one thing on our board tonight was 'defense' and the number one thing on our board for Saturday will be 'defense'. It is something we have to do,” said Coach Smithpeters. “Tonight I thought we got off to a good start but we gave up five or six 3-pointers in the first half, exactly what we didn't want to do.”

Both teams started the game by hitting shots from long range.

Smith and Leffler both hit 3-point attempts in the opening frame but so did Henshaw for Harrisburg.

When Henshaw collected his second trey of the quarter, the Bulldogs led 9-5.

Eli Taborn-Scott finished the quarter with six points, making a pair of spin moves in the lane for the final two scores of the stanza which pushed the Harrisburg lead to 19-14 at the end of one.

Smith hit two more 3-pointers for Benton in the second quarter and his second bomb brought the Rangers to within 27-25 with 3:00 left before halftime.

However Harrisburg got its first double-digit lead with an 8-0 run with Henshaw scoring five of those points on a rebound of a missed Smithpeters shot and a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

Smithpeters hit 3-of-4 free throws on two trips for a 35-25 lead with 1:14 remaining.

Benton's Mason Childers, who finished with seven points, converted a conventional three-point play to stop the Harrisburg run.

Nevertheless Henshaw, after the Bulldogs ran nearly a minute off of the clock, scored on a driving shot where he stopped and nailed a 10-foot shot off the glass for a 37-28 halftime lead.

“He (Henshaw) had a great night tonight. He is a tough match up for teams to defend and he hit some big baskets for us tonight,” added Coach Smithpeters.

Benton got close in the third quarter, thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds and another trifecta from Smith.

When Smith found the mark from the left wing, the Rangers had cut the Bulldogs lead to just 39-37.

With Smithpeters on the bench after picking up his third foul on a charging call with 5:01 remaining in the third, Benton had its chance.

But as it turned out, this would be as close as the Rangers would get.

Henshaw responded again to pick up the slack as he took the ball inside and his driving shot beat the buzzer for a 45-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.

“Capel (Henshaw) is a tough match up for us, but he is a tough match up for everyone,” said Coach Winemiller. “He does such a good job scoring on the inside and the outside. He is a great player.”

Garrett hit three shots in the final minutes and his runner in the lane got the Rangers to within 52-47 with 1:45 left.

Despite its problems from the foul line, Harrisburg advanced by settling down to make 4-of-6 with Taborn-Scott and Smithpeters converting.

“It is hard to get the ball out of Tyler and Capel's hands,” said Coach Winemiller. “We had the guys we wanted to foul but they never touched it.”

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting very well from the floor, converting 20-of-34 shots from the floor overall (58.9 percent) while Benton managed to hit just 19-of-49 (38.7 percent).

Coach Smithpeters' club held a slight 22-21 rebounding edge.

Had Harrisburg been more efficient from the foul line (12-of-21) the final score would have been a larger margin. The Bulldogs ran time off of the clock and Benton was forced to foul late but Harrisburg missing free throws left the door open for a Rangers rally that never came about.

“What we wanted to do (late in the game) was make them defend,” said Coach Smithpeters when asked about working the clock in the final quarter. “We basically ran our offense and looked for opportunities to score. Then they (Benton) came out and started to foul.”

Harrisburg will face Pinckneyville on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

“We know that we are going to have to step up and defend a lot better than that Saturday afternoon,” added Coach Smithpeters. “Benton defends hard and they were prepared for us. At this time of the year we are just happy to win.”