12/14/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARLINVILLE - On Saturday afternoon at the 6th annual T. Todt Shootout vs. Cancer basketball shootout Benton senior forward Docker Tedeschi left little doubt who was the best player on the floor in the Rangers' 68-39 dismantling of Hillsboro.

The 6-8 forward and D-I commit delivered 25-points, grabbed 11-rebounds and blocked six shots in a dominating performance as he and his teammates pushed the mark to 7-0 on the season.

Tedeschi also canned three 3-point shots as he continues to show his versatility, which makes him tough to defend.

“He (Tedeschi) was really good today and I thought he did a good job early in the second half. They had scored a couple of baskets and we needed some points inside and he went to the post and got something easy for us,” said Coach Winemiller. “We have talked to him about it (playing inside). We know he is more of a perimeter guy but its important for him to get into the post and get us some easy stuff.”

Coming off of a trip to the state championship game last March, Benton hasn't missed a stride in taking care of business, which included this trip up north to Carlinville for an annual one-day basketball event.

Coach Ron Winemiller's club put together defensive gem keeping Hillsboro at bey by forcing five early turnovers.

This defensive effort early helped trigger a 15-2 scoring run to close the first quarter.

After taking a couple of early leads, Hillsboro and head coach Corbin Govaia watched as the Rangers proved that their current state-ranking (third in the Associated Press 2A poll) is no fluke.

Benton turned a 5-4 deficit into a 19-7 lead at the end of the opening frame.

Tedeschi scored seven of his points on three-consecutive trips down the floor.

A pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around a drive in the lane made it 12-5 Rangers.

Five-eleven senior guard Jackson Zettler scored 15-points in the game for Benton, also canning a long-range shot in the first quarter run.

Senior Kyle Thomas also got in on the offensive run, scoring eight-points in the contest and added a score on a driving spin move in the paint to close the quarter.

Grant Owens, another of the seniors on the club, added six-points in the game with a pair of scores in the first quarter, with one of them coming on a nice assist inside from Tedeschi.

Benton opened the second quarter with eight-straight points, six from Tedeschi and the other score coming in transition from Thomas from an outlet pass from Tedeschi.

The lead could have been larger had the Rangers capitalized on their free throws.

Benton missed four-straight during the run and were just 6-of-18 overall.

There were few bright spots for Hillsboro but the brightest was the play of 6-3 senior forward Nathan Matoush.

Matoush led Hillsboro with 22-points, which was more than half of his teams' total.

He scored nine of the points in the first half with a couple of made field goals in the second quarter late as the Hiltoppers trailed 34-14 at halftime.

Coach Winemiller has other weapons and sophomore Jaxton Wiggs got in on the action in the third quarter as he scored twice in the third quarter and finished with five-points overall.

His steal and fast break lay in pushed the advantage to 43-20 with 3:17 left in the third quarter.

There was just one shot clock violation in the game, coming at 2:06 left in the third quarter by Hillsboro.

A score by Tedeschi closed the scoring in the third, as the senior drove in for a short bank shot and a 47-24 lead.

Zettler scored seven more points in the fourth quarter and Tedeschi closed out his game with his third trifecta from the right corner.

A 3-pointer by Zettler made it 62-36 when the coaches' emptied the benches.

Six-six junior Nolan Schafer for Benton was battling the flu and only played a few minutes early and scored two-points for the Rangers.

Besides Matoush the Hiltoppers got nine-points from junior Mark Mattson, five-points from junior Tony White and a 3-pointer from senior Clayton Rufus.

The stats explained a great deal of how the outcome came about.

Benton nailed down 27-of-51 shots from the floor (52.9 percent) including 7-of-21 from long.

The Rangers didn't commit a first half turnover and only four for the entire contest.

Hillsboro managed a rebounding edge of 34-24 as they came up with 16-offensive rebounds.

However it was the missed shots, especially from the 3-point line, that was the biggest factor.

The Hiltoppers connected on just 16-of-52 shots from the floor (30.7 percent) and only 5-of-19 from outside the arc while coughing up 14-turnovers, eight in the first half as Benton took control.

Benton heads home to play a pair of games Friday and Saturday respectively against Mississippi Division rival Anna-Jonesboro and then a non-conference battle with Carmi-White County.

The Rangers are entered in the Pinckneyville “Duster Thomas Hoops' Classic” December 27-30.

Hillsboro is entered in the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament next week and will play Ramsey on Tuesday night.

“You come up here two hours from home on a Saturday afternoon after a conference game on the road the night before you're always worried about your energy level. I thought our energy was great at the start and we were able to get some easy baskets and we did a good job frustrating them defensively,” said Coach Winemiller. “It is just neat to play different people and play in a different gyms.”

NOKOMIS 38, MADISON 35
The Redskins survived by rallying from a third quarter deficit to win over the Trojans in one of the matinees on Saturday.

Coach Dan DeWerff and his club outscored Madison 12-5 in the final eight minutes to pull out the victory to improve to 7-2 on the year.

Drake Taylor, a 6-3 senior, scored 16-points to lead Nokomis and 5-10 sophomore Carter Wexstten added 11-points, six in the fourth quarter.

Madison (2-7) lost its fifth consecutive game for head coach Phillip Gilbert.

Jamerion Skinner, a 5-11 senior guard, paced the Trojans with 22-points, including 17 in the second quarter as Madison led 24-20 at halftime.

Junior guard Dallas Gardner scored six-points for the Trojans and junior guard Terion Wilboum added five.

ROCHESTER 55, STAUNTON 46
The Rockets and Bulldogs combined to connect on 22 3-point shots in the game, including 16 in the first half as Rochester held on for a nine-point win on Saturday.

Head coach Tony Gavin got scoring from seven different players in the game as they were led by 6-5 sophomore Eli Cox and 5-10 freshman Khordell Gregory with 10-points each.

Cox hit two of the 3-pointers, both in the first quarter, while Gregory hit 3-of-4 late fourth quarter free throws to help hold off Staunton.

Coach Gavin got nine-points apiece from 6-3 junior Brooks Gavin and 6-5 junior Kai Bruce as the Rockets improved to 4-3 on the season.

Head coach Ty Laux and Staunton (6-2) were led in scoring by 5-11 sophomore Isiah Laux with 13-points and 6-1 junior Bryce Coalson with 12.

Luke Moore, a 5-11 sophomore, added 11-points.

Laux nailed down three of Staunton's 10 3-pointers while 5-8 junior Aaron Bodner hit two of the 3's for six-points.

Six-three senior Thijson Heard scored 25-points to lead Metro-East Lutheran while teammate Jr. Brown added 23.

Ian Skelton, a 6-2 junior, scored 10-points for the unbeaten Knights (5-0).

Coach David Suits' Cavaliers rally fell short after trailing 22-4 t the end of the first quarter.

Carlinville (2-4) was paced by four players in double-digits.

Six-three junior Sawyer Smith scored 15-points and 5-11 junior Tate Duckels chipped in 14.

Triston Thompson, a 5-10 junior, scored 12 and 6-3 senior Dominic Alepra scored 11 in the loss.

The two teams hit nine 3-pointers each in the contest.

Three girls games were played on Saturday.

Carlinville lost to 3A Triad 50-46, Hillsboro topped Nokomis 53-40 and Litchfield beat Lincolnwood/Morrisonville 40-34.