02-22-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - Back in December in the opening round of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament, Norris City-Omaha-Enfield pulled off the only first round shocker by topping second seeded Benton in the first game of that wintry morning.

But the Rangers, playing at home in the post-season Tuesday night in the opening round of the Benton Class A Regional showed none of the grogginess that plagued them during the 47-38 loss to the Fighting Cardinals.

Putting four players in double-figures in scoring and forcing the Birds into 16 turnovers, Benton advanced to the semifinal round with a 57-41 triumph.

Coach Matt Wynn's troops were not highly impressive in the win, but they did enough damage offensively to overcome their own mistakes to post their 18th win of the season.

Greg McClintock, the only true Ranger 'wrangler' in the paint this season, scored 14 'in close' points to pace his club. Duke Mitchell added 12, Mason Satterfield tossed in 11 while Seiger Shurtz netted 10 to keep the NCOE defense against the wall for most of the evening.

"In the regionals, you just want to advance. We didn't play a very good basketball game but we survived to play another day," said Coach Wynn, whose club has endured a lot of wars in an 18-12 season. "It doesn't matter if it is Johnston City or Hamilton County for us Thursday, it will be a battle for us. Nothing has been easy for us this season."

Although neither team shot the ball particularly well, Benton made good on 13-of-18 free throw attempts (11-of-13 in the fourth quarter) as Coach Doug Miller's Cardinals were forced to foul in the final quarter when they fell behind.

"When we have lost this season, the other team always shoots more free throws than we do and it happened again tonight," said Coach Miller, whose first year at NCOE had some good moments. "This group won just five games last season and we doubled that total so I am proud of them. Having Laughard and some young kids back next season I am looking forward to next season already."

The Rangers emerged from the outset with purpose, scoring five quick points to take an early lead.
An inside shot by McClintock and a 3-pointer by Satterfield staked Benton to a 5-1 lead.

But Satterfield found out quick that the Cardinals were planning on pounding the ball inside to Andrew Simmons.

It didn't take but a couple of trips for the 6-foot-1 Ranger forward to pick up two fouls.

After his second foul, Satterfield saw Simmons hit both of his free throw to tie the game at 5-all with 6:09.

Every time Benton made a run, the Cards followed suit.

A 9-2 sprint by the Rangers featuring four different players lighting the scoreboard made it 14-7.

However NCOE retaliated with a 6-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from the left corner by reserve Dylan Bowman with :05 left made it 14-13 at the first break.

The Rangers took full advantage of the Fighting Cardinals' penchant for turning it over in the opening eight minutes, cashing in on five 'Early Bird errors'.

In what was clearly the worst played of the four quarters in this contest, the second period found the Rangers rattling shots while NCOE continued to play give away.

Benton was 3-of-11 in the frame while Coach Miller's club coughed up the ball four more times to total nine turnovers in the opening half.

Seiger Shurtz did help the Rangers build on their lead. After NCOE took the lead on a Travis Mitchell shot in the lane, Shurtz hit his first of two 3-point shots giving the lead back to the home team 17-15.

McClintock took a pass from Duke Mitchell and scored in transition to give the Rangers a bit of breathing room.

However Michael Laughard scored two straight baskets.

A lay in on a fast break opportunity and a rebound of his own missed shot evened the score once again at 19-all.

Following the second Shurtz 'trifecta' gave back the lead to Benton, Simmons once again scored in the lane.

His shot with :40 to go sent the clubs to intermission at 22-21 Rangers.

"I thought we played harder tonight and we got some pressure on the ball. That was our game plan tonight to speed the game up a bit and give our kids a chance to win," Wynn said. "I thought at times they controlled the tempo tonight, but in the third quarter it switched and we took back control of the pace of the game."

While the game slowed down in the second quarter, Benton made some adjustments heading into the third quarter.

After two baskets by NCOE to open the second half gave the Cardinals the lead, Coach Wynn's club made a strong offensive run to take back the lead for good.

Shane Smith picked up three assists in the scoring spree.

He found McClintock in the lane, setting him up for a score while being fouled by Simmons with 6:43 remaining. His completed 3-point play tied the score at 25-apiece.

Benton scored nine of the games next eleven points, with Mitchell scoring twice. Once on a super interior pass from Smith and again on a nice 'give-and-go' from McClintock that influenced a timeout from Coach Miller for his NCOE troops at 30-25 Rangers.

The run ended with another McClintock score in close and another Satterfield 3-pointer, his second of the contest, making it 35-27 with 3:33 to go.

"We got into foul trouble and had to go small and Benton took advantage of us inside," Miller added. "They caught us on some back-door plays where they got some easy stuff in the second half."

The Cardinals' last hurrah came toward the period's end.

Three consecutive scores by Laughard, one on a 3-pointer and another on a rebound of his own shot attempt cut the margin to 39-34 heading to the final quarter.

But by this time, NCOE was starting to show signs of fatigue.

With the momentum shifted firmly in their favor, the Rangers spread the floor on offense. Using time off of the clock and taking advantage of the Cardinal's foul problems, Benton knocked down 11-of-14 charities in the final 7:00 of the contest.

Satterfield's final 3-pointer of the game was followed by four straight free throws by Shurtz and Mitchell.

Working against some defensive full court pressure, Mitchell put the Rangers in a commanding position with a length of the court drive that resulted in a bank shot in the lane and a 48-36 lead.
NCOE never recovered and got no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

"We had a game last Friday where we had no energy or defense and I didn't want our season to end that way," said NCOE mentor Doug Miller, referring to a 58-46 loss to Thompsonville. "I thought we played some very good defense at times tonight, especially in the first half. But they got the lead in the second half and we couldn't slow it down the way we wanted to."

Laughard ended with a game-high 18-points for the Cardinals while Mitchell and Simmons posted nine and seven points respectively.

"The Laughard kid is good and for a kid his size, when he gets the ball inside he is so strong that he gives other guards problems," said Wynn. "They (NCOE) are a good basketball team and coach Miller did a good job with them this season."

The shooting totals were nothing to brag about for either club.

Coach Miller's squad was 17-of-41 overall (41 percent) while hitting just 2-of-8 from behind the line.

Benton ended up with a 19-of-43 shooting performance (44 percent) and just 5-of-16 from behind the arc.

NCOE simply could not overcome its turnovers on this night as their season ended at 10-19.

"I was a bit disappointed in our approach late in the game offensively. They were still in a zone and I wished we would have handled the ball better," added Wynn. "I just hope we play better Thursday night."

Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (41) - Mitchell 4 0 1-1 9, Laughard 7 1 1-2 18, Simmons 2 0 3-4 7, Daugherty 2 0 0-0 4, Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Bowman 0 1 0-0 3, Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Capps 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, McNear 0 0 0-0 0, Pearce 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-5-7, PF-18.
Benton (57) - S. Smith 0 0 2-4 2, Shurtz 1 4 2-2 10, Mitchell 4 0 4-4 12, McClintock 6 0 2-3 14, Satterfield 0 3 2-3 11, Muir 2 0 0-0 4, Hammond 0 0 0-0 0, Erwin 0 0 0-0 0, Page 0 0 2-2 2, Melvin 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-13-18, PF-12.
Fouled Out - Daugherty, NCOE.
Technical Fouls - None.

JOHNSTON CITY 46, HAMILTON COUNTY 43
Coach Kiel Pebbles club pulled the only upset of the regional so far in beating the Foxes in the Tuesday nightcap.

The Indians Kris Kirkpatrick came up big for the Tribe, hitting for a game high 23-points in the win.
Matt Ray scored on a 3-point play on a fast break attempt late in the fourth quarter to give JC the lead back.

Cedrick Graham missed a potential game-tying 3-point shot in the final seconds as Coach Curt Reed's team saw its season end at 16-12.

Graham paced HC with 15-points while Adam Birkner chipped in 11.

Alex Terrill scored nine points for the 8-22 Indians, who will play Benton Tuesday night at 7:30 pm.

Johnston City (46) - Kirkpatrick 8 0 7-7 23, Terrill 0 3 0-0 9, M. Ray 3 0 0-2 6, Linton 0 0 2-2 2, K. Ray 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-9-11, PF-14.
Hamilton County (43) Waier 3 0 0-0 6, Birkner 0 3 2-2 11, Graham 7 0 1-2 15, Welch 0 0 1-2 1, Gray 2 0 0-0 4, Wiggins 0 1 0-0 3, Williams 1 0 1-1 3. Totals 17
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-5-7, PF-16. .
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.