02-16-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
MURPHYSBORO - How does one write a story about a game like this?

The truth shall be ok by me.

Murphysboro took no pity on the Benton Rangers in the first quarter on Tuesday night as they did as they pleased in a 68-36 shellacking that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would lead one to believe.

From the outset – the Rangers had no answers for the problems that existed as Murphysboro used a 24-0 run early on in a contest that wasn’t one to put this outcome to rest.

“That was an awful good start for us tonight – we hit shots and played great defensively,” said head coach Daryl Murphy. “We had a day off from school yesterday and we spent about two hours breaking down our defense and going through some fundamental drills and I thought it showed tonight.”

Coach Murphy’s Devils allowed just a single basket in the first 13 minutes of play from the Rangers, as they stayed perfect in the SIRR Ohio Division in a make up game from a snowed out contest originally slated for January 29.

Murphysboro dropped its own avalanche - of 3-pointers - on Benton.

Thirteen Murphysboro players played in the game and eight of them scored – led by 18-points from junior guard Orlando Jarrett.

Jarrett scored twice in the opening quarter – drilling home the first of his trio of trifecta’s with a bomb from the left corner to push the Red Devils’ lead to 7-2.

He added a nice assist on a fast break score from Eben Brooks to force a Benton time out at 9-2 with 4:40 left.

It only got worse for Benton as Murphysboro forced five Ranger turnovers in the first quarter.

Junior guard Jerrod Gaston scored four of his eight points in that opening run including a nice spin move in the lane for a bucket and an 18-2 lead.

Two more free throws by Brooks ended the first frame at 20-2.

The reserves got into the scoring act in the second quarter for Murphysboro.

Mitchell Rose stepped off the bench and nailed a 3-pointer to begin the quarter.

Gaston, Dre Shean Payne and Jarrett combined to score the next five points as the lead ballooned to 28-2 with 3:58 left.

The Rangers finally gave the faithful something to cheer about with an 8-3 run to finish the half.

A 3-pointer by Tyler Leffler and a conventional three-point play by Caleb Suver closed the half at 33-11 Murphysboro.

If you are clamoring for a bright spot from the Franklin County “5” then it would be Suver.

This 6-foot-2 junior forward led the Benton attack with 13-points – including six points in the third quarter.

Suver and Leffler scored on back-to-back trips in the early part of the second half to cut the Murphysboro lead to 35-15.

But the Devils closed out the quarter by outgunning the guests 16-4 to lead 51-19 heading to the final frame.

The reserves for both teams closed out the contest – highlighted by 3-point bombs by Murphysboro’s Kyle Miller and Darion Jarrett.

“We went through a period of six consecutive games with a different leading scorer in all six games,” added Coach Murphy. “We’ve got six kids that can really put the ball in the basket and that really helps because you can’t guard just one guy in our lineup.”

Besides O. Jarrett’s 18 – the Devils got 16-points from Payne and nine points from Brooks.

Dylan Craig hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points, as did Gaston – who hit four 2-point shots.

Murphysboro was an impressive 25-of-49 overall from the field and 11-of-24 from behind the arc.

Coach Murphy’s combatants out-rebounded the Rangers by a whopping 34-15 and committed just seven turnovers.

Benton finished 14-of-46 overall from the floor and just 3-of-13 from downtown.

Following Suver in scoring was Leffler with eight points while Garrett added seven and Cody Smith finished with six.

“This team has good team chemistry and this is one of my best teams I’ve ever had at executing offensively,” Coach Murphy explained. “Against a zone or man or out-of-bounds plays – this team really executes.”

The Red Devils – now 24-2 overall and 9-0 in the Ohio – close out their regular season at Harrisburg on Friday night.

Murphysboro bested the Bulldogs 66-43 back on January 15.

Benton saw its mark slip to 8-18 overall and 1-8 in the league and the Rangers will end its regular season at home against Herrin this Friday.

Benton (36) – C. Smith 0 1 3-4 6, Childers 1 0 0-2 2, Garrett 3 0 1-1 7, Kerley 0 0 0-0 0, Hartley 0 0 0-0 0, LaBuwi 0 0 0-0 0, Suver 6 0 1-1 13, Leffler 1 2 0-0 8, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0 0-0 0, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Simpson 0 0 0-0 0, Miner 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-5-8, PF-8.
Murphysboro (68) – Maloney 0 0 0-0 0, House 0 0 0-0 0, Novara 0 0 0-0 0, Craig 1 2 0-0 8, Gaston 4 0 0-0 8, D. Jarrett 0 1 0-0 3, Payne 4 2 2-3 16, Heller 0 0 0-0 0, O. Jarrett 3 3 3-4 18, Brooks 2 1 2-2 9, Vaughn 0 0 0-0 0, Rose 0 1 0-0 3, Miller 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-14, 3FG-11, FT-7-9, PF-10.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.