PARIS VS. BENTON
BENTON SHOOTOUT
02-08-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - Making free throws are an important part of basketball.

Just ask Benton Rangers head coach Matt Wynn.

His team, which was coming off of a conference loss at home to Murphysboro, gave one of the top Class A teams in the state all that they wanted Saturday night at the Benton Shootout.

However the Rangers time after time came up empty from the free throw line, which allowed the Paris Tigers to escape Rich Herrin Gym with a 64-59 win.

The Rangers were an abysmal 5-of-14 from the charity stripe, including just 2-of-8 in the second half.

"We didn't hit our free throws tonight and it really cost us." said Wynn, whose team dropped to 19-8 on the season.

The Tigers, on the other hand, nailed 10-of-14 from the line, which represented to scoring difference.

"This was a big game for us, coming all the way down here and beating a team like Benton." said Paris coach Janis Ludeks. "They are a very good team. I liked our effort tonight and I am happy with the win."

The Tigers got 19 points from CJ Becher and 18 points from Adam Vilk as they won their 10th game in a row to improve to 17-4.

Becher, a 5-10 senior, canned five 3-pointers on the night. His second one from near the top of the key gave Paris an early 10-2 advantage.

Benton got some offense going in the second quarter, with Justin Raby scoring six straight points for his team.

His driving lay in from the baseline cut the Paris lead to 15-13 with 5:32 left in the second quarter.

Vilk got going with a wide open 3-pointer from the right side to make it 20-16 Tigers.

The Rangers finally pulled even with Paris when Brad Allen hit a 3-pointer of his own with 3:41 left before the half.

Allen then hit the front half of a 1-and-1 opportunity to even things at 20-apiece.

Vilk hit another 3-pointer and Benton's Drew Frailey hit a lay up just before the second quarter horn and the Tigers went to the locker room with 25-24 lead.

Benton got its first lead of the game when Kyle Meyers drilled home a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Rangers a 35-33 lead that forced a full timeout by Paris.

Ryan Fraulini hit a short shot on a back door cut to the basket that gave Benton its largest lead of the game at 37-33.

Paris then went on a 8-2 run with Vilk and 6-9 Adam Ogle doing the damage with four points each.

Ogle scored his points on a rebound basket and a short lay in.

Vilk's second bucket in the run came on a 10 footer in the lane to make it 41-39 Paris with 1:49 left in the third.

But Fraulini canned a 17-footer after a nice pump fake and Raby hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 42-41 Rangers heading into the final quarter.

Paris took the lead for good when Erik Trogdon hit a short jumper and then Becher hitting another long 3-pointer with 4:17 left to make it 53-49.

Meyers hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. But Becher hit another three to push the lead to 56-52.

Raby hit a long 3-pointer to cut the Paris advantage down to 62-59 with :06.5 remaining.

However Vilk hit both of his free throws after being fouled by Allen, which ended the scoring.

"Give Benton credit, they controlled the tempo for most of the game by being patient on offense." added Ludeks. "But we made enough shots at the end to protect the lead."

Benton was lead by Raby with a game-high 23 points. Fraulini and Meyers added 14 and 12.

OKAWVILLE 58, GOREVILLE 49
The Rockets improved to 20-6 with the nine point win in the opening game of the Benton Shootout.

Brent Frederking led Okawville with 15 points while Beau Barkau added 10.

Alex Fischer led all scorers with 20 points for the Blackcats.

Okawville hit on 10-of-13 free throws.