01-03-03
BENTON @ WEST FRANKFORT
BY JACK BULLOCK
WEST FRANKFORT - If the SIRR Ohio Division boy's basketball game between Benton and West Frankfort was an entry into the Miss America Beauty Pageant, this game wouldn't have gotten past the first cut.

But since this is basketball and all that really matters is the final score, Benton was the team 'sitting pretty' when the final horn sounded at Max Morris Gymnasium.

Ryan Fraulini netted a game-high 30 points and the Rangers outscored its rivals from the south 15-to-3 from the free throw line to pick up the 54-47 win Friday night.

Benton (9-5) got 10 points from Justin Raby and eight from Drew Frailey to go 1-2 in the Ohio Division.

West Frankfort (2-9 overall, 0-3 in the SIRR Ohio) was led by Adam Wells with 11 points while Kyle Melvin added 10.

Despite being out-gunned for most of the night and falling behind early in the contest, West Frankfort managed to make a run at the Rangers late in the fourth quarter.

A 3-pointer by Wells and a short jumper in the lane by Nathan Wilburn sparked a late rally that got the 'Birds within six at 51-45 with :40.7 left.

But Fraulini and Frailey 'aced' 3-of-4 charities for the Rangers to hold off West Frankfort at the end.

"I told the kids this week that West Frankfort is always going to play hard, especially against us," said Benton coach Matt Wynn. "I am proud of our kids the way they came out and played hard, too. It (the game) wasn't the prettiest thing, but we will take it."

Benton spotted WF a 2-0 lead early than took off on a 10-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back buckets by Raby, a 3-pointer off a nice pass from Kyle Meyers, and then a steal and fast-break lay in that made it 8-2 Rangers at 3:14 left.

After the Red Birds cut the Rangers' lead down to 12-8 on a hoop by Wells to start the second quarter, Benton made another run to reach its first double-digit margin of the night.

Fraulini scored on two conventional 3-point plays in the quarter.

The second one came when West Frankfort's Tyler Fichtel fouled him in the paint with 6:03 left before halftime. His made free throw made it 20-10 Rangers.

"He (Fraulini) has really developed into a heck of a post-player for us," exclaimed Wynn, talking about the 6-4 senior center. "And he is making some big free throws for us, too."

The Redbirds managed to hang close the rest of the quarter as Ryan Kirkpatrick rebound his own miss and put up a prayer of a shot that rolled in while being fouled by Fraulini to get the score 23-17 Benton with :47 left.

However he missed the free throw and Benton got a score before the half as Frailey was fouled going to the basket and his two freebies pushed the margin back to eight at intermission.

"One of the things we need to work on is developing more of a killer instinct in games like this," added Wynn. "We had chances to push the lead out to 14 or 16 points in the second quarter and we made mistakes that kept us from increasing the lead. We need to control those situations."

The Rangers appeared to have salted away West Frankfort early in the third quarter.

Raby and Frailey hit on consecutive shots to cap a 9-2 run to open the lead to its largest of the evening at 34-19 with 4:03 remaining.

A couple of late quarter baskets by West Frankfort, a rebound stick-back by Ryan Patton and 3-pointer by Wells, set the Rangers back on their heals for a bit. But Meyers canned a 3-pointer of his own to make it 42-29 heading to the fourth.

Like a yo-yo, the Rangers got its lead back to 15 on a basket by Frailey to make it 48-33 only to see West Frankfort get on a roll in the next few minutes. A 7-0 Redbird rally, sparked by baskets by Melvin and Wells got the lead down to single-digits at 48-40.

But after Fraulini missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with from the free-throw line, Benton's Neil Atkins grabbed the rebound and he and his teammates played 'keep-away' before Fraulini was fouled again.

This time Fraulini hit both free-ones and it was 50-40 with 1:26 left.

The Rangers head back into action Saturday when they step out of SIRR Ohio Division to take on Charleston, Missouri at Rich Herrin Gym.

West Frankfort is off until next Friday when they will host Harrisburg.