Benton battles for tough road win
LITTLE ROCK – Down one with three minutes left to play against the Parkview Lady Patriots in 5A Central Conference action Friday in Little Rock, the Benton Lady Panthers would finish this one. Benton would take the lead for good at the one-minute mark when sophomore Alyssa Houston made a layup for a 49-48 lead in an eventual 53-48 win at Charles Ripley Arena.
After Houston’s bucket, sophomore Presley Chism hit senior Tuesday melton for a basket, and after two missed free throws by Parkview, sophomore Madison Mcintire drained two to set the final five-point win.
“We haven’t won here very often,” Benton Coach Jerry Chumley said. “We lost a couple of conference home games, and our attitude is we have to try and steal a couple on the road. It’s a tough place to do it, but I’m proud of them. So gritty of a performance from the second quarter on. I was tickled to death with our effort, how we played, our decision-making. We just want to bottle that up going forward.”
The victory is Benton’s second in a row and puts them at 11-5 overall, 2-2 in Central play, while Parkview falls to 5-6, 2-2.
Scoring a career-high 30 points in Tuesday’s win over White Hall, Houston matched that career-high on Friday, scoring 30 on 13 of 17 from the field, adding nine rebounds, seven steals, two assists and a block.
“She’s all over the place at both ends of the floor,” Chumley said of Houston. “Backed up that Tuesday night performance pretty solidly. She’s special. She’s one of those game-changers and I’m glad she’s on our team.
“She’s got the attitude to go with it. Very coachable, she’s a leader, you don’t get players like her very often so we’re going to enjoy this and ride her until she graduates.”
It was back and forth all game as Parkview led 12-11 after one quarter and got up 21-15 with 5:50 left in the second. But, Benton fought back. Sophomore Addison Davis’ basket assisted by Melton started a 7-0 run
which Houston finished with an and-1 bucket and offensive rebound and put back for the 22-21 Benton lead with 3:41 until halftime.
Parkview responded with a 6-0 run for a five-point lead with two minutes to go, but Benton freshman Wesleigh Ferguson hit a short jumper to start a 5-0 run capped by Houston’s 8-footer for the 27-27 tie at the half.
Houston had 19 points in the first half.
The Lady Panthers would start the third quarter in fine fashion with Houston’s pass to Melton down low for a bucket capped a 6-0 run to start the stanza for a 33-27 lead at the halfway mark. Benton kept that six-point lead at the end of three as Mcintire’s offensive rebound and put back made it 38-32 Lady Panthers going into the fourth.
It was Parkview’s turn for a good start in the final quarter, taking a 39-38 lead with 6:42 left to go after starting the frame on a 7-0 run. There would be six lead changes until Houston’s bucket with
one minute to go gave the Lady Panthers the lead for good.
“When they turned up the heat and made their run, In the past we may have withered a little bit,” Chumley explained. “This group won’t do that. They just keep on fighting. Presley Chism took a big charge, we got some gritty offensive rebounds, we got some 50-50 stuff. A really, really gritty performance by our kids.”
Mcintire followed with eight points, shooting 6 of 6 from the charity stripe, and four rebounds.
Ferguson finished with seven points and four rebounds, with Melton and Davis adding four points apiece.
Benton shot 55 percent
(21 of 38) from the field, holding Parkview to 18 of 52 (35 percent), with both teams pulling down 23 rebounds each.
The Lady Panthers return home Tuesday, hosting the Maumelle Lady Hornets on senior night.