Benton’s Hooks lands KO with late 3-pointer

5A-CENTRAL BOYS BENTON 64, MAUMELLE 61

Benton senior Russ Hooks made a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left as the Panthers knocked off Maumelle with a 64-61 5A-Central victory Friday night.

The Panthers (8-7, 3-4 5A-Central) fell behind late in the first quarter and didn’t regain the lead again until Hooks made a three-pointer with 3:51 left in the final quarter to give Benton a 5655 lead.

“If you are a basketball fan, then you got your money’s worth tonight,” Benton Coach Dexter Hendrix said. “We feel very fortunate to get the victory against an extremely talented team. I’m just real proud of this team.”

Benton had played just six conference games because of cancellations because of covid-19 and last week’s wintry weather.

“We feel like we have been in and out all season,” he said. “More games might have been nice, but this is just the way things are.

“We coaches think if we didn’t win the game, it’s because we didn’t play enough. If you win, then the rest was really good for you.”

Hendrix praised the effort from the Hornets (15-4, 8-2).

“Tonight, I just have so much respect for Maumelle,” said Hendrix, before adding his take on what he thought of his team’s chances of winning. “Coaches are probably not very smart enough. We think we always have a chance.”

The two teams traded the lead in the opening quarter, but the Hornets scored seven consecutive points in the last 2:25 for a 17-14 lead at the end of it.

The Panthers tied the game 17-17 on a Cameron Harris three-pointer. With 5:13 left in the first half, the teams were tied 20-20, but Maumelle put together a run to grab a 27-20 lead with 1:34 left.

Benton’s Chase Ramsey narrowed the margin to 2723 when he hit a three-pointer with 55 seconds left. The Hornets scored the last five points of the half for a 32-23 edge at the break.

Both teams got busy on offense in the third quarter, but the Hornets held a 49-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Benton trimmed the deficit when Jaylen Bell hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the play. He added the free throw to trim the margin to 49-43. With six minutes left, the Maumelle lead was cut to 53-49 after a Ramsey field goal.

The Panthers tied the score 53-53 with 4:23 remaining when Hooks scored on a fast break. The teams traded the lead until Hooks scored with 57 seconds left to put the Panthers up 60-57.

With 27.4 seconds left, Maumelle tied the score at 61-61 on a Ramsey field goal, setting the stage for Hooks’ heroics.

Hooks led the Panthers with 20 points while Harris added 19. Josh Denton led Maumelle with 17 points while Kaleb Thurman had 11 and Darvis Rasberry had 10.

5A-CENTRAL GIRLS BENTON 62, MAUMELLE 42

The Lady Panthers took advantage of three players scoring more than 10 points to capture the victory.

Benton (13-8, 5-5 5A-Central) applied defensive pressure in the second quarter and went into the half-time break with a 26-16 lead. They increased that to 41-28 after three quarters, then took over the game in the final quarter.

Madison McIntire led the Lady Panthers with 16 points while Alyssa Houston added 13 and Presley Chism chipped in 10. For Maumelle, Kennadi Borkins scored 16.