The Benton Lady Panthers put their game with the Mills Lady Comets away early on Tuesday at Benton Arena. Playing in the 6A/5A blended conference, the Lady Panthers were up 24-4 after the first quarter on their way to a 58-22 rout to improve to 9-8 overall, 1-1 in league play.
Benton was led by Italei Gray’s 17 points on the night as she would score six straight on 4 of 4 free throws and a bucket to put Benton up 12-2 with 4:34 left in the first. The Lady Panthers continued their run to get up 22-2 after consecutive 3-pointers by senior Lenzie “Lu” Newman with just over two minutes left.
Benton and Mills would go back and forth in the second quarter but the Lady Panthers started it on a 6-2 run going up 30-6 after sophomore Caitlin Ginther’s offensive rebound and put back, and sophomore Makenzy Davidson’s 10-foot jumper assisted by sophomore Kati Morrow.
Mills 68, Benton 38
The Benton Panthers were off to an excellent start against the Mills Comets on Tuesday night at Benton Arena, but the Comets’ depth would take over in an eventual 68-38 Mills victory. Mills is considered a top team in the state, not to mention a top 20 team in the nation.
“All the hype and credit they get, in my opinion, is 100 percent deserving,” Benton Coach Dexter Hendrix said. “That is the best high school basketball team I’ve ever coached against. They are really, really good.
“They are very well-coached, they play with tremendous effort and discipline, and I think what makes them toughest is they are deep. All of them can play. They just kind of wear you down.”
But it was all Benton to start. The Panthers (11-4, 1-1 6A blended conference) went up 4-1 after an offensive rebound and put back by senior Shaheed Halk and went up 6-3 after senior Fred Harris’ put in with 2:16 left in the first quarter. The Comets tied it up at 6-apiece after hitting 3 of 4 free throws, but Benton senior Westin Riddick hit a three assisted by junior Evan Sims to put the Panthers up 9-6 after one quarter.