Benton girls advance to quarterfinals
Benton girls basketball is headed back to the Class 4 quarterfinals following a 77-32 thrashing of Excelsior Springs on Tuesday night.
It was a sluggish start for the Cardinals on Tuesday, as they had trouble finding the bottom of the net early in the ball game. But those struggles wouldn’t follow them long. Benton would fall down 5-4 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Junior Eliana Arambula gave the Cardinals the lead back at 7-4 following a three pointer. Once the Cardinals retook the lead, they wouldn’t look back, outscoring the Tigers 30-8 from that point forward until the halftime break.
In the second half, Excelsior would outdo its first half performance in just the third quarter, scoring 15 points in the quarter, but were unable to suppress the firepower of Benton in order to give itself a chance at a win.
Benton will move on to play Boonville in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Boonville defeated Notre Dame de Sion 37-35 on Tuesday in its sectional contest.
Tuesday marks the first time Benton girls basketball has reached the quarterfinal round since 2023 when the program made it all the way to the Class 4 state championship game in which they fell to Vashon.
