Benton Cardinals win the 6th Annual Cardinal Classic, defeat East Buchanan

By Calvin Silvers

After a couple of postponements due to weather last week, the 6th Annual Cardinal Classic out at Springer Gymnasium finally hosted its championship match between the East-Buchanan Bulldogs and the Benton Cardinals.

Benton would dominate in the second quarter after being tied, but the Bulldogs kept fighting until the end, as the Cardinals hosted up the championship trophy after a 56-43 victory on Wednesday night.

“We beat a very good team. I mean, that team is probably going to go far in their postseason run, Benton head coach Jared Boone said. “They (East Buchanan) did a lot of good stuff and they made the game difficult. I mean, it wasn’t an easy game for us to win by any means, but I’m most proud of the fact that we were able to figure out a way to get it done.”

The game started off sloppy, as both teams turned the ball over on their opening drive. It would take two minutes until sophomore Lincoln Goodwin knocked down a 3-pointer for the team’s, and game’s, first points.

“He’s (Goodwin) a ballplayer. I mean, good players show up in big time games and I know they tried to take him out of the game, but the other guys that are out there with him, they’re just as good,” Boone said. “The confidence that they’re playing with and the confidence he plays with, I mean, they kind of feed off his confidence and his energy and, you know, they come together and they stick together.”

East-Buchanan wouldn’t see any number under their name on the scoreboard until the 4:50 mark off a lay-up. However, the Bulldogs did take a very quick 8-7 lead before both teams were at a 13-13 tie after the first quarter.

Turnovers were a problem early for the Bulldogs, and those issues carried into the second quarter as more passes were erratic and the team couldn’t hang onto the ball. This allowed the Cardinals to open on a 9-0 run to start the quarter. In fact, it would take four minutes before the Bulldogs added more points to their total.

The biggest lead in the first half came at the 1:47 mark as the Cardinals extended it to 12 points, forcing an East Buch timeout. The timeout would slow the pace heading into halftime, but Benton led 31-22 and felt confident.

That confidence was put on hold for a minute, as East Buchanan knocked down two 3-pointers to begin the second half, and the Benton guards seemed to become dazed. The passing wasn’t as crisp and turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to pull within two points, 39-37, with 1:33 remaining in the quarter.

In that minute and a half, Benton was once again able to extend their lead to 45-39 after a Myles Bachali steal didn’t allow East Buch a shot to end the quarter.

“This is probably the most focus group that I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Boone said. “You know, even tonight when things was kind of going wrong and they were getting after each other on some things, you know, just during the timeout they were still, you know, like shaking each other’s hands, like, ‘hey, let’s go, let’s lock back in, let’s get it,’ you know, and they’re very determined.”

The fourth quarter was the Benton Cardinal show, as they never felt pressure from the Bulldogs. Goodwin finished with 14 points and Mach Mayom finished with 11 points. For East Buch, Isaiah Watkins led with 13 points.