By MATT PIKE

After being knocked to the MSHSAA Class 4 third place game, the Benton Lady Cardinals fell just short of their secondary goal of not going 0-2 in Columbia, falling to Cardinal Ritter 65-60 for a fourth place finish in the state tournament. 

The Lions built the lead to as much as nine points in the first quarter, with the Cardinals only taking over one time early in the quarter on a three point shot by Jalynn Brown.  By the end of the first frame, Benton trailed Cardinal Ritter 19-12.  Head Coach Rebecca Bailey felt her team started out flat. 

“Early morning game, little hard for us to get woke up, but didn’t take us long so girls did a great job, they woke up pretty quickly, got shots to fall,” Bailey tells reporters after the game.  “Did a good job on defense, the things they want them to do defensively as far as getting stops, rebounded the ball really well.” 

The second quarter was more in Benton’s favor, with 5:31 left in the half the Cardinals tying the game on a three point shot from Jenna Cox to rally back from the nine point hole.  After tying the game, the lead changed hands five times as the Lions and Cardinals battled back and forth, by halftime it was Benton on top by four points leading 32-28.  

In the third quarter, the Cardinals built their lead up to as much as eight points, Klarabelle Turner laying the ball in with 3:29 left in the third frame to put Benton up 45-37.  Cardinal Ritter continued to fight however, eventually taking the lead with 19 seconds left in the third, and by the end of the quarter the Lions held a four point lead, leading the Cardinals 51-47.

The fourth quarter saw Benton retake a five point lead early in the quarter, a three point shot from Eliana Arambula putting the Cardinals up 56-51 with 6:04 left in regulation.  Cardinal Ritter fought back though, eventually taking a four point lead with 3:14 left in the game.  But again, Benton kept fighting, tying up the game at 60 with 48 seconds left in the game on a layup from Jenna Cox. 

Tied at 60, the Lions worked down the clock, and with 20 seconds left hit a layup to take a two point lead.  Benton had to begin fouling, and down the stretch Cardinal Ritter hit three more free throws before a three point shot from Arambula with one second left missed, sealing the 65-60 victory for the Lions. 

The fourth place finish marked the final game in a decorated career for the two seniors, Arambula and Jerzey Ziolkowski.  Three Final Four appearances with two second place finishes, and this year’s fourth place finish.  Though emotional at the podium following the game, both reflected on their careers with the Cardinals fondly. 

“It’s been incredible,” Arambula says.  “I think we have a really amazing community that supported us a lot, and they’ve inspired us as much as hopefully we’ve inspired them because we’ve always wanted to do that for the community because the south end has some really amazing people.  I came to Benton to want to get to the Final Four and we were able to do it three times so I think it’s pretty successful.” 

“I’ve loved every second of it and I’ve made new friendships, and I have sisters for life now,” Ziolkowski says.

Stepping in for her first year as the head coach, just days before the first practices of the basketball season, Bailey says it’s been an amazing ride. 

“These girls have completely and whole heartedly shown me an abundance of grace this year,” Bailey says.  “So your first year coaching there’s a lot of mistakes, there’s a lot of things you can look back and say oh wish I would have done this differently or I could have done this better, I definitely have a lot of those moments, but they have shown me grace through my mistakes and through that I still feel like they have trusted and given 110% of anything I ask them to do, even if they thought it was crazy at the moment they would go all out. and so just that amount of trust I don’t think they understand how much I appreciate that, and they are wonderful, wonderful young ladies, they’re like extra daughters I got to have this year.”

“Coaching basketball, I feel like you can teach a lot of life lessons through sports and basketball is one of those, and so that is just something I’m hoping to do is be a positive role model in the best way I can, and win as many ballgames as we can in the process.”

Jenna Cox led the Cardinals with 19 points in the loss.  Jalynn Brown added 14 points and Arambula scored 10.  Trinity Jackson led Cardinal Ritter with 21 points. 

Benton loses three seniors next season, but return several to the team next season, including many that played key minutes in this years run to Columbia.  The Cardinals finished the season 22-9.

Postgame Press Conference (Audio courtesy of Clifton Grooms)

 You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.