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To get the full story go to the link below https://www.section618.com/2022/01/22/benton-invitational-tournament-session-iii-recap/ Two hungry teams were coming into this game as the Benton Rangers were trying to end a four-game losing streak, while the Hamilton County Foxes trying to move a step closer to their first outright BIT title since 1996. After Meridian and Sesser-Valier both took tough losses Wednesday night, they're both still trying to compete for the championship. Pinckneyville Panthers were coming into the game with huge wins Wednesday night, but the Vandals could never keep up with the Panthers. The final two sessions of the BIT will be Saturday. Session IV Schedule Vandalia 45 (1-3) vs Hamilton Co. 63 (3-1) 10:00 AM Pinckneyville 52 (3-1) vs Sesser-Valier 33 (1-3) 11:30 AM Meridian 41 (2-2) vs Benton 43 (2-2) 1:00 PM Session V Schedule Sesser-Valier vs Vandalia 5:30 PM Hamilton Co. vs Meridian 7:00 PM Benton vs Pinckneyville 8:30 PM B.I.T. Standings Hamilton Co. 3-1 Pinckneyville 3-1 Benton 2-2 Meridian 2-2 Sesser-Valier 1-3 Vandalia 1-3

After posting impressive night one wins, Hamilton County and Sesser-Valier faced each other to see who would stay undefeated in the 48th Benton Invitational. The Pinckneyville Panthers tried to bounce back from an opening night loss, facing Meridian. The Bobcats beat Vandalia in their first game and were after a 2-0 start. Benton and Vandalia were both hoping to get back on track, after both dropped their first game. Fridays slate Friday’s third session will start with Sesser-Valier taking on Meridian at 5:30. Hamilton County will try to stay undefeated in the tournament, taking on host Benton at 7:00. Pinckneyville will face Vandalia in the final game of the night at 8:30. Too read full article go too link below. https://www.section618.com/2022/01/21/benton-invitational-tournament-session-ii-recap/

Meridian vs Vandalia Game Recap Meridian and Vandalia definitely wasn't the game to watch at the B.I.T., but it still put on a pretty good show. The Meridian Bobcats cruise to a 20 to 8 lead at the end of the first. After the first, Meridian couldn't keep the same game plan. With Vandalia starting to put pressure and scoring 16 in the quarter. Meridian still led 33 to 24 at halftime. Meridian opened the half by brewing up an 18 point lead, but they couldn't hold on forever. With Vandalia finishing the quarter down 51 to 40. As the fourth quarter had opened up, it looked like it was all Meridian. But again, Vandalia comes back, thanks to Reid Well #20. Reid Well had two clutch steals and an assist, pulling them back within 6. But that's as close as they'd get losing 72 to 62. Meridian's Roderic Gatewood scored 28 points, shooting 55%. Meridian will now play Pinckneyville; it'll be game 2 of the night. Vandalia will be looking to get back on track against a vulnerable Benton. Hamilton Co. vs Pinckneyville Game Recap This was definitely projected to be the game of the night, but Hamilton County says otherwise. They were in control of the game from the tip to the final buzzer. At the end of the first, Hamilton County had led 12 to 8 thanks to Brody Thrane's defense. It started to get more competitive in the second quarter, but Pinckneyville could never pull away from the Foxes. Going into the half, it was 20 to 20, and it looked like it could be anybody's ball game. In the second half, Hamilton County started to pull away by throwing it to the post to Wyatt Hamson. The Foxes ended the third leading 41 to 31, and it looked like no stopping them. Even though Hamilton County was up by 10, it had seemed like it was a tie-ball game, with the Pinckneyville crowd still believing in the Panthers. The Panthers couldn't get any closer than 8. The Hamilton County Foxes won 56 to 42. This was the first time they've beaten Pinckneyville in the BIT in about 20 years. If the Foxes want to thank someone, they need to thank Wyatt Hamson and his double-double performance. Wyatt had 26 points and 13 rebounds. The Foxes will now get ready for the game of the night against Sesser-Valier at 8:30 PM. The Panthers will get a hopeful win against the Meridian Bobcats at 7:00 PM. Benton vs Sesser-Valier Game Recap The Red Devils take down the Rangers at the Rich Herrin Gym. Sesser-Valier's own Gavin Woodland controlled the ship; Woodland had 22 points. Thanks to the Devils' defense, the Red Devils led 9 to 4 at the end of the first. The second quarter was a back in forth brawl, with neither team could pull away. Tedeschi kept the Rangers in the game with 5 blocks within about 2 minutes of each. Benton was down at halftime 24 to 18. The Rangers let the Red Devils open the half on a 5-0 run. The Red Devils ended the quarter leading 39 to 29. Midway through the quarter, the Rangers show life after getting a Deuce and Abuse. The Rangers Reid Baumgarte brought the Rangers back within 4 points with 3:45 left in the game. The Devils ended up winning down the stretch, thanks to Colt Packer and his clutch free-throws to win the game. The Red Devils get out alive, winning 47 to 42. They'll be looking to capitalize against the Hamilton County Foxes at 8:30 PM Wednesday. The Rangers will hope to get back on track against the Vandalia Vandals at 5:30 PM Wednesday. Hope to see y'all there for session 2 of the B.I.T Wednesday night. By Russell Conwell 1/19/2022 10:03 PM

Mt. Vernon vs Herrin Tigers Missouri State commit helps carry the Rams to a big road win. The Rams won 49 to 39, and they couldn't have done it without NJ Benson. He'll now be looking to capitalize off this performance, and continue it in the Salem Invitational. #22 Johnathan Harrison reading the defense First Half Benson started the Rams off by scoring their first 12 points, along with two three-pointers and a posterizing dunk. Though NJ did put up those stats in the first it wasn't enough for the Rams to have the lead at the end of the first. They were down 15 to 14 at the end of the first. The second quarter had started, but no one could take control of the game, NJ still had 18 out of the Rams 21 at the middle of 2nd. That trend had continued till the end of the first half. The score was 28 Rams and 24 Tigers, at that point NJ had 22 out of the 28 points, and there were only two other scorers. Second Half In the second half the Tigers started to figure out a way to slow down Benson. But that wouldn't stop the Rams as Colin McClure, and Calan Kujawa were the ones pushing Tigers in the third. The score at the end of the third ended up being 37 Rams 30 Tigers. At the #1 Colin McClure staring down #21 Kyrese Lukens start of the fourth quarter Freshman Kyrese Lukens of the Tigers started off the quarter with a deep three-pointer. Then Tigers went on a little run to bring them back within three, but that's as close as they could The Mt. Vernon Rams ended up winning 49 to 39 at Memorial Gym in Herrin. NJ Benson ended the game with 31 points and 12 rebounds. After this big performance NJ Benson and the Rams will prepare for T. Fractional North in the Salem Invitational tournament, hope to see you folks there. By Russell Conwell Posted 1/16/2022 3:05 AM

Carbondale at Mt. Vernon Game Summary Mt. Vernon couldn't have done it without their senior stand out, NJ Benson. Mt. Vernon Sr. NJ Benson had a great show last night with 23 points, including a few dunks that helped Rams beat Carbondale 54-46. 35 NJ Benson dunking on #1 Jaden Patterson photo credits Alexander Jones First Half To start off the game Rams and Terriers traded three-pointers. With 2;34 left in the first, DaShaunsae King and the rams forced the Terriers to call their first timeout. Then shortly after the timeout, no one else but NJ Benson throws down the alley oop lob. With the motivation from the alley oop, it led them to have a 19 to 10 lead at the end of the first. The Terriers started putting pressure on the Rams, closing within two, forcing the Rams to call a timeout. Benson helped the Rams answer with another posterizing dunk and then a deep three-pointer. Mt. Vernon led 34 to 27 at halftime. 2nd Half Ram’s began the second half the same way they began the first half, with a Colin McClure 3 pointer. Then just about 30 seconds later NJ Benson gets a Deuce and Abuse, and converts at the line. No one else but NJ Benson draws the foul from three, and goes up to the line and makes two of his three. Then about 2 minutes later NJ Benson gets another Deuce and Abuse and converts at the line again. The Rams ended up leading 45 to 36 at the end of the third. It was a pretty quiet game towards the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter had come upon us, and it was a pretty low scoring quarter until Carbondale called the first timeout of the quarter. The Ram’s had only scored 4 to this point, and all of those coming from the line, Carbondale with 2 off of a fast break layup. Finally the Ram’s started to pull away with a 16 point lead, with 2:28 left. The Ram’s held pretty steady winning 54 to 46. They’ll now play Herrin tonight after, hope to see you there. By Russell Conwell Posted 1/15/2022 3:00 PM

Rangers Game Summary The Benton Rangers did not achieve the desired results in their homecourt match against Fairfield Mules. Down the stretch of the game , Benton had lost control of the game. Fairfield had kept Rangers from even shooting the ball, which led to turnovers. Benton will be using this as a learning experience, Coach Winemiller said. He said “You can have 31 learning experiences and tonight was one of them.” So this game has shown that the Rangers have the depth, but they don't have the experience Benton’s very own Keegan Glover and Landon Croslin led the Rangers in scoring against the Mules. Landon Croslin stepped up a lot, scoring 13. With those 13 keeping the Rangers in the game. The Rangers' Keegan Glover had helped the Rangers get back into the game-opening the 2nd Quarter. Along with Keegan's performance earlier, Luke Melvin and Isaac Billington started for Rangers in the second half, but Rangers never got past the Mules' defense. It has helped Rangers stay consistent in the game. In the end, the Rangers lost 36-31. They now prepare to go against the Murphysboro Red Devils as they come off a win against Meridian putting their record at 13-1. After the Rangers get done with that game, the Benton Invitational Tournament will return after its cancellation last year due to Covid-19. With this close loss I’ll be watching for what Coach Winemiller has in store for the Rangers in the coming games. Rangers Went Down With a Fight By Russell Conwell Posted 9:57 PM CT

Benton Rangers Boys Basketball Guess what it's the new year, and the Rangers start on the right track proving to 11-4 (3-0) after getting their first home game of the year. They defeated the Harrisburg Bulldogs 56-42. The Rangers star player who is Reid Baumgarte. Reid scored 13 points on top of excellent defensive performance. Reid helped the Rangers start the 2nd Half on an 11-0 run. Then the other two standouts on the Rangers were Docker Tedeschi and Landon Croslin. Docker had 11 points on top of a few assists and excellent defensive performance. This was also Tedeschi's first-ever Varsity start. He'll be looking to step into that role more until Glover and Thomas get healthy. Then Landon Croslin had 4 points, but those 4 points meant a lot at the time. With the points getting the fans excited and the team motivated again. But Croslin is mainly being recognized for his defensive side. He had multiple meaningful late-game steals, and he also helped down in the post for the Rangers. The Rangers will be playing the Fairfield Mules Saturday Fresh/JV/Varsity. I don't know much about the Mule's this year, but what I do know is that it is Fairfield, and they'll always come out guns blazing. Benton Rangerette’s Basketball The Rangerette's prove they're the real deal after taking down Illinois's #2 2a school. The Rangerette's held Hamilton County to unusual offensive performance. The Rangerette's leading scorer was Ensley Tedeschi; she had 21 points on top of multiple assists. It wasn't just Ensley that just had a show; Bryleigh Bates finally connected from the three-point line; I believe she was 2/3 from three-point land. The two three-pointers she hit helped the team out by getting the crowd excited back up and extending the already unforgiving lead they had brewed up. After this huge win, they'll be looking to capitalize off this win against a Herrin team looking to get back into the conference race with a win over Rangerette's. Benton Rangers Basketball Back on Track By Russell Conwell Posted 10:55 PM CT

Kentucky Football Game day is inching closer, and Kentucky is ready for this game, there looking to get a spark on offense then pull away. As long as Kentucky plays the offense they've been playing all year they should be fine. Because when they stretch that lead out it'll be hard for Iowa to come back with their weaker offense. I'm Predicting score to be #22 Kentucky 24- #15 Iowa 10. Benton Rangers Boys Basketball The Rangers ended up getting 7th place at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic. They had 2 ruff game's that they should've won, but they just couldn't hold on in the end. They won their first game of the tournament against Greenville in a close game 50 to 46, with Luke Melvin with 18 and Docker Tedeschi with 11. Then they played Pinckneyville, with a very short rotation. They lost 32 to 31, coming down to the last seconds. At one point the Rangers had a 10 point lead but just couldn't pull it out. Then they played Steelville in the 5th Place bracket, they lost again 43-35. Benton just couldn't seem to get the wheels rolling. It was the last night of the bracket where they played Jerseyville for 7th Place, Benton just had everything going. Benton's Aiden Peach was the ringleader with 6points, but he also was grabbing multiple boards, and he had a big defensive presence. The Rangers ended up winning the game 52 to 32, and they'll be looking to capitalize off that performance at Harrisburg. Benton's Docker Tedeschi you'll need to keep an eye on, he averaged 7.8 points and 4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks at the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic, and he's just a freshman. Benton Rangerettes Basketball The Rangerettes ended up getting fourth in their own bracket. They started off hot getting their first 2 wins, one against the Bearcats and Amiah Hargrove. Then they lost to Alton Marquette which kicked them out of the championship bracket. Then they finally meet Carterville. They started off real slow against the Lady Lions, with a end of 3rd quarter score being 33 to 21. They came back but it was too little too late. They ended up losing 44 to 40. They are now 13-4 overall, and they're still 4-0 in conference; they'll be looking to get back on track with Murphysboro, which shouldn't be a problem. The only Rangerette All-Tournament Player is Ensley Tedeschi Benton Ranger's Football Keegan Glover named Southern Illinois Player of the year. Now he's playing basketball, then after that he'll begin getting ready for football again. Because he and his teammate Chase Thomas will be playing in the Illinois Shrine Bowl in June of 2022. By Russell Conwell Published 1:44 PM

By Russell Conwell Marshall County Benton had a ruff showing against Marshall County. But that's not too bad because this Marshall County squad has a good coach in Aaron Beth. Marshall County was also contending for the state in 2020, but was canceled due to Covid-19. Benton lost to Marshall County 43-23 at the U.S. Bank Shootout at McCracken County High School. Where there were multiple good teams. I'm hoping the Rangerette's continue to go to the U.S. Bank shootout, If they don’t, Andy Sloan will find the Rangerette‘s a good fit, no doubt. Harrisburg Benton headed off to Harrisburg, and this game wasn't questionable at all. The Rangerettes had control of that game from start to finish to warming the bench; what I mean by that is Benton's stars didn't come out for most of the game. The Rangerettes ended up winning 44-25, and Tedeschi had 15, and Miller had 8. Carbondale Going into this game, I thought this would be a good test for the girls. The team I saw at Carbondale was horrendous. They couldn't do anything against anybody this year. They've only won once this year against lowly Murphysboro. Carbondale has allowed 50 or more points in 10 of their 13 games, and they've had a -23.7 point differential. So this game was a tune-up game for Nashville, but by now we all know that game got canceled. But now let's talk about Benton vs Carbondale. Benton just couldn't have done any better on defense; they allowed 13 points over four quarters; I'll take that any day. Benton scored 54, and their leading scorers were Tedeschi with 28 and Miller with 14. Massac County Well, the Rangerettes proved me wrong last night. I was expecting Massac County to make it challenging for Benton; boy was I wrong. The Rangerettes just held Sophie Bormann, who I'd say is their best scorer to almost contributing nothing. Massac didn't score in the first quarter, which surprised me, then they picked it up in the second. But then in the third, they only scored 3, then picked up again in fourth. So I noticed last night that it takes them a while to get hot; at least that was the case last night. Benton also couldn't score that well; the Rangerette’s had two players in double digits, who were Braelyn Miller with 14, and Ensley Tedeschi with 17. The Rangerette's scored 41 and only allowed 23 to high powering offense. So now that makes Benton 4-0 in the (SIRR) conference, and they'll be playing against Pinckneyville Lady Panthers later tonight, who is on the other side of the River to River. Rangerette's Basketball By Russell Conwell Published 12/22/2021 3:43 PM

Recap On 2021 -Keegan Glover This Benton team did something phenomenal for the program and the town. Everyone got so involved with this program the past 2 years. People like say it's all because of this man right there. Keegan Glover Keegan Glover did so much for Benton, he's now officially the greatest Quarterback to ever go through Benton. His career stats at Benton, he passed for 5,188 yards, 79 touchdowns, threw a 70.6% completion rate, and had a 135 (QBR), he only threw 13 (INT). He could run also he rushed 1,163 yards, and 30 rushing touchdowns. This season he did phenomenal in the fans eyes, he helped lead them to a 11-1 record and 5-0 in conference, and he's not selfish he says he couldn't of done with out his coaches, parents, O-Line, and his number 1 target Reid Baumgarte. That duo broke so many records this year, and they've got some kids coming up looking to contend for those records. Keegan Glover now has 3 college offers, and he's looking to get more. Chase Thomas and Reid Baumgarte Now let's switch over to Chase, as I like to call him Tommy. But anyways Tommy finished the season with 143 tackles which is 5th in the state, he also 15 tackle for loss (TFL), and then on offense he 319 yards for 18 receptions with 2 receiving touchdowns. He was just really good on defense he was definitely a fan favorite. Chase is looking to continue his education and play college ball at the next level, he hasn't announced where he set eyes yet but I'm sure he will soon, But he couldn't of gotten to this point with out his partner in crime, who is Reid Baumgarte. Speaking of Reid, Reid was phenomenal just looking at his stats, he had 3 (INT) in one game including he 109 yard (INT) return. He finished the season with 5 (INT), and 107 tackles, with 7 (TFL), and that's just his defense get ready for his offense. On offense Reid has now taken over all the receiving records at Benton High School. He finished his senior season with 19 receiving touchdowns, with 990 receiving yards on 55 receptions. He had a receiving touchdown in every game this season. He will not be playing college football sadly, but glad we got to experience his tear on high school football. Wyatt Upton Now let's talk about there run game, they had a man backfield that wasn't even supposed to be starting at the beginning of the year, boy did he prove them wrong. If you were wondering I was talking about no one else but Wyatt Upton the junior running back (RB)/Outside Linebacker (OLB). Wyatt is a very dual threat player on offense he could run the ball down the other teams throats but he could also be a receiver if you needed him to be. Wyatt had 181 receiving yards on the season for 12 catches and 1 receiving touchdown. On his rushing attack he had 656 rushing yards on 106 carries with 10 rushing touchdowns, he had 6.2 yards per carry (YPC). He also had 57 tackles and 11.5 (TFL), with 4 sacks, and 1 (INT). Jaden Ford We all have that one linebacker that is the run stopper and my man your man Jaden Ford is exactly that. Jaden has had a nice presence on defense he's been really good at getting into other players heads and laying nice hard hits, I can tell you he does hit hard chipped my tooth in P.E. in late September it hurt. Jaden finished the season with 118 tackles and 22 (TFL), with 3 sacks. Jaden didn't play much offense, but when he did he had 3 catches for 42 yards. He isn't going to college for football, but he's looking to further his education at junior college around the area. Jacob Kinsman Jacob Kinsman was also a big part of this team, his stats don't show the effect he's had on this team. Jacob played 3 positions this year (RB) (MLB) (DL), but mainly he played (RB) and (MLB). With him playing running back this year he had 276 rushing yards on 42 carries, with 4 rushing touchdowns. He also had 118 receiving yards on 9 catches and a touchdown. On the defensive side for him he had 67 total tackles with 6 (TFL), and 4 sacks. Luckily Kinsman is only a junior this year, so we get another year for Kinsman, and he has three younger brothers Lucas Freshman, A.J. Freshman, and John 6th grade. That'll end this section but please look below at my players that need to step up next year, and predictions, and what we're losing. What There Losing -Chase Thomas -Reid Baumgarte -Keegan Glover -Jaden Ford Benton Ranger Football Looking to Capitalize Off They're 2021 Season By Russell Conwell Hey, check out my website, "Rangers,Wildcats,SEC" with this link: https://conwellrussell.wixsite.com

It's That Time For Boys High School Basketball We've gotten to the point where all the teams are starting to finish up their pre-season basketball tournaments. Most of time people in Little Egypt talk about Mt. Vernon, Centralia, and Nashville, but I'm here to talk about the Benton Rangers. Most recently the Rangers are coming off of a Goreville Invitational Tournament, they had a 5-0 record in the tournament.(GIT) Reid Baumgarte had impressive showing at the tournament averaging 9.4 points per game (PPG), 3 assist per game (APG), 2.8 rebounds per game (RPG), and 3.6 steals per game. Baumgarte helped carry Benton to their 5th (GIT) Tournament Champion. He would be averaging even more if it wasn't for his 37% free throw percent. Benton also has 2 young sophomore stars, Issac Billington, and Luke Melvin. Luke Melvin is shooting a phenomenal 52% from beyond the arc he averages 6.6 (PPG). The other casting star Issac Billington shoots 49% from from three, and he also averages 6.3 (PPG) and guess what he can pass the ball to. I’m predicting this team to finish regular season 2nd in (SIRR OHIO) and they'll finish the year 23-7, it just depending on if Benton’s top players can stay consistent this year. Benton Rangers Basketball By Russell Conwell Hey, check out my website, "Rangers,Wildcats,SEC" with this link: https://conwellrussell.wixsite.com

By Russell Conwell New Tiger King Brian Kelly was coaching at University of Notre Dame for 12 seasons. Posting a 4-11 record against Top 10 opponents, and Kelly was 92-39 All time at Notre Dame. He will be looking to help this LSU program out after Ed Orgeron got fired and left the team in shambles. Yes they had 500 win percent but they dropped off so much after their national championship year, and that's just not acceptable after coming off of a natty a couple years ago. So I'm to see him change the program back to that National Championship status and take down the Crimson Tide. I could see this going two different ways because he's known for being a rude coach. Though LSU had a good class coming in, they've got good defensive presence coming in from their Class of 2022. Some of their notable defensive recruits coming are Laterrance Welch, JaDarian Rhym, and DeMario Tolan. With Brian Kelly being a defensive minded coach and having a good defensive recruiting class coming in this program should be pretty good for LSU. It just depends if his players like the way he coaches, because like I said he's known for being a rude coach. Billy Napier Going to The Swamp Well we've all seen what Billy Napier has done in the past few years at Louisiana. He has done so much the past 4 years he's been 39-12 at Louisiana, being ranked in Top 25 and being 12-1 going into Bowl Week. He's posted 3 straight 10 win seasons at Louisiana. And the 3 out of the 4 years at Louisiana he had the number 1 recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference. With him going to Florida he has a nice young quarterback in Anthony Richardson, and he also pretty well gets most of the Florida team back next year. He also has a pretty good recruiting class coming in. They have 2 wide receivers Chandler Smith and Jayden Gibson, and they also have a good defensive lineman coming to Florida, who is Chris McClellan. These recruits and team might have talent but it's if these recruits want to actually work or respect the coach. I feel the first year he'll kind of struggle going 7-5 or 8-4, but I think after the first year he'll be producing good and be competing for the SEC Championship. SEC Coaching Changes By Russell Conwell