Basketball Recap: Benton Comes Up Short

Benton was the 78-49 winner over Meridian when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Benton Rangers fell 75-65 to the Meridian Bobcats on Saturday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Rangers came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Bobcats are ranked 200th).

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Meridian to victory, but perhaps none more so than AJ Flenoid, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 12 rebounds. The game was Flenoid's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Javionne Ranson, who went 8 of 10 en route to 20 points.

Benton's loss dropped their record down to 18-2. As for Meridian, the victory was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-5.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Benton has already played their next contest (against DuQuoin), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Meridian will be playing in front of their home fans against Cobden at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Meridian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven matches -- so hopefully Cobden likes a good challenge.