Lady Bucks dominate boards in key 39-31 win over Benton
By Bees O’Brien
BENTON- Bucktail’s girls basketball team is clicking on all the right cylinders at exactly the right time. The Lady Bucks wrapped up on of their best weeks on the court of the season by grabbing 44 rebounds and physically wearing down Benton to pick up a huge 39-31 Mid Penn Conference cross divisional victory.
It was the second victory over the Lady Tigers for Bucktail this season and a very critical victory within District IV 1A’s current standings.
Benton jumped out to an 11-8 lead after one quarter of play, but the Lady Bucks would battle back with a 14-8 second quarter run to hold a 22-19 lead at halftime.
Scoring was hard to find in the third quarter for both teams. Bucktail’s 7-5 third quarter advantage had the visitors up 29-24 heading into the game’s final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Kendall Wagner would power the Bucktail offense. Wagner would score 8 of Bucktail’s 10 points in the quarter. Benton would manage just 7 points to set the final.
Mak Wagner led Bucktail with 14 points and 4 steals. Kendall Wagner would score 12 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Senior Alexis Lowery led the Bucktail rebound attack with 13, while scoring 6 points and swiping 6 steals. Eva Sockman grabbed 9 rebounds and scored 2 points. Lola English added 2 points for the Lady Bucks.
Benton fell to 6-9 on the season and with the loss have taken themselves out of home court possibilities come playoff time.
Bucktail made a huge push and greatly improved their home court possibilities. The Lady Bucks currently sit at number 4 in the current standings. The top 4 get a quarterfinal home game come playoffs and Tuesday’s big home date with Millville (7-7) will go along in determining who grabs the coveted number 4 spot. The Lady Quakers currently sit in the 5 spot, one behind Bucktail.
The Lady Bucks remaining schedule mathematically has them being the favorite to grab that final home spot, but it all depends on the outcome with Millville. Bucktail’s remaining schedule includes a pair of winless teams in Curwensville (0-12) and Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (0-11), a Montgomery team that Bucktail already owns a victory over.
Tuesday’s game against Millville will be the annual “Pink Out Game”.
