BENTON -- Benton guard Sawyer Oulch picked the perfect time to have a breakthrough game for the Panthers.
The junior finished with a game-high 30 points, including 20 in the second quarter, to send Benton into the 6A-West Conference tournament title game with a 54-31 thrashing over Sheridan on Tuesday night at Panther Arena.
"That was definitely a coming out party for him," Benton Coach Dexter Hendrix said. "He played extremely well. He's got a lot of grit and toughness about him, and he showed that on display [Tuesday night]."
Senior guard Jai Peters added 8 points, 5 assists and 4 steals for Benton (19-9), which will play at Lake Hamilton in Saturday's championship game. But it was Oulch who put the Panthers on his back to get them in position to lock up a top seed and a first-round bye in next week's Class 6A state tournament in West Memphis.
Junior guard Matthew White had 10 points for Sheridan (14-14), which led 4-2 early but had a tough time hanging with their longtime rivals in the third meeting this season. Yellowjackets leading scorer Tyler Cleveland, who scored 42 points in a 76-65 victory over Texarkana in the opening round, was held to just four points.
Both teams struggled to score and hold on to the ball in the opening quarter. Benton turned the ball over seven times in the period while Sheridan coughed it up six times. The Panthers did manage to hold a 6-4 lead after the first eight minutes, but Oulch changed that quickly with his monster second quarter.
His three-pointer 33 seconds in started a 12-0 run for Benton. He later added a 23-footer and two floaters before a bucket by Sheridan senior guard Heath Alexander ended Benton's run. Oulch would score 10 of the game's next 17 points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to give the Panthers a 28-13 lead at halftime.
"Scoring the basketball like he did tonight was really special," Hendrix said. "When teams try to box-and-one or play junk defense to deny Jai the basketball, we've been looking for another scorer for us. Oulch is just an everyday guy, and I'm extremely proud of that kid.
"He put us on his back."
Benton's lead swelled to 41-21 after Oulch's layup with 2:45 left in the third quarter. The Panthers then scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter and led by as many as 29 before Hendrix subbed freely over the game's final five minutes.
Benton finished 22 of 46 (48 percent) from the floor and dominated Sheridan on the glass by a 30-15 margin. Sheridan shot 13 of 34 (38 percent) and turned the ball over 21 times.
Sports on 02/21/2018