El Dorado took an important step up the conference ladder Tuesday with a gutsy 60-53 victory over Benton at Wildcat Arena. The Wildcats improved to 7-10, 3-3 while the Panthers slipped to 10-7, 3-3.
Joderrio Ramey led El Dorado with 19 points and nine assists. Jarmel Love scored 15 points with eight boards. Brendan Simmons scored 10 with five rebounds. B.J. Johnson came back from an injury and scored nine points.
“It was a huge win for us,” said El Dorado coach Gary Simmons. “It’s early still in the conference race but it allows us to get our feet wet a little bit in that top four. The kids know they’re there now. The whole thing is to get to state and get there healthy. We made a big stride getting Benton tonight.”
The Wildcats seized control early. Love scored seven points in the first five minutes to help build a 14-9 advantage.
The Panthers closed the first with a 9-0 spurt and led 18-14. But, El Dorado opened the second with 11 unanswered, including a 3-pointer by Brendan Simmons and led 25-18 midway in the period. El Dorado would settle for a 29-27 halftime lead.
The game remained tight throughout the third, which ended with Benton on top 44-41 after a 6-0 spurt.
El Dorado would grab a 46-45 lead after Ramey dropped a dime to Love for a lay-up and Johnson cashed in a pick-pocket steal for a basket with 5:36 remaining. The Panthers answered with two free throws by Sawyer Oulch and a bucket by Carl Ross.
Trailing 51-49, El Dorado turned up defensively with Love getting a steal.
He then hauled in a crosscourt pass from Ramey and tied the game with 2:32 left to play.
The Wildcats got another steal, this time from Ramey, who dunked for a 53-51 lead.
Benton went inside to Kelby Caffrey for a game-tying bucket with 1:59 on the clock.
The teams exchanged empty offensive possessions before Ramey hit a free throw with 1:08 remaining. The Wildcats got another defensive stop and Ramey hit two at the line. El Dorado forced a turnover and Johnson hit one at the stripe.
Isaiah Ramey hit a free throw with 12.8 left before the Wildcats added a shot at the buzzer for the final margin.
Defensively, the Wildcats held Benton scoreless over the final 1:59.
Simmons said his squad made winning plays down the stretch.
“I thought we did. We rehearsed things in practice this week after I watched film. Our kids did a really good job,” he said.
“We had good ball pressure. We went to the defensive boards. Everybody on the team had at least four defensive touches. They may not have got the steal but they got a hand on the ball. That’s big for us.
“If we continue to do that, we’re going to be pretty good because we know we can score.”
Finally healthy, El Dorado continued to show more of a group effort on the court.
“I thought Jarmel did a great job and I thought the kids found him well. They came out in that triangle-and-two, put a man on Brendan and a man on Joe. I thought we did a good job of Brendan and Joe not forcing shots, just waiting on their shots,” said Coach Simmons.
“B.J. did a great job, being back his first night. It was a definite team effort. Jarmel hit shots when they set him up.
“We shared the ball tonight. We had a few turnovers we wish we hadn’t had. But, Joe shared the ball tonight. I don’t think he forced a shot. I don’t think Brendan forced a shot.
“I don’t think B.J. did. They just played well together and they got Jarmel and Alex (Boone) involved. It was sure good to have Alex back clogging up that middle tonight.”