03/09/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - For the first quarter and a half of their game against Quincy Notre Dame on Monday night at the 2A Carbondale Super-sectional, the Benton Rangers were executing the game plan and had the state-ranked Raiders in trouble.

Coach Ron Winemiller and his squad made their best scoring run of the night to begin the second quarter, a 12-2 burst, and led 19-10 with just 2:46 left until halftime.

However the Raiders and mentor Greg Altmix had seen enough.

The Raiders countered the Benton run with a 10-0 run, set off by their defense as they closed the half with a 20-19 advantage.

This was just the spark that the team needed.

QND eventually put the game away with a big fourth quarter as they ended the Rangers' improbable postseason ride with a 55-36 win at the Banterra Center to advance to the 2A Final Four in Champaign.

With the victory, the Raiders improved to 31-1 on the season and will face Chicago Farragut Thursday afternoon at 4:15 pm at the State Farm Center.

Benton's run ended at 28-7 after beating state-ranked teams Nashville and Carterville to win the Nashville Sectional.

“They just kept bringing in 6-3 and 6-4 guys off of the bench, fresh bodies throwing them at our guys,” said Coach Winemiller about the QND depth. “We got the nine-point lead in the second quarter but we couldn't come up with good possessions. We knew we had our hands full tonight. They're 30-1 for a reason.”

The Rangers were paced by sophomore Drake Porter with 12-points and senior TJ Hamilton with 11.

But the number that turned out to hurt Benton the most on Monday night was 13.

It was the number of turnovers forced by QND, five of which came during the second quarter stretch where the Raiders got back into the game after trailing for most of the first half.

Quincy Notre Dame got 23-points, a game high, from 6-3 senior Jace Allensworth.

This inside-out player hit 10-of-14 shots from the field, including both of his 3-point shots, to lead the Raiders to the state semifinals for the first time since 2003-04.

Six-five senior guard Robbie Reed added nine-points for Notre Dame in the win with backcourt mate sophomore T.J. Togarepi scoring seven.

The offense was adequate for the victory but the game was won on the defensive end.

The Raiders forced a 12-of-34 shooting performance from Benton and held a 22-14 rebounding edge.

Those are numbers that are difficult to overcome in an Elite Game.

Benton opened the contest with a 7-3 lead after a score on an inbounds play lob to Schafer to break the ice followed by a 3-pointer from Porter and a back door score from Hamilton.

But as they would do the rest of the night, the Raiders' responded.

A steal and fast break basket from Reed and 3-of-4 made free throws by Togarepi and senior Gavin Doellman made it 8-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Benton put together its best stretch of play at the beginning of the second quarter.

A three-point play by Porter on an assist from Schafer was followed up by a 3-pointer from Gage off of yet another Schafer pass.

Hamilton closed the run with a 3-pointer from the left wing as the Rangers had their biggest lead at 19-10 with 2:46 left in the half.

Six-four senior guard Sully Walker scored on back-to-back offensive possessions by hitting a 3-pointer and then taking an assist from Togarepi after a steal.

After another Rangers' turnover in-bounding the ball against QND pressure, Allensworth took an inbounds pass and nailed down a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Reed tipped in a missed 3-point shot from Togarepi at the second quarter buzzer as the Rangers lead had fully disappeared as the teams went to the break with the Raiders up 20-19.

“The guys did a great job this year working hard and making sure that they were in shape hoping you would get onto a college court,” said Coach Altmix. “The 10-0 run, I think just our defense. We talked about all season long that our defense fuels our offense. We get some transition baskets. We've got athletes and so we like to get 'up and down' and in the second quarter and the second have they felt a little more comfortable.”

Benton held one final lead after a second trey by Hamilton and 1-of-2 foul shots from Porter made it 27-26 Rangers with 2:47 left in the third.

The third quarter, however, belonged to Allensworth.

The senior scored 15 of his points and closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer and pair of inside baskets for a 35-31 advantage heading to the final eight minutes.

QND punched their ticket to the Champaign with a big fourth quarter.

A huge 3-pointer from 6-3 senior guard Beau Eftink was followed up by another transition basket by Allensworth off of a long pass from Togarepi.

Forced to foul late in the game, the Rangers paraded QND to the free throw line.

The Raiders closed the deal by making 10-of-14 foul shots in the final 3:56 and Reed closed his night on a fast break two-handed dunk before the benches were cleared for the final minutes.

QND hit 18-of-30 from the field overall, 5-of-10 from the arc and were credited with 13 assists, six by Togarepi.

The Raiders will face a Farragut team that comes into the semifinals with just a 13-14 record.

The Admirals have won six-consecutive postseason contests, including a 49-47 win over seventh-ranked Chicago Crane Medical Prep to win the Joliet Central Super-sectional.

“I thought we did some good things tonight. We got TJ (Hamilton) open a few times for some clean looks and he delivered on those,” said Coach Winemiller. “If someone had said three weeks ago we'd talked about this (playing in the the super-sectional) we would have said 'heck ya we'd take it'. It hurts tonight but it will feel better tomorrow and we will feel better about what we accomplished this season.”