Benton High School officially announced the hiring of Gary Belcher as the Cardinals new boys’ basketball coach Wednesday.

Belcher comes to the south side after spending the last nine years as the boys’ basketball coach at Kearney High School.

He went 137-110 with the Bulldogs and Belcher won a Class 4 state championship in 2010 and finished second in 2009.

He is a St. Joseph native and graduated from Central High School in 1982.

Belcher has also been a head coach at Lathrop and Warrensburg, and spent one season in Texas.  He has a career record of 252-156.

Belcher takes over for George Ross, Jr., who went just 11-64 in three seasons at Benton.

The Benton girls’ basketball team finished off their Final Four run inside Mizzou Arena Saturday as they lost the 3rd Place game to Marshfield, 42-33.

The Cardinals end their season 20-10, while Marshfield finished with a 26-5 record.

Benton jumped out to an 8-5 lead but the Blue Jays ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run and they never trailed again.

The Cards got within three points, 17-14, in the second but Marshfield again closed the quarter strong and took a 23-16 lead to the locker room.

Neither team scored much in the third quarter as Marshfield led 28-19 after three and Benton never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Mallory McAndrews and Mogan Domann led the Cardinals with eight points each, while Deajah Bernard added seven points.

The Benton girls’ basketball team had their 10-game win streak snapped Friday afternoon as they lost to Dexter 54-21 in the Class 4 semifinals.

The Cardinals fall to 20-9 and they’ll play for 3rd Place Saturday at 11:00 AM against Marshfield.  The Blue Jays lost to Incarnate Word in their semifinal, 59-33.

Benton hung in early as they trailed 6-5 halfway through the first quarter, but then the Bearcats took over.

Dexter scored the final six points of the first quarter and then led 29-9 at halftime.

It’s was a 31-4 run for Dexter befor the Cardinals got a three-pointer to fall from Mallory McAndrews, but Benton never got closer than 19 points of the rest of the game.

McAndrews, the Cards leading scorer, was to to 1-for-7 from the field and scored just three points.  Morgan Domann led Benton with nine points and five rebounds, while Deajah Bernard added five points and eight rebounds.

Benton’s 3rd Place game with Marshfield will air on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

The Benton girls’ basketball team ended their Class 4 Quarterfinal game Saturday with Notre Dame de Sion on a 15-0 run and they defeated the Storm, 48-31, inside the Independence Events Center.

The Cardinals advance to the Class 4 Semifinals for the first time since winning a state championship in 2007, and they’re now 20-8 overall.

Benton will face Dexter (26-3) in the Final Four Friday at 2:30 PM inside Mizzou Arena at Columbia.

The game was tie 7-7 after the first quarter and Sion took a one-point lead early in the second, but that was their final lead of the game.

The Cardinals used a 6-0 run to take the lead and eventually led 16-11 at halftime.

Benton’s lead grew to as many as nine points in the second half, but Notre Dame de Sion went on a 7-0 run to pull within two points, 33-31, with about three minutes left.

It was all Benton after that as the Cards scored the final 15 points of the game to win their 10th consecutive game.

Morgan Domann led the way and she had a career-high 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.  Mallory McAndrews added 13 and Lindsey Doolan scored 10 points.

Benton’s game with Dexter on Friday at 2:30 PM will air live on 680 KFEQ and also here on stjosephpost.com.

The Benton girls basketball team advanced to the Class 4 quarterfinals for the first time in seven years as the Cardinals defeated Lincoln Prep, 39-25, in their sectional game at Staley High School Wednesday.

It’s the ninth consecutive win for Benton as they improve to 19-8 and they’ll play Notre Dame de Sion in the quarterfinals at Independence Events Center on Saturday.

The Cardinals struggled in the first half against Lincoln Prep and fell behind 20-16 at halftime, but things quickly changed in the second half.

Benton outscored the Tigers 14-1 in the third quarter and 23-5 in the second half to get the 14-point win.

The Cardinals held Lincoln Prep to 2-for-12 shooting after halftime.

Mallory McAndrews led Benton with 20 points, while Morgan Domann added eight and Daejah Bernard scored six points.

Benton will play Notre Dame de Sion at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and the game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on stjosephpost.com.

George Ross Jr. has resigned as the boys’ basketball coach at Benton High School.

Ross just wrapped up his third season as head coach of the Cardinals as he finished with an 11-64 record and a 6-15 mark in the Midland Empire Conference.

Ross was a head coach at Atchison High School and served as an assistant at Benedicine College before taking over the Benton program prior to the 2011-2012 season.

The Cardinals went 2-23 in Ross’ first season, 5-20 last year and they finished 4-21 this past season.

Benton lost in the first round of district play in each of his three seasons, including a 56-50 loss to Smithville last week.

The search for his replacement will begin immediately.