Visiting Atholton got the most out of its edge in speed and size over South Carroll last night, pressing and rebounding its way to a 68-47 win in both teams' season-opener in Winfield.
Fine shooting from senior guard Brian Benden also played big in the win. He scored a game-high 23 points -- including 10-for-10 from the field -- despite sitting out most of the second half.
He got the Raiders on track with two straight layups early in the game -- giving them their first lead at 6-5. He got a steal and layup at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter and scored 11 more in the second quarter. "He's an excellent pure shooter," said Atholton coach Jim Albert. "We got some baskets in transition and [South Carroll] played some zone and he can certainly shoot from the perimeter. We also have a lot of unselfish players who did a good job getting him the ball."
The early part of the second quarter is when the Raiders began to pull away from the Cavaliers. They took a 15-10 lead into the period and by the time South Carroll scored the first points -- a follow from Matt McGrane with 3:37 left in the half -- the Raiders had built a 16-point lead.
"They killed us on the boards, their press caused major problems and they got the ball inside well against our zone," said South Carroll coach Jim Carnes. "We played negative basketball -- very intimidated."
The Atholton lead would stay in double digits the rest of the way with the biggest, 62-36, coming early in the fourth quarter.
Senior forward D. J. Chiles adding 16 for the Raiders and, at 6 feet 5, was the major influence on the boards. Varian Harvey, another senior forward, added 11.
rTC Albert was pleased with his first look at his Raiders, who finished last season 16-7.
"Tonight, I thought South Carroll was a little undermanned," he said.