BELMONT – It was a story of two teams heading in opposite directions when Belmont hosted Benton in the second game of their season series in Six River West girls’ basketball action at BHS on Thursday, Jan. 19.
    The Zephyrs (8-4 overall, 5-2 SRW), who lost 72-62 in overtime to Belmont in their first meeting, came into the night riding a four-game winning streak since the calendar switched to 2017; while the Braves (5-8, 1-4) have dropped five consecutive games since their win over Benton back on Dec. 8
    Junior Emma Lawrence poured in 21 of her game-high 32 points in the first half to carry the Zephyrs to a 71-50 league victory over the Lady Braves.
    Benton remained on a roll thanks to the early offensive output of Lawrence, who went off for 11 of her team’s first 15 points to push the Zephyrs out to a 15-2 advantage.
    Belmont used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 15-10 with 9:35 to play in the opening half, but the Zephyrs answered back with a 9-0 run of their own to push the lead to 24-10 and they outscored the hosts 18-9 the rest of the half to build up a 42-19 edge.
    The Lady Braves put up 31 points in the second half, but they couldn’t cut into the Benton lead as the Zephyrs coasted to their fifth straight victory while handing the Braves their sixth loss in a row.
    Senior center Caitlyn Gilbertson scored 10 of her team-high 17 points in the first half to pace the Belmont attack. Junior forward Briana Ernst added 13 points and junior guard Abby Althaus chipped in with seven for the Braves.
    Belmont hosts Six Rivers West games with River Ridge on Friday, Jan. 27, and Highland on Saturday, Jan. 28. Saturday’s game is a make-up and will be part of a boys’/girls’ doubleheader. The girls play Highland in the junior varsity game in the elementary gym at 5 p.m. and in the varsity game in the high school gym at around 6:30 p.m.
    The Lady Braves head to Albany for a non-conference contest on Monday, Jan. 30.

Benton………….. 42    29 – 71
Belmont………… 19    31 – 50
    Benton – Ally Jansen 6, Emma Lawrence 32, Sophie Dougherty 4, Jordan Busch 5, Lily Carver 16, Maggie Dougherty 2, Kayla Dougherty 6. Totals – 28  11-17  71.
    Belmont – Abby Althaus 7, Nicole Knebel 5, Kassandra Palzkill 4, Briana Ernst 13, Elsie De Haan 2, Caitlyn Gilbertson 17, Callie Douglas 2. Totals – 21  4-9  50.
    3-point goals– BEN 4 (Lawrence 1, Carver 3), BEL 4 (Althaus 1, Knebel 1, Ernst 1, Gilbertson 1). Total fouls– BEN 12, BEL 14. Fouled out– None.