By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Bennington boys’ basketball team will kick off their state run on Wednesday when they square off with Medicine Lodge at 4:00 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
The Bulldogs come into this state quarterfinal as the 4-seed at 19-4 while the Indians enter as the 5-seed at 17-6.
Bennington punched their ticket to state last week by ripping off wins of 71-21 over Northern Heights, 48-32 over rival Ell-Saline and 52-50 over Sacred Heart in the sub-state championship game on Saturday.
“Our grit really impressed me at sub-state,” Bulldog head coach Curtis Pickering said. “Even when we weren’t playing our best offensively we were able to lock in on every defensive possession and make things challenging for them on the floor and on the glass. They’ve been incredibly coachable and they’ve done a great job of fighting through adversity.”
Meanwhile Medicine Lodge’s path to state saw them advance all the way as the 3-seed, bouncing Stanton County 66-38, Oakley 81-35, and Meade 46-41 last week.
Despite posting the youngest overall roster in this year’s 2A state field, Bennington is far from just happy to be here, and will look to make the most of a rare opportunity to compete for a state title.
“We’ve stressed that even though a lot of these guys will be coming back we can’t take anything for granted,” Pickering said. “There are no guarantees of coming back to this tournament, I’ve seen that in my experience. You never know what might happen in the future so we have to stay alert and take advantage of the opportunities we have.”
Despite holding the slight seeding advantage, the Bulldogs will have their hands full on Wednesday against an Indian team brimming with both size and range on the outside.
“They’re extremely quick and athletic and they shoot the ball well,” he said. “In one of their games they had six different kids make a three which is more guys than we have in our rotation who would even take that shot. They go about ten deep and they’ll all play loose and pull the trigger. Hopefully we can match their effort and intensity to come out victorious.”
In order to do just that, Bennington will need to find an answer for three Medicine Lodge playmakers who have been dealing damage to opponents all season long.
“They have one of the most athletic kids that we’ll play all season long,” Pickering said. “He doesn’t shoot a lot from the outside but everyone else will. They have an undersized post kid like Talan that has to outwork a lot of people and he does a good job down low with a high basketball IQ. They also have a point guard that can really shoot it and a lot of role players around those guys.”
With this being just the third state appearance in program history for the Bulldogs, calming the nerves of this exceptionally young team will be critical, but if Bennington can overcome that, this could very well be the beginning of a deep state run for a team that has never advanced beyond the first round.
“It will all come down to the little things in a game like this,” Pickering said. “We have to be excellent defensively, we have to box out on every possession and we have to make things difficult for them when they’re trying to run offense. I want us to go in, play relaxed, and play our game. If we’re at our best and everyone is getting the shots they like, we have such a well-balanced team and we’re difficult to guard.”
Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Indians is scheduled for 4:00 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, with the winner moving on to the state semis to face either the 1-seed in Wichita Independent (21-2), or the 8-seed in St. Mary’s Colgan (11-11) on Friday.
For continuing coverage of Bennington hoops all throughout the state tournament, stay tuned to the Salina Post.