Benton girls hoops survive scare from Maryville, Lady Cardinals advance to Class 4 District 16 Championship

By Brett Kennedy

March 4, 2026 11:04 pm

Published March 4, 2026 10:45 pm

(ST. JOSEPH, MO) - The 1 seed Benton High School girls basketball team survived a tough battle with 5 seed Maryville on Wednesday night as the Lady Cardinals prevail 47-43 in the Class 4 District 16 Semifinals.

The Spoofhounds kept right with the Lady Cardinals through most of this game, trailing only 27-26 at the half and then leading by as much as 8 points in the third quarter.

But Benton rallied and found a way to close it out in the fourth quarter by forcing turnovers and late free throws.

Benton was led by senior Eliana Arambula with 11 points, followed by junior Jalynn Brown and Jenna Cox with 10 points. For Maryville, freshman Reagan Kurz led the team with 12 points.

Benton improves to 19-7 on the season, Maryville finishes the year 17-9.

Benton will now face 2 seed Lafayette in the Class 4 District 16 Championship on Friday, March 6th at 6 pm. It will be the final time ever that the two rivals will ever meet.