SNYDER - As one-month-old Scarlett Ridgon grows up, Benjamin hears some interesting stories from her father and uncles about her first trip to the state basketball tournament in town.
Kerry Grayson scored 44 points to lead the No. 19 Mustangs past No. 7 Garden City 59-52 in the Region II-1A boys basketball final at the Coliseum last Saturday.
Benjamin, which had never won a second-round game before this season, will face No. 1 and defending champion Grafford (35-3) in the semifinals of the Class 1A tournament at 8:30 Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
No. 2 Jayton (37-2) will face No. 3 McMullen County (37-2) in the other semifinal Thursday at 10:30 a.m. The national championship game will be played on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Most of this team is playing on the big stage for the second time.
In December, Ridgon led the Mustangs to the state football title in their first league game. He was the offensive MVP of the game and MVP of the region basketball tournament, scoring 74 points in two games over the weekend.
"I never thought it would be in high school unless I got to a point where I was really thinking about basketball," Grayson Ridgon said. But we did it and made history.
Well, the Mustangs (21-1) did just that, much to the surprise of senior Brody White.
“I think we're fourth in our district this year,” White said. It's crazy that we go to the stadium, especially when football starts late. I don't think anyone expected that.
Coach Benjamin Wesley Ridgon, Scarlett's father and Grayson's older brother, never expected to be celebrating a district title on the Coliseum floor.
"It's crazy," said Elder Ridgon. "I never thought the game would end like this. I never thought we'd be out of the second round in the second game of the region. But here we are."
Terminal for Bearcians
It was a tough finish for Garden City (26-7), which was led by 18 points from Texas Brinkley and 13 from Julio Talmantez.
The Bearcats were looking to earn their second-place finish in the state tournament. The first of them was in 2007.
"They're a good team," Benjamin Paradise City coach Brad Hall said. “No. 1 (Reine) is a good player. Our shots didn't go today. That is the brutality of basketball. sometimes they get hit, sometimes they don't. Today wasn't our day, but it's okay. We had. good season Garden City will always be remembered."
The Bearcats, ranked second behind Irion County in Region 11-1A, defeated Munday 54-34 in Friday's semifinal, while Benjamin beat Irion County 67-52 in the other semifinal. District and share two championship games.
Sophomore Grayson Ridgon scored 30 points, 14 below his average, in the win over the Hornets. After a slow start, Saturday's game was unstoppable. He made four 3-pointers per contest game while driving to the basket with layups or fouls. He made 20 out of 28 penalties in two games.
“He's a dangerous kid,” Hall said, “he can get in the hole. He can hit the 3. It doesn't matter who you put it on. It doesn't matter if you double play him. State and sophomore year. he's next, in two years he'll be great.
In his freshman year at Stran, Ridgegon, a junior, led the Greyhounds to the state football championship and was MVP of the title game. So yeah, he's had a great high school career so far.
“I had great teammates who looked up to me the whole game and were so unselfish,” Ridgon, a junior, said. "We collected everything and won a big victory."
Explosion in the second quarter
Benjamin went on a 7-2 run in the first and took a 14-13 lead into the second quarter. Talon Hayes had seven points in the quarter and Ridgon had seven for the Mustangs. Rigdon hit two of his first 3-pointers en route to a 14-point quarter as the Mustangs led 32-20 at halftime.
They never trailed the rest of the game and threatened to trail 48-30 in the final period.
However, the bears did not disappear. Tamantes took a steal and made a field goal with 3:92 left to make it a seven-point game (57-50). A 3-pointer by Benjamin and another field goal by Talmantes put GC within 57-52 with 21 seconds left.
They weren't close and the Whites had two free throws with 13.1 left.
Coach Ridgon was not surprised by GC's run.
"You're not here by accident," he said. “They did. I knew it was going to be a tougher game than yesterday. I thank the coaches. He's a great guy. He's great. The calls he made and I think the fans stayed in the game more than anything else."
"You have to give Benjamin credit," Hall added. That's a bunch of athletes. They created an income that we usually don't have. But I am proud of our boys. It was an unforgettable season with them."
It was a season to remember for Binyam. Wesley Ridgon wants to share what happened around him in the first few months of his life after the game with his child.
"Hopefully we can score everything and it will be basketball," Coach Ridgon said. “Participating in sports and working in school brings such exciting situations. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to coach this team with these teams in the state.”
Region II-1A final
Benjamin 59, Garden City 52
Garden City... 13... 7... 12... 20 - 52
Benjamin ... 14 ... 18 ... 16 ... 11 - 59
Garden City (26-7) - John Lopez 3 2-2 8, Camden Roe 2 0-0 5, Logan Seidenberger 0 0-0 0, Julio Talmantez 6 0-0 13, Texas Brinkley 7 0-0 18, Mason Walker 3 1-4 7. Together 21 3-6 52.
Benjamin (21-1) – Grayson Ridgeon 15 10-13 44, Talon Hayes 3 0-2 7, Mario Silva 0 2-2 2, Weston Weatherford 0 0-0 0, Diane Donkers 0 0 0 0, Brodie White 1 4 -4 6. Together 19 16-21 59.
3-pointers - GC 7 (Roe, Talmantes, Brinkley 5), Benjamin 5 (Ridgon 4, Hayes). Total fouls - QC 17, Benjamin 8. Fouls - QC. López; Benjamin. No. There are no technical violations .
This article originally appeared in the Abilene Reporter News; Benjamin defeats Garden City in II-1A boys basketball final.
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