The Benton Tigers edged the Airline Vikings 52-51 in a District 1-5A game Wednesday night at Airline.
In the other 1-5A games involving parish teams, Haughton fell to Captain Shreve 75-49 at Shreve and Parkway lost to Evangel Christian 83-79 at Evangel.
In the other 1-5A game, Huntington defeated Byrd 77-72
At Airline, Kam Smith led Benton (12-12, 3-4) with 20 points. Braylyn Ford added nine and Maddox Martinez eight. Ford also had seven rebounds.
Kevin White led nine Vikings who scored with 21 points each. Elli Washington added eight.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively and Airline led 10-4 after the first quarter. The Vikings extended the lead to 28-14 at the half.
The Tigers rallied in the third, hitting three 3-pointers. Martinez scored eight and Benton cut the lead to 36-34. Benton sank three more 3-pointers in the fourth. Smith had two of them and scored 12. White also had 12 in the quarter.
Smith hit two free throws late in the game to give Benton the lead. Airline missed two contested 3-pointers in the final seconds.
Benton closes district play Friday at Evangel Christian. Airline (13-13, 4-3) closes against Natchitoches Central, which has clinched a share of the championship, in Natchitoches.
At Captain Shreve, D’Merrion Gladney knocked down five 3-pointers and led Haughton (10-14, 1-6) with 19 points.Carson Morgan added nine, all on 3-pointers.
Erron Williams hit six 3-pointers and led Shreve (16-9, 5-2) with 24 points.
Haughton closes district play Friday against Huntington at home.
At Evangel, Parkway dropped to 12-12 overall and 2-5 in district. Evangel improved to 8-14 and 3-4.
Parkway closes district play Friday at Captain Shreve.