BENTON, Ark. — The Benton boys basketball team has been to just one state title game in program history. They’ll double that total on Friday while looking for their first-ever win in Hot Springs.
“It’s really big,” Benton junior Terrion Burgess said. “Everyone around here is ready for the game... to make history. We want to be there.”
Benton senior Quazata Griffin said this season has been a rollercoaster ride.
"For a lot of us, it's a rollercoaster," Griffin said. "Just thinking about how we can bring a ring home and have it be the first time."
Although Benton has never won a state championship, this Panther team is no stranger to making school history. It's something senior guard Brayden Stamper knows all too well.
“We went 16-0 in conference, won a conference championship, beat the school [wins] record," Stamper said. "This is the last thing we have set for an entire season.”
And across the court is a team that has climbed the mountain before — the defending Class 5A state champion Pine Bluff Zebras.
”They have a tradition of winning,” Benton head coach Dexter Hendrix said. “That starts with Coach Dixon. He does such a great job with that program.”
Benton won both regular season contests against Pine Bluff, but Stamper said the Panthers are taking the underdog mentality into the Class 5A state championship game.
"I'm still hearing today that it's hard to beat the same team three times in a row," Stamper said. "They're going to come at us the hardest they can."
And all of Benton wants to be on hand to witness potential history.
“We’re expecting it to be packed out,” Burgess said.
Hendrix, a former Panter himself, knows what it means to the community.
“I tell the guys all the time, don’t take it for granted [and] the community is very proud of you," Hendrix said. "They feel the support, and so we’re gonna do everything we can to prepare for that moment on Friday.”
Benton and Pine Bluff square off Friday at 1:45 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.