The third time turned out to be the charm for the Benton Lady Cardinals.
After losing to Hickman in back-back-years years at the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitational, Benton enacted some revenge with a 50-40 victory to win the title to remain undefeated on the season.
Benton outscored Hickman 19-9 in the fourth quarter to move to 10-0.
"There's no question we owed them," Benton coach Brett Goodwin joked after beating the Kewpies. "That was definitely something we were thinking about. They've really had our number. We knew this was going to be a very difficult gamer for us matchup-wise."
Added guard Daejah Bernard, "It was a great win for our team, especially after we lost to them last year in the championship."
Benton, which lost to Hickman 65-59 in the 2014 title game and 50-46 in the 2013 semifinals, appeared to be headed down the same path again. The Kewpies led for much of the first half and had a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. But it was all Benton from that point and the Lady Cardinals outscored the Kewpies 33-16 in the final 13 minutes.
The Lady Cardinals exploded for 35 second-half points after being held to just 15 in the first half. Knocking down jumpers forced Hickman out of its 2-3 zone, allowing Benton to attack the basket.
The biggest jumper of the night may have come at the end of the third quarter. With Hickman leading 31-28, Jayde Williams hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds to tie the game. That basket was part of a 14-2 run that put the Lady Cardinals ahead for good.
"We had to make a few shots to make them start extending," Goodwin said. "We finally started knocking down some shots and some gaps in that zone. Once we got them into man, we thought our athleticism would cause them some trouble with our dribble, getting into the lane, things like that."
Benton clamped down on the defensive end, holding Hickman forward Ny'jah White scoreless in the fourth quarter. White went for 29 and 18 in the Kewpies first two tournament games. She finished Wednesday's game with 19.
"She was so productive early, and then I think they got so zeroed in on her," Goodwin said. "We were able to dig in a couple times and knock the ball away from her, force her to shuffle her feet a little bit."
Bernard led Lady Cardinals with 16 points. She made 9-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter. Jayde Williams was also in double figures with 13. Benton shot just 34 percent from the field, but made eight 3-pointers.
"We found a way to get stops midway to late in the third with a few adjustments," Goodwin said. "It really got them kind of stale a little bit. We were able to make our run."
Kylee Williams was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. She averaged 15.3 points per game for the tournament. Bernard and Tamia Stillman were both named to the All-Tournament Team.