Benton Smith Sports writer

Benton Smith covers sports and news for The Mirror. Although he hails from the state of North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina, he assures you that neither that place nor the men's basketball team at said university have much or anything to do with him. Benton was a sports writer for the Lawrence Journal-World before coming to Tonganoxie. He is an avid basketball fan and football devotee but finds himself of late enjoying baseball more than he ever thought possible — he is 99 percent certain that is because the Kansas City Royals are actually competitive. Since joining The Mirror staff in February of 2008, Benton has learned that all high school sports, their athletes and coaches are pretty much a blast to cover.

Recent stories

THS trainer excited to see head-injury act passed in Kansas
By Benton Smith
August 23, 2011
Tonganoxie High athletic trainer Mark Padfield did plenty during his summer vacation this year, but the highlight of his break came almost immediately after the school year ended.
THS boys top Eudora, 61-50
Chieftains advance to invitational final
By Benton Smith
January 22, 2010
A terrific start to the fourth quarter took an unexpected turn for the Eudora High boys basketball team on Friday night and the Chieftains advanced to the Tonganoxie Invitational final.
Defense helps EHS girls win by 25
By Benton Smith
January 21, 2010
The Eudora High girls basketball team used defensive pressure to rout Atchison, 58-33, on Thursday in the consolation bracket of the Tonganoxie Invitational.
Eudora girls edge Tonganoxie at Paola
By Benton Smith
December 11, 2009
The girls basketball teams from Tonganoxie High and Eudora didn’t let the blasé atmosphere of a practically empty gym and a seventh-place game stop them from producing a dramatic finish at the Paola Invitational Friday afternoon.
Girls fall 47-37 in Tongie Invitational title match
By Benton Smith
January 29, 2009
The Eudora High girls’ offense got so cold in the second half of the Tonganoxie Invitational championship game on Saturday that the Cardinals scored as many points — 12 — in the second half as they did in the first quarter and Lansing won, 47-37.
Boys stumble twice, take 4th at Tonganoxie Invitational
By Benton Smith
12:00 a.m., January 29, 2009 Updated 12:00 a.m.
The Eudora High boys basketball team entered the Tonganoxie Invitational with one loss on the season, but after a 63-43 loss to Lansing in the third-place game on Saturday, the Cardinals left the tournament with their second loss in as many days.
Lansing knocks off Eudora for invite title
By Benton Smith
January 24, 2009
The Eudora High girls got cold in the second half of the Tonganoxie Invitational championship game Saturday evening and Lansing took advantage for a 47-37 victory.
Lansing boys beat Eudora for 3rd
By Benton Smith
January 24, 2009
With a 20-point setback against Lansing in the Tonganoxie Invitational third-place game Saturday afternoon, Eudora picked up its second loss in as many days.
Cardinal boys lose in Tonganoxie semis
By Benton Smith
January 23, 2009
The Chieftain boys advanced to the final of the Tonganoxie Invitational with a 61-50 defeat of Eudora in a semifinal Friday night.

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Recent photos

Tonganoxie High's Dylan Scates and Austin Vickers, as well as Eudora's Hawley Montgomery, try to locate a rebound in a Tonganoxie Invitational semifinal on Friday night. The Chieftains defeated Eudora, 61-50.

Eudora High's Coulter Vestal gets Tonganoxie's Keaton Schaffer in the air on Friday at THS. The Chieftains defeated Eudora, 61-50, in a Tonganoxie Invitational semifinal.

Eudora's Evan Folks is called for a charge on a layup attempt in the first quarter against Atchison on Thursday at the Tonganoxie Invitational. Folks scored 14 points in a 58-33 EHS victory.

Allie Johnson (21), Shea Lounsbury (19) and Morgan Wiley (11) jump to block a ball Saturday at the Tonganoxie Invitational. The Cardinals finished the tournament in eighth-place.

Eudora High's Ivan Espinosa cruises through the Tonganoxie Invitational course on Tuesday evening. He finished second overall with a time of 16:58.

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