CHILLICOTHE, Mo. — Throughout the course of the season, Lafayette coach Chris Neff noticed his offense’s ability to out-shoot the opposition.

Neff constantly wanted his team to fix the defense. Against Benton in the first round of the Class 4 District 16 tournament, Lafayette disrupted Benton’s offense for 12 second-half turnovers and pulled away to a 49-34 victory Tuesday at Chillicothe High School.

“I’m proud of the kids, defensively, more than anything,” Neff said. “I was very excited with the performance we put on them defensively. It was fun.”

Not only did the defense excite Neff, but he relished the balance in his offense. The Fighting Irish ran a motion offense, bringing up high screens to give open looks and passes down low.

When Benton finally saw what Lafayette was doing and started to take away the inside game, the Irish dropped down two 3s to keep the Cardinals honest.

Lafayette recently lost leading scorer Jeff Leeson to a season-ending Achilles’ tendon injury, which led to a change in rotation during the season’s closing weeks. Neff hopes the continued balance helps push Lafayette into the playoffs for a fourth time in five years.

The Irish play second-seeded Savannah in Thursday’s semifinals, a rematch of last year’s title game that sent Lafayette on to a semifinal run.

“This is a team. It’s eight guys right now, and it’s a rotation,” Neff said. “We’re asking them to play together and get moving so that we’ll all be stars; we’ll all shine; we’ll all feel good about ourselves.”

All eight Irish players scored in the first half, and Caleb Bates led all scorers with 10 points.

Up by six after the first quarter, Lafayette went on a 10-3 run to start the second. The Irish forced Benton into a 5-minute scoring drought, which didn’t end until 1 minute, 15 seconds left in the first half when Tyler Fredrickson made two free throws.

Lafayette led 29-14 at the break, and Benton coach George Ross, Jr., told his team at halftime that missed opportunities at the rim created the deficit.

The Cardinals could never cut the lead to single digits, but brought the game within 11 twice in the second half. Ultimately, Benton saw its season end at 2-21 against its city rivals.

“This certainly (is) not what we wanted or expected,” Ross said of his first season at the helm. “That changes the game. It gives you a little more confidence heading into halftime. I’m not sure it’s enough to beat them, but (Lafayette’s) a very talented, athletic team.”

After opening up a 34-20 lead with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter, Lafayette’s bench elated itself when Caleb Bates made two quick moves to open himself up for a jumper.

Fouled in the air, the senior watched the ball dance around the rim until it laid in for two points. Jacoby Hawkins quickly grabbed a steal after Bates made the free throw, and Hawkins added a layup to put Lafayette ahead 41-20 — its biggest lead of the game.

Lafayette (14-13) capped off a 3-0 record against Benton this season, defeating the city rival in November 49-37 and then 79-53 on Feb. 6.

Up next for the Irish is a Savannah team that handed Lafayette one of its two Midland Empire Conference losses this season. The Savages beat Lafayette 38-37 two weeks ago in the teams’ only meeting this year.

Chillicothe boys 41, Smithville 38

Six years to the day the Hornets last won a district game, Chillicothe found a way to scratch that anniversary off of their calendar.

The Hornets moved past the first round into the second round of the Class 4 District 16 playoffs, completing a marked turnaround in coach Tim Cool’s first season at Chillicothe. The Hornets play top-seeded Platte County on Thursday night in the semifinals.

Chillicothe (13-13) trailed Smithville (6-17) for the better part of three quarters, but the teams entered the fourth quarter deadlocked at 28. The score remained there for more than 3 minutes before Smithville’s Austin Frerichs nailed a 3-pointer to break the extended tie.

The Hornets snagged the lead away from the Warriors less than a minute later, after Tyler Midgyett and Spencer Hart put in back-to-back layups.

Smithville fell behind 39-36 with less than 30 seconds left, and sophomore Brock Mick — who finished with 17 points — missed a potential tying 3-pointer. Chillicothe’s Tyler Clampitt grabbed the defensive rebound and was immediately fouled. He made both free throws, and Warriors’ guard Blane Townsend was called for a charge on the ensuing possession, smashing Smithville’s last-ditch hopes.

Nic Voorhies topped Chillicothe’s list of scorers with the senior dropping down 21 points to assure his season would last at least one more game.

Thomas Huitt-Johnson can be reached at thomas.hj@newspressnow.com Follow him on twitter: @SJNPSports