Play kicks off at Goreville Invitational, Rangers open season tonight

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangers will open the 2012-13 basketball season Tuesday night at the Goreville Invitational Tournament in a 6 p.m. contest against Egyptian.

The Rangers have kicked off the season the past 14 years at the Du Quoin Tip Off Classic but made the move to Goreville to the five-team, round robin tournament. Each team receives a bye during one session in the tournament that runs Nov. 26, 27, 29, 30 and Dec. 1.

Play opened on Monday night with Johnston City defeating Anna-Jonesboro 60-59 when the Wildcats couldn’t get a shot to drop in the final seconds. Johnston City led by as many as nine points in the opening half only to see A-J roar back to tie the game at the intermission 32-32.

The Indians began the second half on a 12-2 run to open up a 44-34 lead but again the Wildcats fought back to actually take the lead in the fourth quarter. After a pair of Hunter Zeigler free throws to give Johnston City a 60-59 lead with 8.1 seconds the Wildcats set up a final play but a Noah Fuller jumper on the baseline lipped off the rim securing the hard fought win for Johnston City.

Luke McCormick led the Indians with 18 points and also in double figures was Hunter Zeigler with 11. Also scoring for JC was Austin McPheron and Levi Tanner with nine, Jake Davison with eight and Derek Smith with five.

A-J was led in scoring by Tyler Vaughn with 14 followed by Noah Fuller with 13 and Ben McFarland with 10. Rounding out the scoring Colton James scored eight, Zach Parr added seven, Jonathan Kemp scored four and Damian Reed contributed three points.

In the nightcap the host Goreville Blackcats jumped out to a quick 17-7 first quarter lead and never looked back in defeating an out-manned Egyptian squad by a score of 75-57. The Blackcats extended the lead with a 21-9 blitz of the Pharaohs in the second quarter to take a 38-18 halftime lead.

Goreville featured a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures led by Zeke Snell with 18 and Dayton Tripp with 13. Also scoring was Alex Andros with 12 and Blake Gray and Kyefer Cavins with 11 each. Rounding out the scoring for Goreville Nik Dunn had three, J.T. Russell, Daniel Lanham and Caleb Belcher each had two.

Leading Egyptian was the one-two punch of Justin Prewett and Devantae Price who contributed 19 and 17 points respectively. Cameron Grueninger also scored in double figures with 10 with Alex McCrite adding four and Austin Murphy and Brandon Woodson adding two each and Bryce Bigham adding a free throw.

Here is a schedule for the rest of the week at the Goreville Invitational.

Tuesday, Nov. 27

Benton vs. Egyptian 6 p.m.

Goreville vs. Anna-Jonesboro 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 29

Anna-Jonesboro vs. Egyptian 6 p.m.

Johnston City vs. Benton 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 30

Benton vs. Anna-Jonesboro 6 p.m.

Goreville vs. Johnston City 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 1

Egyptian vs. Johnston City 6 p.m.

Benton vs. Goreville 7:30 p.m.

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Redbirds ready for season opener tonight

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

Coach Dan Dewerff begins his third season at the helm of the West Frankfort Redbird boys basketball team on Tuesday night.

The opening game of the season was to have been this past Saturday as the ‘Birds were scheduled to host Benton. However, the Rangers asked to move the game, and it will now be played Dec. 21.

So, the Redbird junior varsity and varsity open their 2012-2013 season tonight against Meridian High School in Mounds. While always a top notch Class A program, the Bobcats mark a change in the Redbird schedule under Dewerff. In his first two years, he was tasked with preparing the Redbirds to play powerful Pinckneyville.
This year’s edition of the Redbirds feature eight seniors as part of their roster. Two freshmen starters from a year ago also return.
One sophomore  expected to start and heavily contribute is Hunter Johnson. However a knee injury will keep him on the sidelines tonight.
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Benton Police arrest two

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Benton Police arrested Tyler W. Atchison, 28, of Benton on Nov. 20. Police were acting on an active Franklin County warrant for petition to revoke probation.  Atchison was transported to the Franklin County Jail with bond set at $1,500.

On Nov. 25, Benton Police arrested Samuel C. Caraker, 34, of Benton. Caraker is charged with driving while license revoked, fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, reckless driving, and operating an uninsured vehicle.

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Christopher takes third place in Turkey Tourney

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By TOM WHEELER

Eric Stallman’s Christopher Bearcats defeated the Thompsonville Tigers 49-39 Saturday night at the 38th Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament. The Bearcats had defeated Wayne City on Monday and lost to the 2012 champions Waltonville on Wednesday while the Tigers defeated Webber Township on Tuesday and lost to the defending champions Egyptian on Friday night.

Strong play from junior guard Jake Towers, whose defense held Thompsonville’s Brady Householder to no field goals and only two free tosses, was a big key in the victory. Householder, started the tournament with 20 points in an opening win and was the “straw” that stirred the young Tiger team. Towers and senior Tyler Atchison led the Cats in scoring with 13 points each , 6-feet-6-inch senior Kevin Mercks had six, senior R.J. Kuh had 3 and junior Eric Young had 7 points while freshman Josh Calloni had 4 points and Hunter Wheeler one free throw.

The Cats jumped to 15-7 first quarter lead behind two baskets from Young and Atchison while the Tigers were having trouble with fouls as leading scorer Ryan Darnell and twin brother Lance each picked up two fouls. Both teams scored 9 each in the second frame and the Cats were up 24-16 at half.

In the third quarter at the 6:12 mark, Young led a fast break and hit Atchison with a nifty pass for a score, Towers stole the ball on the next exchange and  hit Kuh who then fed big Mercks for another great example of the Cats team work. The hosts outscored the Tigers 16-10 in this quarter as Atchison scored 7 and Calloni 4. The Tigers only got 5 shots up in the quarter because they spent so much time at the free throw line where they were 3-for-8.

In fact the free throw line is where both teams spent a large portion of the night and if you happened to go by either high school early in the morning this week there may be some early free throw shooting going on. Thompsonville shot 15-for-30 for the game while the Cats were only 18-for-39 for a 31 percent effort for a combined 69 tosses shot.

Thompsonville was led in scoring by the Darnell’s, Ryan with 14 and the left-handed Lance with 10. Others who scored were

Immediately following the championship game in which Waltonville upset the favorite Egyptian Pharaohs 57-49 the all- tournament team was announced and the Bearcats; Atchison, Mercks and Young were named as were the Tigers’ Ryan Darnell and Householder. Others selected for this honor included J.C. Chapman of Cobden, Jordan Hale and Trey Witges of Waltonville and two named for the  second year Egyptian’s Justin Prewitt and MVP Devantae Price (for the second year).

The Bearcats return to action December 4 when they travel to Elverado for their first Black Diamond Conference game. The Tigers face Elverado Nov. 27 at home.

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Morthland men and women fall to Blue Mountain College

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Morthland men and women basketball teams hosted the Blue Mountain College Toppers in a Monday night doubleheader at Rend Lake College. The Lady Patriots fell to BMC 94-38, while the Morthland men could not hold off the Toppers (3-4), falling 81-76.

The Lady Patriots (0-6) were led by Shayly Wilce and Jade Vaughn who both chipped in 14 points. Junior forward Ashley Slack scored 8 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Pats.

The Morthland College men’s basketball team came out sluggish after the first six minutes trailing the Toppers of Blue Mountain, Miss. 10-2, but Eldorado native Will Carmickle led the charge for the Patriots scoring 19 of this 32 points in the first half to give Morthland a 46-39 lead going into the locker room.

Morthland allowed BMC to score the first 8 points of the second half to take a 47-46 lead. The undersized Patriots kept battling in the second half but could not stop BMC from driving to the basket for easy scores. Morthland allowed 18 offensive rebounds, 10 of which came in the second half, allowing the Toppers to capitalize with 19 second chance points.

Will Carmickle scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Morthland while freshman Roby Boatright was the only other Patriot in double-digits with 10 points.

“They really jumped on us early in the second half after we battled back at the end of the first to gain the lead,” said head coach Rich Herrin. “They are a heck of a team for only having two wins this season, and they are going to win a lot more.”

The Morthland men and women will be back in action Dec. 1, when they travel to McKenzie, Tenn. to take on Bethel College.

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WF City Council to discuss next step in electric aggregation process

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

A regular meeting of the West Frankfort City Council is slated for tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 201 E. Nolen St. One of the items listed in the agenda is the next step in the city’s electric aggregation process: Commissioners will consider approval of an agreement with the city of Marion to pool their households and buy energy under the same contract.

West Frankfort voters approved an electric aggregation referendum earlier this month, which allows the city to buy power in bulk on the futures market for residents, a move that can save households 20 to 25 percent on the purchased power rate on their electric bills.

Both Marion and West Frankfort have contracted with Select Energy to facilitate the electric aggregation process, and the company has recommended the two cities buy under one contract, as more households can add up to greater savings.

West Frankfort residents will be given the opportunity to “opt out” of electric aggregation and continue to buy their electricity from Ameren before the program begins.

The Council is also expected to approve a $35,000 loan to Morthland College. This had been discussed at a previous council meeting, but tabled. There had been concern that the city would not be able to grant the loan to the private college.
A third major item on the agenda is the next step in renovating the now cleared site of UMWA Hospital, on West St. Louis Street. The site, being purchased by the city, will be offered to developers. At tonight’s meeting, the Council is expected to approve a $2,500 expenditure to begin Phase One of the environmental site assessment.
A new tenant is expected to be approved for the Business Incubator, Street Department grievances will be discussed, and routine business is also expected to come before the council tonight. As always, the meeting is open to the public.
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SIH announces photo contest for new community resource center

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Southern Illinois Healthcare has announced a photo contest to help decorate a community resource center the company is opening at University Mall in Carbondale.

SIH calls the center “The Place,” and says it will be convenient place to get information on SIH resources and ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“There are significant resources available in southern Illinois for individuals to optimize their health and wellness,” said Woody Thorne, Vice President of Community Affairs. “The problem is that people often are not aware or do not know how to access these services.”

The company says the mall will be a central location to offer information about those health resources. Construction is underway.

Residents of Southern Illinois can help bring The Place to life by submitting photographs to be displayed throughout the facility. Photographers are encouraged to use their cameras to showcase what southern Illinois living means to them. Images should convey the beauty and benefits of living in southern Illinois.  Possible subjects may include nature, events, or people.

The Place Photo Contest will end on Dec. 15, 2012 and finalists will be selected in January of 2013.  Winning photos will be unveiled during the grand opening of The Place in 2013.

For more information and official rules for The Place Photo Contest, visit www.sih.net/theplace or call 877-480-4040.

Filed Under: Franklin Co. News, Living, More Featured Articles Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Last day to order fruit from Farm Bureau

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Today is the order deadline if you wish to buy citrus fruit from the Franklin County Farm Bureau this season.

Oranges, grapefruit and tangelos are available for $25 for four-fifths of a bushel or $15 for two-fifths of a bushel. Call the Farm Bureau office at (618) 435-3616 to order.

The bureau also has pecans for sale in the office – 1-pound bags of shelled pecan halves are $9. The Franklin County Farm Bureau office is located at 1210 Highway 14 West in Benton.

 

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RLC Cheerleading team hosting spaghetti fund-raiser Dec. 1

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Rend Lake College Cheerleading team will hold a Spaghetti Supper Fund-raiser at 5 p.m., following the Warriors and Lady Warriors conference basketball home openers on Saturday, Dec. 1.

The event will last until 7:30 p.m. and will take place in the RLC Student Center. Tickets are $7 for spaghetti, breadstick, salad, dessert and a drink. They can be purchased from any member of the cheerleading team, or reserved by contacting Coach Nikki LaBuwi-Corollo at 618-513-1978, or by e-mail at nlabuwi@hotmail.com. Take-out is an option.

The Dec. 1 Lady Warriors home game tips off at 1 p.m., followed by the Warriors game at 3 p.m. Both teams are opening the conference season against Lincoln Trail.

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Pick-Six ticket packages available for Saluki Basketball

November 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Looking for that special gift for your fellow Saluki fan? How about a Pick-Six package of men’s basketball tickets at a special price?

Fans can pick any six Southern Illinois men’s basketball home games for $54 for bleacher seats and $60 for corner chairback seats. That’s a significant savings off the regular single-game price.

The 3-0 Salukis have home dates remaining with Fresno State, New Orleans, BracketBusters, plus all nine Missouri Valley Conference opponents.

Tickets can be purchased on-line, at the SIU Arena Ticket Office and by calling 877-SALUKIS.

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