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Ice Cold Patriots Drop First Game of 2017
Morthland College Media Services
Morthand Women’s Basketball Team Photo
WEST FRANKFORT – The Morthland Patriots women’s basketball team came into their first game of 2017 seeking revenge, having blown a 19 point lead earlier in the season to the Saints of Central Christian. However, the Patriots never found their shooting rhythm, dropping the contest 63-46.
The first quarter saw a lot of back and forth action, though a short run in the last two minutes pushed the Saints out front 17-12. Brittney Goff and Bailey Holly had hot hands early, scoring four apiece during the frame.
Aside from Goff, the offense would stall in the second quarter. Goff coupled a three pointer and a driving layup together, but no other Patriots could get untracked. Balanced scoring from Central Christian propelled the Saints to a 31-21 halftime lead.
Maranda Chance from Vienna and Christopher’s Autumn Gunter, the Patriots’ two leading scorers, were held to just two points each in the first half.
Unfortunately for Morthland, the second half did not reverse the shooting woes of the first. Numerous missed opportunities at the rim, along with strong play from Saints’ guards Taylor Cunningham and Kate Frazier, stretched the lead to 47-31.
Despite a flurry of inside baskets and a few Gunter jumpers
Saluki Men’s Basketball picks up big road win at Missouri State, 75-67
SIU Media Services
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Southern Illinois played its best game of the season, led virtually wire-to-wire, and pulled off a surprising upset of Missouri State on Saturday, 75-67, handing MSU just its second home loss of the season.
The Salukis (10-7, 3-1) did it with stellar defense, a monster game from point guard Mike Rodriguez, and clutch 3-pointers that stemmed the tide every time the Bears (11-6, 2-2) tried to rally. They also buried 20-of-24 free throws, while MSU struggled to find the range from both outside the arc (5-of-19) and from the charity stripe (10-of-18).
Rodriguez led SIU with 20 points and was 7-of-8 from the field. He entered the game having converted just 8-of-39 from 3-point on the season, but he buried all three of his attempts from downtown. On top of that, he’s been battling a hip-pointer injury.
“I think he’s a stubborn little mule, good and bad,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “He’s not going to not play. He’s in a lot of pain. He only turned it over one time. He played 35 minutes and he only misses one shot. That’s a heckuva stat line. When you play on the road, somebody has to step up.”
The Salukis played their best defensive half of season in grabbing a 33-25 lead at halftime. They packed the paint, mixed in some zone, and held the Bears to 3-of-13 shooting from 3-point range in the half.
“We went a zone stretch where I think they were 1-for-9,” Hinson said. “We don’t play a lot of zone. There were certain lineups that when they came into the game, we knew we were going to target.”
Sean O’Brien takes it to the hoop around two Missouri State Defenders (SIU Media Services)
Southern extended its lead to 11 early in the second half, 42-31, on a 3-pointer by Leo Vincent and a jumper by Thik Bol. The Bears then used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 42-41 with 11:14 remaining, bringing the crowd of 5,892 to life for the first time. To complicate matters for Southern, forward Sean O’Brien was in foul trouble. He had been a mainstay in SIU’s offensive attack the last two games.
Rodriguez stopped the bleeding with one of the biggest shots of the game — a deep trey to make it 45-41. Sean Lloyd hit another one with 7:29 to go to put Southern up 53-48, but on the next possession, O’Brien fouled out with 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
“I don’t think I can elaborate on how I was feeling at that time — I don’t want to be that graphic,” said Hinson, about losing his senior forward. “Only the emergency room would understand.”
Jonathan Wiley took over for O’Brien and was one of the heroes off the bench. He had four points, seven rebounds and three steals before fouling out himself. He did a a nice job defensively in helping hold MSU’s top scorer — Alize Johnson — to 11 points.
Up 55-51 with six minutes remaining, the Salukis needed to shorten the game, and they did, running long possessions. As a bonus, they knocked down shots deep in the clock. Bol hit an 18 footer, Lloyd had a pull-up jumper, and seldom-used backup center Rudy Stradnieks hit the biggest shot of his career — a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:20 to go that gave SIU some breathing room, 64-56.
“They hit some daggers late in the shot clock,” said Missouri State head coach Paul Lusk. “When you’re playing well and you’re the aggressor, you get all the spoils.”
Both teams played short-handed without one of their top guards. Armon Fletcher missed his third-straight game for SIU with a foot injury, while MSU point guard Ronnie Rousseau missed his second-straight with an ankle injury. Guard Dequon Miller also did not start for the Bears because he was late for shoot-around, Lusk said.
With the victory, the Salukis snapped a four-game road losing streak. They beat Missouri State for the fourth-straight time.
“They came to fight and we came to play,” Lusk said. “Disappointed with our guys that we didn’t have that sense of urgency. You hope that doesn’t happen during the season, but it happened.”
LINK TO THE BOX SCORE:
http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=7634
Sesser-Valier blows out Trico
Steve Dunford
CAMPBELL HILL- For the second time this week, a Franklin County school went over to play the Pioneers and went home with a big win.
On Tuesday night Christopher were 73-43 victors. The Devils went over there and won by the exact same score .
The Pioneers were picked to be a middle of the pack team in the BDC West at the first of the year, but they are really struggling. This is what Trico coach Andrew Wilson sent me about their team:
“Right now my biggest concern as a coach is our motivation. We have to do a lot of soul searching and find something every day that ignites that competitive fire within. We just don’t play with a passion that is needed to win ball games.”
“They are very capable of having that passion and fire but I have only seen flashes of it here and there from each player. I am still confident in this team and believe in our potential to be a good ball team is there, but we have to find a way to overcome this lack of competitiveness in order to tap into that potential.”
Charles Farmer led Sesser-Valier with 16 last night. Tyler Winchester had 15 and Jamie Lance added 13. The Devils showed their depth last night putting 10 in the scoring column.
Jared Myerhoff had 11 for the Pioneers. Gavin Thies added 10.
Sesser-Valier (6-8)(2-2) travels to Goreville on Tuesday night. The Blackcats handed Vienna their first conference loss last night. Trico (4-11)(0-4) plays next Saturday night in DuQuoin.
BOX SCORE:
SESSER-VALIER (73) Farmer 8 0 4-5 20; Winchester 4 1 4-6 15; Lance 5 1 0-2 13; L. Gunter 4 0 1-2 9; Launius 2 0 0-0 4; Baxter 2 0 0-0 4; J. Gunter 0 1 0-0 3; Page 0 0 3-4 3; Boles 1 0 0-1 2; Bassp 1 0 0-0 2
TRICO (43) Myerhoff 5 0 1-1 11; Theis 0 2 4-8 10; Compton 3 0 3-4 9; Voght 2 0 1-2 5; Myers 0 0 2-4 2; Volkman 1 0 0-0 2; Heiman 0 0 2-2 2;
SCORE BY QUARTERS;
SESSER-VALIER (6-8)(2-2) 15 32 15 11 – 73
TRICO (4-11)(0-4) 2 11 12 12 – 43
West Frankfort back to .500 – Picks up big road win at Sparta
Benton goes to Massac and gets a win
METROPOLIS- The Benton Rangers went down to Massac County and picked up a 53-40 win Friday night. Massac has been a buzzsaw and burial ground for teams in the SIRR Ohio With Joe Hosman on the sidelines, the veteran with over 700 wins will find a way to keep his team in the game.
I grabbed Coach Ron Winemiller’s comments off Saturday Morning Talking Sports on Q106. A lot of the comments are about the second half of the game. The Rangers went to the locker room tied with the Patriots. Here was his keys to the Ranger win:
- The press was much more effective
- They rebounded much better
- They tweaked how they guarded Isaiah Thompson. He was coach Winemiller’s biggest concern going in when I talked to him earlier in the week. When I watch at team, I always look how teams that are opponents of Franklin County schools will match up. I saw the potential of him giving the Rangers problems. He had 18 on the night, but the Rangers walked away with the win.
- The bench gave him some big minutes, especially Gehrig Wynn popping three home run balls in the second quarter.
I think it is noteworthy but whoever guarded Darius Roundtree did an awesome job holding him to five points.
One thing that will stick with me for a long time, he mentioned how his kids hate to lose and been in big situations. They have been in other situations. He mentioned how Derek Oxford a four year starter and Austin Wills a three year starter was faced with a big put. (You might as well call Timmy Henson a four year starter with his time at Thompsonville. When he was a freshman, the GEC tournament is full every night and the crowd is very loud.)
He mentioned how Hamilton Page and Blaine Pankey faced some big time situations on the gridiron. He also mentioned for the ones that played baseball has walked up to the plate facing situations with second and third, two outs in the bottom of the seventh, down a run.
The Rangers improved to 13-1 on the season and 4-0 in the SIRR Ohio. The Murphysboro Red Devils will be coming to Rich Herrin Gym on Friday. This is a game that can have huge implications on the SIRR ohio race.
Massac County stands 4-6 and 1-2 in the conference. They dropped a 57-48 decision at DuQuoin last night. They host the West Frankfort Redbirds Friday night in a girls/boys doubleheader.
BOX SCORE:
BENTON (53) Oxford 0 4 3-4 15; Wills 2 3 0-0 12; Wynn 0 3 0-0 9; Willams 3 0 2-2 8; Henson 0 1 3-3 5; Page 1 0 2-2 4
MASSAC COUNTY (40) Thompson 7 0 5-7 19; Brugess 2 0 2-2 6; Roundtree 2 0 1-2 5; Fortman 2 0 1-2 5; Miller 2 0 1-3 5
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BENTON (13-1) 15 10 14 14 – 53
MASSAC COUNTY (4-6) 17 8 9 6 – 40
Edith Flowers – Zeigler
Edith Audrey Flowers, 95, passed away on Saturday January 7, 2017 at 7:35 A.M. at Shawnee Christian Nursing Home in Herrin, IL. She was born March 19, 1921 in Plumfield to Hiram and Lillian Mary (Bolen) Karnes.
Audrey was a clerk at Green’s Drug Store in Zeigler for many years and retired from LeQuatte’s Drug Store in Herrin.
She is survived by her son Tom Flowers of Zeigler, two grandchildren, Tim Flowers of Zeigler and Melissa Flowers of Zeigler, and one sister Bertha Barwick of Elkville.
She was preceded in death by her parents, one sister Pearl Leffler, and three brothers Fred Karnes, William Karnes, and Cecil Karnes.
Gilbert Funeral Home of Christopher has been entrusted with the arrangements. Funeral services will be on Tuesday January 10, 2017 at 11:00 A.M. at the Gilbert Funeral Home in Christopher. Visitation will be on Tuesday January 10, 2017 from 10:00 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. Burial will be in Masonic and IOOF cemetery in Benton, IL.
In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to Hospice of Southern Illinois and will be accepted at the funeral home.
For more information go to our website www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com
