Tom’s Turkey Tournament Trivia

November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Tom Wheeler

The 38th Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament starts Monday and it sure brings back memories for this ol’ Coach. So I thought, since I’ve seen every tournament. Here is some trivia that you may or may not remember.

I’ll just ramble so try to stay with me.

Three teams have been in the tourney all 38 years: Christopher, Zeigler-Royalton and Webber Township … Galatia coached by Benton’s Don Smith won the inaugural tournament and two years later his brother Ron Smith won the tournament with Coulterville … Christopher defeated Coulterville in 84,85,and 86 in the Championship game, in 86 current Sparta athletic director Richie Williams was the Eagles coach, his starting point guard was Gary Gischer who later coached at Christopher, Williams also coached in the tournament at Elverado where  he got so excited one night he ripped the seat out of his pants … the St. Louis Cardinals Corey Bailey played in the tournament with Crab Orchard before moving to Marion for his senior year … Rodney Seips of Egyptian also played minor league baseball … the biggest star to ever attend the tournament was tennis great Jennifer Capriati, who came to see Shane Boner play (she dated Shane’s brother in California) … Logan athletic director and baseball coach Jerry Halstead played in the first tournament with Carterville when he started as a freshman … Z-R’s Matt Swalls was MVP in 1981 and teammate Sean Connor in 1983, Matts group won the tournament but Sean was the first player to win from a team that wasn’t champions (they finished fourth) … their best tourney team may have been in 1982 but the Tornadoes were busy winning the IHSA Class A state championship in football in Bloomington as  all five basketball starters played football … Bruce Weber, coach at Kansas State, came to the tourney to scout Egyptian’s Dana Ford when he was at SIU … Current CCHS freshman coach Rick Cook was 12-0 as varsity coach in his four tournaments … my wife Lynda sure loves Turkey week as there are NO suppers prepared that week, I’m usually found in the great hospitality room along with many ‘regulars’ … CCHS revealed a beautiful new portable floor for the 77-78 season but this year’s floor won’t take a back door to that one …

Looking back I can’t believe how many of my ex-teammates coached in the tournament like John Kretz, Rick Cook,(fast pitch) Ed Belva,Steve Strickland, Wendell Wheeler, Russ Hobbs, Mike Henson, Wes Choate, Nick Laur(slow pitch) Cliff Davis, Ken Dillingham,  (McKendree basketball) Roger Yates (Coal Belt baseball) and Don Gines (McLeansboro Jr. High basketball) … Mt. Vernon legend Doug Creel coached in the tournament at Thompsonville and his best player was current West Frankfort Lady Red Birds coach Matt Hampelman … ZR’S superintendent George Wilkerson played in the tournament as did CCHS’s super Rich Towers (MVP in 86) … Varsity coaches who played in the tournament include CCHS coaches Eric Stallman, Jeff Minor, Jeff Gossett, and Gary Gischer, ZR’S Quinn Laird, Matt Morgan, Jamie Moyers and Brent Kreid, Thompsonville’s Brandon Chapman and Brock Harris … now it’s time for more trivia from the 2012 tournament and with six members of the all-tournament team returning, including 2011 MVP Devantae Price of defending champion Egyptian, it should bring more great basketball to kick off the 2012-23 season.

Filed Under: Benton News, Christopher High School Sports, Christopher News, Coello News, Franklin Co. News, High School Sports, More Featured Articles, Royalton News, Sesser News, Thompsonville News, Uncategorized, Valier News, West Frankfort News, Zeigler News

BMS Rangerettes move to 8-0 with win over Harrisburg

November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Shane Dyel

The Benton Middle School Rangerettes moved to 8-0 with a convincing 20-point win over Harrisburg Wednesday night on Benton’s home floor.
The Rangerettes put together a strong second and third quarter run to put the Lady Bulldogs away.

Benton started sluggishly to open a 13-5 first quarter lead. The Rangerettes put the defensive pressure on Harrisburg to open a 22 point halftime lead.

Ally Gischer lead the Rangerettes scoring with 14 points. Joining her in double figures was Makayla Abney with 11. Chipping in with 4 points each were Alexis Abney, Cristen Shaw, and Kaylee Pedigo

‘’Harrisburg is down a little this year, but their kids played hard’’ observed coach Mark Dyel. ‘’I thought we played hard enough to win but there are still a lot of areas we can improve in. Next week our schedule gets a lot tougher with road games at Carbondale and at unbeaten Herrin.’’

While Gischer  led the Rangerettes in scoring, she also played tough defense recording seven steals. Benton’s 2-1-2 zone defense forced Harrisburg into several turnovers.

Benton’s seventh grade team lost their first conference game to drop to 2-3 on the year.
In a low scoring first half Benton trailed 9-5 at the break. The Rangerettes were never able to close the gap in the second half eventually falling 24-15.

The seventh grade squad is still playing without leading scorer Kenedee Kendrick, who suffered a concussion in a game last week., said coach Daniel Clyden.

“We are still without Kenedee and that hurts us both offensively and defensively,” Clyden said. “But, we had way to many turnovers  in this game.”
Brittany Johnson had scoring honors with 5 points followed by Lindsey Seidel and Haylie Schelsky  with 4 a piece and Ebby Casey scoring two.

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, Benton Junior High Sports, Benton News, Franklin Co. News, High School Sports, Junior High Sports, Uncategorized

Rangerettes move to 2-0 heading into weekend play at Marion Lady Wildcats Invitational

November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangerettes defeated the Herrin Lady Tigers 48-43 in Thursday night action at the Marion Lady Wildcats Invitational.

The hard fought victory moved the Rangerettes to 2-0 on the season and also leaves Benton as the only team in the five-team, round-robin tournament without a loss heading into weekend play.

“It was a tough, hard fought victory,” said first-year coach Andy Sloan. “It wasn’t always pretty and we still need to do a much better job taking care of the basketball but we played hard and competed. Herrin is a well-coached team so it is a nice win for us.”

The Rangerettes jumped out to a 9-8 first quarter lead only to see Herrin go on an 11-3 run to open up a 19-12 lead with five minutes remaining in the second stanza. Keyed by six points from senior Morgan Corn the Rangerettes went on 12-3 run to end the quarter and take a 24-22 halftime lead.

“I thought we closed the second quarter strong and I also thought we had more energy in the second half,” said Sloan. “It was a very physical game.”

With the victory Benton is 2-0 and Herrin drops to 1-1 heading into games on Friday and Saturday. Benton will face Carterville (1-2) tonight at 6 p.m. while Herrin will meet Marion (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Vienna has a bye on Friday and will meet Herrin at 11 a.m and Benton will face Marion in the tournament finale at 12:30 on Saturday.

Corn led the Rangers with 17 points followed by Makala Carney with 13. Rounding out the Benton scoring was Rowdee Sanders with six, Evelyn Mendez with five, Cali Carney with four and Katie Sandusky and Marcela Mendez with two each. Sami Minor played but did not score. Leading Herrin was Gabby Woodis and Tori Johnson with 13 each and also in double figures was Abby Horn with 12.

In the early game on Thursday Vienna, led by 26 points from Carley Childress, defeated Carterville 53-41.

Benton 9 15 14 11 — 49

Herrin 8 14 13 19 — 44

BENTON (49): E. Mendez 1 2-2 5, M. Carney 5 3-4 13, M. Mendez 0 2-4 2, Sandusky 1 0-0 2, Sanders 1 4-6 6, Corn 4 9-11 17, C. Carney 2 0-2 4,. Totals: 14 20-29 49.

HERRIN (44): Horn 5 0-0 12, W. Woodis 1 1-1 3, Johnson 4 5-8 13, G. Woodis 5 0-0 13, Hunter 1 0-1 2, Yates 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16 9-12 44.

 

 

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, Benton News, Franklin Co. News, High School Sports, Uncategorized

No Christmas decoration work detail needed this weekend in W.F.

November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The West Frankfort Chamber of Commerce’s elves will not be needed this year, the Chamber has announced.

The annual Saturday morning work detail to hang Christmas decorations in the city’s downtown area has been cancelled because West Frankfort Street Department crews have been doing the work this week.

Volunteer workers had been scheduled to report at 5 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, but do not need to do so.

City crews will be able to complete the work before Tuesday’s 19th annual Fantasy of Lights parade, West Frankfort Mayor Tom Jordan said.

— Bruce A. Fasol

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

Community worship service planned Saturday in Whittington

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

They are calling it “Undivided,” and it is open to everyone. It is a night of community worship and ministry in Southern Illinois.

Jon Walker is the organizer and had the vision for this event from the beginning. The hope is that Undivided will bring people from different churches and with different backgrounds together for a great night of worship.

“I hope that fostering unity will eventually bring about ministry and reaching this community as one body of Christ. So we are collecting food for a local food pantry and we will be doing similar charity work with every event we put on,” Walker said.

An added feature of the event is that they are collecting food for the Benton Ministerial Alliance at the event. Bringing the community together and serving others by collecting food – some would say that Whittington Church does that very well.

The event starts with refreshments at 6 p.m., followed by the service at 7 p.m. Whittington Baptist Church is located at 200 W. Main St. in Whittington, IL.

— Tammy Head

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

Order ribs today from W.F. Chamber of Commerce

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This Friday is pick-up day for a BBQ rib fundraiser being hosted by the West Frankfort Chamber of Commerce. Calls to order the ribs should be made immediately to the Chamber office at (618) 932-2181.

Cost for the slab of ribs is $17 – fully cooked. Rib sale pick-ups may be made Friday at the Chamber of Commerce office, located in the Public Safety Building at 201 E. Nolen St. in West Frankfort.
— Bruce A. Fasol
Filed Under: Franklin Co. News, Fundraisers, Living, More Featured Articles Tagged With: , , ,

Franklin County 4-H offers kids crafting workshops in Benton

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Franklin County 4-H is offering two crafting workshops for kids in early December.

On Saturday, Dec. 1, a Chrismas crafting workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Franklin County Exptension Office, 1212 Route 14 West, Benton. This workshop is open to youth ages 5 to 18. The cost is $10, which includes all supplies, and participants will take home at least one finished project. To register, call (618) 439-3178 or register online here by Nov. 29. Class size is limited.

A sewing workshop will be held for kids ages 5 to 18 on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Participants will be making the owl purse pictured here. This workshop is free for 4-H members and $7 for non 4-H members. To register, call (618) 439-3178 or register online here by Dec. 3.

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

Franklin County Farm Bureau news

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Larry J. Miller

Now that the dust has settled, we can see more clearly what the future will hold for taxpayers in the days ahead. Therefore, here is how I see the future and how it will affect farmers and taxpayers.

On the federal level, with the re-election of President Obama and to solve the financial crisis that both Democrats and Republicans have created, our taxes will be going up! And I am not saying just for the rich people but for everyone who makes money and files a tax return.

Government spending will not decrease but we will pay more to finance a bloated federal budget. This will cause the growth of the economy to decrease in the long term and reduce the income of the government because of lower employment caused by higher taxes. And we still do not know the total affect of the new health care program, which by the way; will cost the common man more taxes for premiums.

We still do not have a farm bill which leaves us wondering about issues that will affect us into the next crop year.

On the state level, we are basically in the same situation. Income taxes were increased by 66 percent, but the budget is still not balanced and there is no hope that it will change at all very soon, all the while jobs are leaving the state compounding the problem. Pension problems, which the state created by not making pension payments because of budget shortfalls, will be sent back to local taxing districts and the only recourse that local districts will have is to increase property tax. Guess who pays for that?

Locally, unemployment will increase because of increased environment regulations on coal emissions which will limit the expansion of coal mines.

In Franklin County, we have three functioning 911 services which cost us three times what it should. We will continue to employ nine school superintendents because we will not accept school consolidation.

Yes, all of the above looks very gloomy but we must hold our elected officials to a higher standard and demand change. They work for us!

You may want to put this prognostication in a place to remember and tell me if I was right or wrong in a few months.

This is just a reminder that our County Annual Meeting is on Monday, Nov. 26 at the Benton Civic Center. Registration begins at 5 and the meal will be served at 6:15. If you would like to make reservations please call our office by Monday, Nov. 19 at (618) 435-3616.

If you would like to order fruit this year you must order by Tuesday, Nov. 27th. You can order oranges, grapefruit and tangelos – 4/5 bushel – $25.00 & 2/5 bushel – $15.00.

We have pecans in our office now – one pound bags of shelled pecan halves for $9.00. We also have about 20 bags 12 oz bags of chocolate covered pecans halves in – $9.00 each. Call (618) 435-3616.

Remember we are farmers working together. If we can help let us know.

Filed Under: Columns, Franklin Co. News, Opinion Tagged With: ,

Angel Tree now up in Christopher awaiting gifts from public

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 The Christopher Area Betterment Association’s “Angel Tree” project is asking for help from residents to provide gifts for deserving children this Christmas.

The tree is set up in the lobby of the Banterra Bank of Christopher, 506 N. Victor. To participate, you choose an ornament from the tree, which includes a child’s gender, age and other details to help you shop for gifts to brighten up his or her Christmas.

Gifts should be wrapped and taken back to the bank by Friday, Nov. 30, or to the Jaycees building at 106 S. Thomas St., Christopher on Monday, Dec. 3.

For more information about the Christopher Angel Tree program, call Banterra Bank’s Susie Williams at (618) 724-9416.

Filed Under: Christopher News, Featured, Franklin Co. News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sesser-Valier school asks for Christmas donations for students

November 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For several years, the Sesser-Valier School staff members have donated their time and money to sponsor deserving students and their younger siblings at Christmastime.

This year, the school’s Students Assistance Program Team is reaching out to the community for help. Individuals and businesses wishing to donate can shop for gifts for the children they sponsor or donate funds so that the SAP Team may shop. A wish list from the children is provided, and the average amount spent on each child is $60.

All children in the program remain anonymous.

To donate, call Tracy Masters at (618) 625-5101, Ext. 120, or Kerri Henry at (618) 625-5105, Ext. 103. Monetary donations may also be mailed to S-V Unit Dist. 196 Christmas Fund, 4626 State Highway 154, Sesser, IL 62884.

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