By Steve Dunford 

From conversations on the Saturday Morning talk shows on the radio,  most have this game circled for being the best one of the day.

Both teams will come in hungry today, because the Appleknockers and the Tigers let their last games slip away from them.  Cobden led the whole game against a very good Goreville Blackcat team, before Braden Webb flat out took over, as Goreville won 71-68.

Thompsonville on the other hand, squandered an 11 point lead with four minutes to go down at Century to lose the game in overtime 74-71.   The Appleknockers defeated Century 65-45 in the Vienna Classic.

Some other common opponents.  The Tigers defeated Carrier Mills 64-37 and Elverado 52-51.  Cobden defeated Carrier Mills 75-53 and Elverado 48-43.

Three to watch for the Appleknockers tonight is 6′ 3″ Clayton Eck, who has a very good inside outside game.  Their point guard John Russell seems like he has been in high school for seven or eight years now.  Noah Franklin a 6′ 4″ freshman was giving Goreville fits on the inside on Tuesday night.

For Thompsonville, 6′ 2″ Sophomore guard Corbin Fitch has turned into a scoring machine, averaging 15 + points a game for the Tigers.  Reed Raubach a 6′ 5″ junior can fill it up from the outside, 6′ 7″ junior center Anthony Darge has been getting double doubles night in and night out, and 5′ 10″ junior point guard Tyson Kessler has been open for more points as of late, as teams are not keying on him as much.  He was the Tigers biggest scoring threat last year.  He is very unselfish, and been picking up five or more assists in most games.

Thompsonville has played a 2-3 zone most of the year, and on occasion go to a 3-2.  Eck and Russell might cause them to go man to man because both are shooters.

Cobden was running a half court trap against Goreville.  That can work either for or against the Tigers.

In the paint Franklin might cause the Tigers some problems, because he is a little more physical than Raubach and Darge.  However the duo from Thompsonville, especially Darge could pick up some blocked shots.

Over the last two years, these squads have been each others nemesis.  Two years ago Cobden won on last second shots twice.  Last year Thompsonville went to Union County and picked up a nice win over the Appleknockers.

Being a T’ville guy, what scares me about Cobden is the opponents they have played with.  They caused Goreville some problems last Tuesday night, in a game that I watched on Black Cats Network.   They also gave Anna-Jonesboro a good scare as well.

The Tigers have yet to put together a complete 32 minute game this year.  When they do, they can be a very dangerous ball club.  They have struggled at the free throw line, and turnovers have plagued them.

Like the prognosticators that are predicting this has the potential of being one of the closest first round games.  I think the match-up between Johnston City and Odin has the potential to be too.

A few Devil fans have asked me about Grady Furlow, a 6′ 1″ freshman who transferred from Sesser-Valier a couple of years ago.  On the JV level he is the Tigers biggest scoring threat.  On the varsity level, his minutes have been increasing every game.

By Steve Dunford 

THOMPSONVILLE  –  The series between the Thompsonville Tigers and the Elverado Falcons started in the late 1970’s.  It ended when Thompsonville joined the Mid-South conference.  They were independents for several years.

When I was a freshman, we picked up a blowout overtime win.  I don’t remember how much, bur everyone picked up some playing time.  Current FCHS girls basketball coach Matt Hampleman had two monstrous dunks in the final frame that night.

Over thirty years later the Tigers came close to coming out of Elkville with an upset win.  The lost in overtime by around 15 as several Tigers fouled out.

Saturday night will go in the archives as another wild one as the Tigers pull out a 52-51 victory.

In the middle of the third quarter the Tigers had a 32-18 lead.  Falcon Coach Jason Emling called a time out  They came out in a 2-2-1 three quarter quart press.

The Tigers did a halfway decent job breaking the press.  It seemed to me it rushed them on the offensive end.  The Falcons chipped away and ended up tying it at 38 midway through the fourth quarter.  Dawson White and Aquantez Penn Caught fire.

Lets pick things up at :34 in the fourth quarter.  White comes to the line and knocks down two free throws to put Elverado up 49-46.

Tyson Kessler goes coast to coast to cut the Falcon lead to one.  White is fouled and hits both ends of a one and one to put Elverado up 51-48.

Reed Raubach (I believe could not pick up the baseline on the video)  hits a three to tie it back up at 51 with 16 seconds.  They go for one shot.  With :02 on the clock Elverado turns over the ball on a traveling violation.  Then the Tigers put it away when Corbin Fitch is fouled with :004 on the clock.  He goes to the line with no time left on the clock and hits the back end of a double bonus.

Here is a link to the fourth quarter 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbUx8L3-IGw

The Tigers improve to 4-4 on the season.  They Travel to Ullin tomorrow night to face the Century Centurions.  Then they face another SEC team the Cobden Appleknockers in the first round of the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.   Corbin Fitch Led T’ville with 16

Elverado falls to 8-4 on the season. They are off until they open in the Duster Thomas Hoops Classic.  They face Jerseyville and DuQuoin on December 29th.

Box Score

THOMPSONVILLE (52)  Fitch 7 0 2-5 16, Kessler 3 0 5-8 11, Darge 4 0 2-7, Raubach 0 3 0-0 9, Dixon 2 0 2-2 6, Kirkman 0 0 0-0 0, Furlow 0 0 0-0 0

ELVERADO (51)  White 1 6 4-4 24, Penn 4 2 2-2 16, Alstat 1 1 0-0 5, Bernandini 2 0 0-0 4, Floyd 1 0 0-0 2, Carraker 0 0 0-0 0, Shearer 0 0 0-0 0

Score by Quarters

THOMPSONVILLE (4-4)   9 – 13 – 12 – 18 –   52

ELVERADO (8-4)   6 – 10 – 12 – 23 –   51

By Steve Dunford 

THOMPSONVILLE –  In the first half Coach Pete Gordon and his Thompsonville Tigers did not have an answer defensively for the Webber Township Trojans.  If the would have his ball club fall back in a zone, they started bombing threes.  If they would play man to man, post player Charles Neal would have his way on the inside.

Webber and Thompsonville mixing it up last night at Doc Harvey gym.

Early in the first half the Tigers were down by as many as 16 and were down by 20 early in the third quarter.

Webber goes ice cold, in which the Trojans shot over 70% from the field, and shot 48% for the game.  T’ville was ice cold for the first half, and went on a ten-minute stretch in the second half they could not miss.

At the 2:32 mark of the fourth quarter Thompsonville was down 47-43 with the ball.  They did not score the rest of the night.  The lid was on the bucket as the Tigers could not buy a basket.  Webber could not hit a free throw.

Webber was chipping away and went up 49-43 with seconds left on the clock.  Trojan coach Brad Beatty calls a “hell fire and brimstone” timeout.  He keeps telling his team they need to put someone away down the stretch.

Later, I found out that they about let their Midland Trail Conference opener get away from them against the Odin Eagles.  Webber left with a 53-43 victory last night.

“This was a different team than we played at Christopher a couple of weeks ago.   (Corbin) Fitch and (Tyson) Kessler cause us a world of match-up problems.  This is a team that gets better every time out.  I hope we are in different regionals in February.”  Webber coach Brad Beatty said about the Tigers.

Freshman Grady Furlow (20) on the post for the Tigers. The transfer from Sesser-Valier two years back is seeing his minutes increase each game at the varsity level for the Tigers.

We just could not get over the hump.  Turnovers (23) and free-throws (4-10 40%) hurt us again.  I loved the way we fought and battled back in the second half.  Webber, especially (Charles) Neal has had our number over the last couple of years.” Thompsonville coach Pete Gordon said about last night’s loss.

Charles Neal led the Trojans with 21 points on the night.  He held Tiger Center Anthoney Darge to seven points and one rebound on the night.  Dylan Stratton added 18 points for Webber.

Tyson Kessler and Corbin Fitch were the two Tigers in double figures with 11 points on the night.  Neal and Stratton will get their points.  The Tiger zone was effective on the third prong of the Trojan scoring attack in sophomore Dalton Adcock.  He was limited to three points on the night.

Webber improved to (5-1) on the season.  They will be making the eight mile trip up route 15 to face the Cisne Running Lions at the Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament as we speak.

Thompsonville falls to (3-4)  They will host the Elverado Falcons on week from tonight in a non-conference matchup.

Box Score

WEBBER TOWNSHIP (53)  Neal 8 0 5-8 21, Stratton 4 2 4-6 18, Mount 0 1 1-2 4, Adcock 0 1 0-0 3, Thompson 0 1 0-0 3; Taylor 1 0 0-0 2

THOMPSONVILLE (43)  Kessler 4 1 0-0 11; Fitch 4 0 3-6 11, Darge 3 0 1-4 7; Raubach 2 1 0-0 7, Dixon 2 0 0-0 4, Furlow 0 1 0-0 3

Score By Quarters

WEBBER TOWNSHIP (5-1)  15  – 18 – 10 – 10 –   53

THOMPSONVILLE (3-4)  5 – 12 – 14 – 12 –   43

By Steve Dunford 

THOMPSONVILLE –  With a minute and some change left on the clock in the first quarter, Thompsonville coach Pete Gordon switches from a full court man to man to a 2-3 zone.  The Tigers were down 14-8 at that point.

T’ville then goes on a 33-9 run over the next 13 minutes.  They also go on a 10-0 run to close out a 64-37 win last night over Carrier Mills at William H. “Doc” Harvey gym last night.

Sophomore Corbin Fitch led the Tigers in scoring again with 22 points, Tyson Kessler added 17 with seven assists and seven steals, Anthoney Darge eight, Trey Bybee four, Grady Furlow and Jake Dixon three, Zack Kirkman, Bryson Chullen and Reed Raubach two, and Tyler Jones added a free throw for the Tigers.

Rostin Lewis was the only Wildcat in double figures with 11 points, Andrew Lollis added nine and Billy Lewis added eight.

Coach Gordon had this to say about last nights win.  It was a  slow start but played well as the game unfolded.  We took care of the ball better with only 12 turnovers. I think our size showed up, as we out rebounded them 40-26.

Carrier Mills fell to (1-6)(0-1).  The will host the Hardin County Cougars on Friday night in a GEC conference matchup.

Thompsonville improves to (3-3)(2-1) on the season.  They will host their former Mid South conference foes, the Webber Township Trojans.  Webber picked up a nice 56-53 win at Odin last night.

The Tigers are seeking to revenge a blowout win against the Trojans in the Christopher Turkey Tournament.  This is what Coach Gordon had to say about the rematch. “Webber is going to be a difficult game for us, but we are excited to get a chance to play better than the first time we played them. There is plenty of room for improvement.”

If the Lord is willing, I will be at Doc Harvey gym on Friday night covering this game.

By Steve Dunford 

NORRIS CITY –  So far this season, the Fighting Cardinals struggled from behind the arc, which is the bulk of their offense.  NCOE bombed 14 threes last night, but the Thompsonville Tigers held on for an 86-83 victory.

“It Was a layup fest, we scored 68 points inside the paint.  We only had one bucket outside of ten feet.  The rest came from the free throw line.”  T’ville coach Pete Gordon said after last night’s win.

Tigers Corbin Fitch who had a game high 32 points drives the lane against New Athens during the Christopher Turkey Tournament.

Of those points from the paint sophomore guard Corbin Fitch had 32 points on the night with Reed Raubach adding 24.

NCOE raced out to a 21-18 lead after the first quarter.  Freshman Jack Riggs had four of his seven threes on the night in that frame, which led to his 21 points on the night.

The fighting Cardinals expanded their lead to 46-40 at the half.  In the locker rooms, Coach Gordon said the Tigers tweaked their press breaker, using a 1-4, instead of the diamond which has been used very effectively with teams against the Cardinals across Southern Illinois.

Coming out of the locker rooms, Reed Raubach had a big third quarter with nine points and Corbin Fitch had eight points.   After three quarters, Thompsonville was on top 64-63,

It was nip and tuck through the fourth quarter.  At the two minute mark NCOE had a three point lead with the ball.  Tyson Kessler, who came up big down the stretch in the win against New Athens, came up with a big steal to cut the Cardinal Deficit to one.

NCOE turned the ball over and the Tigers quickly was up by one.  The Tigers go with junior guard Peyton Roberts down the stretch, who transferred from Benton during the offseason.  He goes 4/4 from the free throw line. To give the Tigers an 86-83 lead.

A buzzer beater by Brandon Skaggs rims in and out, which would have sent the game into overtime. Skaggs had a team high 25 on the night for the fighting Cardinals.

Tiger big man Anthoney Darge had 14 on the night for the Tigers and Tyson Kessler added 11 for the fourth Tiger in double figures.  Teams are starting to key on Kessler some.  The junior in my book will be the top point guard in 1A in the south his senior season.

Roberts added his four points down the stretch and Jake Dixon chipped in a free throw.  Bryson Chullen and Grady Furlow logged some minutes for the Tigers and did not score.

Also in the Scoring column for NCOE was Trey Simmons with 11,  One thing that jumped out at me was Evan Healy, who came into the game averaging 20+ ppg. added nine.

Thompsonville (2-3)(1-1) on the season will host Carrier Mills (1-5)(0-1) on Tuesday night.  NOCE (1-4)(0-2) host their cross county rivals the Carmi-White County Bulldogs (1-1) on Tuesday as well.

By Steve Dunford 

GOLCONDA –  In a road venue that has not been too kind in the past, it was the case again tonight as the Thompsonville Tigers lost their third straight to the Pope County Pirates 55-40.  It was the Greater Egyptian Conference opener for both teams.

Pope County rushes out to an 18-6 first quarter lead and never looked back.  Sebastian Fasolo hit two of his four 3’s on the night.  He had a game high 20 points.

Reed Raubach, led the TIgers with 13 points in tonight’s loss to Pope County

Reed Raubach and Anthoney Darge each had 6 each in the second quarter for the Tigers, but Pope Big Man Josh Floyd had all of his seven points on the night, with stepping behind the arc to hit a three.  T’ville cuts the lead to eight, 29-21 at halftime.

There was very little offense to speak of in the third quarter, as the Pirates outscored the Tigers 8-4 to take a 37-25 lead.

Foul trouble played the Tigers in the fourth, and Pope County made their free throws down the stretch for a 55-40 final.

Along with Fasolo’s 20 on the night, Matthew Davis added 10 points on the night for the Pirates.  Pope County improves to (4-2)(1-0) on the season and host the Crab Orchard Trojans in a GEC match up.

For the Tigers Raubach had a team high 13, Darge Added 12, Corbin Fitch 10, Tyson Kessler 3,  Zack Kirkman 2 to round out the scoring for T’ville.  Trey Bybee, Grady Furlow, and Peyton Roberts saw action, but did not score.

Thompsonville falls to (1-3)(0-1) on the season.  They travel to Norris City on Friday to take on Evan Wylie’s high octane offense, the NCOE Fighting Cardinals.