Sports Archives - Page 167 of 226 - Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News

Sesser-Valier outlasts Christopher in a marathon

February 16, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford franklincounty-news.com

CHRISTOPHER- Tuesday night the Sesser-Valier Red Devils defeated the Christopher Bearcats 85-81 in overtime. It was senior night for Kaeleb Pedigo, Gabe Schimpf, Zach Snell, and Andrew Dunford.

There was no flow to the game at all. There were a lot of walks to the north and south end of “The Cave” as there were 53 fouls called in the contest 27 on Sesser-Valier and 26 on Christopher. Jamie Lance and Seth Boles fouled out for the Devils, and Gabe Schimpf, Bradley Young and Jared Curry fouled out for the Bearcats.

I have watched a lot of high school basketball in my nearly 47 years on this earth. S-V had one of the best nights at the free throw line I

Jamie Lance and Jared Curry get ready to tip it up in Tuesday night’s game where S-V won 85-81 in OT

ever witnessed. (28-30 94%) Christopher was very good as well (23-28 82%)

The Red Devils bench came into play as fouls began to mount up on both teams. Coach Shane Garner has a nine man rotation in my opinion is the deepest bench of any Class 1A school in Southern Illinois. Christopher Coach Eric Stallman had to go a lot deeper into his bench than the Bearcats have been accustomed to this season.

In the first quarter Charles (I had to go back and correct for calling him Charlie) Farmer came out red hot. He had the Devils first seven points for S-V in the first two and 1/2 minutes of the game. It was tied at seven then.

The Bearcats began clicking on all cylinders as they went on a 22-7 run over the next four minutes. Young had 12 of his 21 points on the night.

Farmer stopped the bleeding at the end of the first as he hit a 15 foot baseline jumper in the closing seconds of the quarter to cut the Bearcat lead down to 29-16. He had 12 of his 26 on the night as well.

In the Second Quarter fouls started to mount up for both teams. Bradley Young picks up his third in the first minute of the quarter. Jared Curry goes down with his third about the 3:30 mark. Jamie Lance and a couple other Devils also had three as well.

Christopher was in the double bonus at the end of the first quarter. Sesser-Valier was in it early. There were only two field goals for each team in the quarter.

There were only two field goals for each team in the quarter. It was looking like the Bearcats were going to pull away. The Bearcats had a 40-26 lead when Curry picked up his third foul just under the three minute mark.

Coach Stallman played a little McLeansboro ball the rest of the way…there were a couple of unforced turnovers and the Devils capitalized. Both teams went to the popcorn break (Christopher has the best, and a huge sack for $1) with the Bearcats up 40-30.

Out of the locker rooms Christopher comes out and on the first two possessions come out with Young being hit on a fast break and Pedigo hitting a couple free throws in the first 30 seconds. To put Christopher up 44-30. Pedigo was there a lot as he was 12/12 at the line. It looked like the Bearcats were well on their way to a blowout.

The next possession Young’s reappearance into the game did not last long as he picked up his fourth foul. Curry picked up his fourth one just right after that. Mainly they played a 2-3 but they also played a 3-2 and went to a 1-3-1 on a couple of possessions.

Lukas Gunter began to pick apart that zone, with dribble drive penetration, either from layups or getting fouled. Most of his game high 29 came in the second half, going 19-20 from the free throw line. Tyler Winchester also took advantage of it bombing four very deep threes in his 14 points on the night.

The momentum swung quickly to the Devils as they began to chip away. Addison Baxter with a very deep three in front of the Sesser-Valier coaching staff to give the Devils the lead 53-52 with :42 on the clock at the end of the third.

Christopher coughs the ball up and the Devils could not convert on a possession as they had a chance for several stickbacks and the quarter ended with the Devils holding on to the one point lead.

The Devils come out the gate to start the fourth quick with back to back steals from Lukas Gunter and to go up 57-52.

The Devils keep a five point lead with L. Gunter and Pedigo trading trips to the line. The Devils go up 63-56 at the 4:30 mark with a couple more free throws from the Red Baron who struck again. (WMIX broadcaster Danny Czerwinski’s name for Lukas Gunter)

Bradley Young then goes on a tear. The exclamation point was a break away two handed dunk to tie it up at 65 with two minutes and change left on the clock.

In the closing seconds of regulation, Gabe Schimpf knocks down a pair of free throws to give Christopher the first lead in a long while. Tyler Winchester answers back with a three to put S-V back up 68-67.

Bryce Pratt (Cool Hand Luke for the Bearcats down the stretch this year) goes 1/2 from the line, the Devils turn the ball over and Young finds Pratt in the post to put Christopher up 70-68.

The Red Baron struck again from the line again and Schimpf has a three that rims in and out at the buzzer as both teams are tied at 70 at the end of regulation.

In the extra frame, Pedigo and Schimpf strap the Bearcats on their back as Curry and Young foul out. Tyler Winchester hits another three at the 2:46 mark of OT to give the Devils a three point lead and they kept the lead until Zach Snell drills a deep three with :39 seconds left to tie it up at 81.

Lukas Gunter goes down and hits two more free throws, and Pedigo misses a layup. Charles Farmer ices it from the free throw line to give the Devils the four point victory.

Sesser-Valier improves to 15-13 on the season and 7-4 in the Black Diamond West. They go on the road to face Chester on Friday night, before starting play in the Crab Orchard Class 1A regional against Zeigler-Royalton Tuesday at 6:00 pm.

Christopher falls to 14-12 on the year and also 7-4 in the conference. They make the short bus trip to Z-R on Friday to finish out the regular season. They will play on Wednesday at the Crab Orchard regional facing the winner of Steeleville and Elverado, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.

The Bearcats loss gave the BDC West championship to Goreville as they fell back two in the loss column with one game to go.

SESSER VALIER BOX:

L. Gunter 5 0 19-20 29; Farmer 9 2 2-2 26; Winchester 0 4 2-2 14; Boles 1 0 5-6 7; Baxter 1 0 0-0 3; Lance 1 0 0-0 2; Launius 1 0 0-0 2; J. Gunter 1 0 0-0 2; Page 0 0 0-0 0

CHRISTOPHER BOX:

Pedigo 4 2 12-12 25; Young 7 0 7-12 21; Pratt 5 0 2-4 12; Curry 3 0 3-4 9; Snell 0 1 0-0 3; Saeger 0 0 0-0 0; Motsinger 0 0 0-0 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

SESSER-VALIER 16 14 23 17 15 – 85

CHRISTOPHER 29 11 12 18 11 – 81

Rangers roll over Rams

February 15, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

BENTON, IL – (Paul Hines Mt. Vernon Register-News. Click to read the full story. Here is an excerpt) The Rangers basketball team led for most of three quarters in a 52-33 Tuesday night victory over Mt. Vernon. The Rams raced to a quick early lead, but it evaporated in the second quarter. Benton built a double-digit second-half advantage and cruised to victory. The Rangers entered the game ranked No. 6 in class 3A. & The Rangers finished with seven 3-pointers. Derek Oxford hit four from long range. He led all scorers with 16 points. “They hit some nice shots,” (Mt. Vernon Coach Doug) Creel said. “(Oxford) played well, hit some big shots. Like I said, they’re a pretty good basketball team.” Parker Williams added eight, and Gehrig Wynn finished with seven. & Mt. Vernon dropped to 7-18 overall this season. Benton improved to 26-2 this year.

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, High School Sports, Sports

Valentines Day HS basketball preview

February 14, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford franklincounty-news.com

We have four games on tap involving county schools with Senior nights in Benton, Christopher, and Thompsonville.

Zeigler-Royalton (3-18)(0-10) travels to Trico (7-19)(2-7) The Tornadoes are coming off of a huge 63-62 win over Webber Township on Friday. The Pioneers dropped a 55-47 road decision against arch rival Steeleville on Friday night.

Galatia (10-13) at Thompsonville (5-16). The Tigers are coming off of and overtime loss at Elverado on Saturday night and Galatia is coming off a 57-51 loss to Hardin County on Tuesday. Galatia had the season series 2-0.

Sesser-Valier (14-13)(7-4) will be at Christopher (14-11)(7-3). The Bearcats have taken both games in the series. The Bearcats beat Vienna Friday night 64-49 and Sesser-Valier fell to Goreville 61-43. Goreville clinched a share of the BDC West crown on Friday.

Mt. Vernon (7-14) goes south to face the Benton Rangers (25-2). I talked to coach Doug Creel about his young ball club today. Their leading scorer is O’ Shea Hardin (JR) at 10 ppg. Next is Zach Williams (JR) at 8 ppg., Lukas Cooper (SO) at 5ppg., Quintin Kujawa (SR) at 4 ppg; and Jake Martin (SO) rounds out the starting lineup at 3 ppg. The Rams bring Terriance Blacok (SO) 5ppg, Weston Brackes (SO) 3ppg. and Amier Spann (FR) 3.0 ppg

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, High School Sports, Sports, Thompsonville High School Sports, Zeigler-Royalton High School Sports

IHSA February Board Meeting Recap: Lacrosse State Final Dates Set For 2018

February 13, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met at its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, February 13, 2017, where the Board approved the Terms & Conditions for the IHSA’s newest sports, Boys and Girls Lacrosse.

As a part of approving the Terms & Conditions, which will govern the IHSA Boys and Girls Lacrosse postseasons when they debut in the spring of 2018, the Board also set the dates for the inaugural state championships.

Both state finals, which will be held jointly at one site, will fall during Week 48 of the IHSA’s standardized calendar, meaning the first State Finals will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 31-June 2, 2018.

The State Finals will be a three-day event, with two boys’ semifinals being played on Thursday evening and two girls’ semifinals following on Friday evening. Saturday will feature an afternoon session with the boys’ and girls’ third-place games, followed by an evening session with both state title games. Saturday’s session order will rotate each year, with the girls’ games being played first in even years and the boys’ games first in odd years.

“This is another important step in the process of starting a new sport,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “We are appreciative of the time and effort that our advisory committees have put into this process, as well as the guidance and feedback that coaches have provided via the IHSLA and IHSWLA. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are excited to bring our state final offerings to over 30 sports come next spring.”

After approving the Terms & Conditions, the Board also made a motion to officially begin accepting proposals to host the State Final tournaments. State Final hosting proposal information will be posted on IHSA.org later this week. Hosting proposals are due to the IHSA by May 1, 2017, while the Board intends to select the host at its meeting on August 21, 2017.

***The official lacrosse state final hosting proposal information will be posted on front page of IHSA.org later this week***

ACTION ITEMS
1. The Board approved a recommendation to sign a five-year state final hosting contract for the sport of Competitive Dance with the Bloomington-Normal Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Bloomington-Normal Sports Commission to host at the Coliseum in Bloomington.

Executive Director Craig Anderson:
“The first five years of the IHSA Competitive Dance State Series have really been amazing in terms of participation and growth. A big part of that has been the state final experience that we have been able to provide because of the great partnership that we have with the Bloomington-Normal Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sports Commission, the Coliseum, and the local community as a whole. The Coliseum is a perfect fit as a venue, and with this contract extension, we look forward to ushering in the first decade of the sport there.”

2. The Board approved a recommendation to set the Board meeting dates for the 2017-18 school year. The meeting dates are as follows:
Monday, August 21, 2017

Monday, September 11, 2017
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Monday, February 12, 2018
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Monday, June 11, 2018

Minutes from all Advisory Committees can be viewed by clicking here.

1. The Board approved the consent items from the Advisory Committees from the following committees: Golf, Cross Country, Tennis, Volleyball, Football, Sports Medicine, Sportsmanship.

Consent items are recommendations that received approval from the sport/activity advisory committee, the Athletic Administrators Advisory Committee and the IHSA staff. Consent items can be viewed by clicking here.

Non-consent items are recommendations from sport or activity committees that did not receive a majority vote from the Athletic Advisory Committee or IHSA staff. No non-consent items were approved on February 13.

Some consent items of note include:

Boys & Girls Cross Country
1. In Regionals and Sectionals, for purposes of advancement of teams from regional to sectional and sectionals to the State Final, ties for all team places with the exception of the last qualifying spot will be broken per NFHS Rule 8-2-4 (i.e. comparing the 6th runner from the tied teams).

Boys & Girls Golf
1. For the entire State Series, the head coach and one assistant coach will be allowed to coach anywhere on the course until his/her player steps on the putting green.

Girls Volleyball
1. Sectional Semifinals moved to Monday and Sectional Finals to Wednesday. Super-Sectional matches moved to Friday.

Boys Volleyball
1. Friday State Final time schedule adjusted to the following:
Session 1 (Quarterfinals)
Match 1: 10:00 a.m.
Match 2: 11:00 a.m.
Session 2 (Quarterfinals)
Match 3: 4:00 p.m.
Match 4: 5:00 p.m.

APPEALS & HEARINGS
1. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Urbana (H.S.). The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-laws 2.010, 3.030, 6.010 and 6.021.

2. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Urbana (H.S.). The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-laws 2.010, 3.030, 6.010 and 6.021.

3. The Board tabled a request for a review of the eligibility of a student at Columbia High School.

DISCUSSION ITEMS
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain items the Board discusses, but upon which no action is taken. The following is a report of those items from the February 13, 2017, agenda:

1. The Board reviewed potential new changes to the IHSA’s Transfer Concurrence Form, as well as drafts of two new potential transfer forms designed to be complete by the parents of transferring student-athlete and coach(es) at the receiving school of transferring student-athlete.

2. The Board discussed IHSA State Final trophies and a potential redesign of the state final trophy due to cost prohibitive issues with the casting and metal figurines that currently accompany the IHSA state final trophies.

3. The Board heard a report from the Executive Director that all member schools on probation have met the requirement of attending an annual IHSA Principals Rules Meeting via a make-up meeting at the IHSA office on January 10, 2017.

4. The Executive Director recognized the IHSA’s nominee for the NHFS Heart of the Arts Award, Buffalo Grove’s Sabrina Kenoun.

5. The Executive Director recognized the IHSA’s nominee for the NFHS Spirit of Sport Award, Bloomington Central Catholic’s Joey Malinowksi.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sports

Sesser-Valier-Waltoville girls open sectional play tonight.

February 13, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford-franklincounty-news.com

The Sesser-Valier-Waltonville Lady Red Devils open play this evening against the Breese Mater Dei knights, at the Johnston City Class 2A Sectional tournament with a 7:00 P.M. scheduled starting time.

The Devils come into tonight’s contest with a record of 25-1, with their only loss to Class 3A, and Southern Ilinois River to River Ohio Champions, Herrin. They are currently ranked seven in the state in the latest Associated Press Class 2A Statewide Poll.

I talked to S-V-W coach Rick Metcalf and this is what he had to say about the Knights. He said, “They are a guard oriented team with their top three scorers averaging in double figures. They handle pressure defense very well. They also run a Princeton style offense with a lot of back door cuts. Breese Mater-Dei plays a tough schedule with a lot of 3A and 4A schools.

The Lady Devils are led by shooting Guard Jaylyn Haley and Hannah Garascia, who plays all over the floor for Coach Metcalf. Haley and Garascia both signed letters of intent to play for Rend Lake College next season. I had the chance to talk to them about this a few days ago.

I asked both young ladies why they chose to go to Rend Lake. Garascia said, “Jaylin and I have grown to know each others tendencies and we push each other to make each other better! The

S-V-W’s Hannah Garascia left any Jaylin Haley right. (WSIL-TV file photo)

opportunity to play with Jaylin for a couple more years played a little part in my decision.”

Haley said. “It’s close to home, and I planned on going to RLC no matter what, so having the opportunity to play basketball there made it a no brainer. And I actually verbally committed before Hannah, but knowing she was probably going to sign there as well, definitely made it a perfect fit for me.” She also mentioned she is taken that as an honor that her father, Scott played baseball for Rend Lake as well.

If you can not make it to tonight’s game, it will be carried on WXAN 103.9 FM or streaming on mysoutherngospel.net

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Slider, Sports

SALUKI 2017 SOFTBALL SEASON PREVIEW

February 12, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

CARBONDALE, IL- The Saluki Softball team enters the 2017 season looking to build off what they accomplished last season. The team returns six starters, their entire pitching staff, and added more young talent. This is head coach Kerri Blaylock‘s 18th season for SIU, and she starts this season at 595 career wins. SIU looks to capture their fifth Missouri Valley Conference title and its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under Blaylock.

SIU is coming off a 33-19 season, and a 15-10 mark in the MVC. The team finished fourth in the standings and advanced to the second round of the conference tournament before falling to tournament champion, Wichita State.

Southern is led by a senior class that has gotten better each year they’ve worn the maroon and white. Shaye Harre, Merrri Anne Patterson, and Jessa Thomas have helped SIU to 82 wins during their careers and the season win total has gone up each of the last two years. These seniors and the rest of the squad were picked to finish third in the preseason MVC coaches’ poll, only ten points separated them and MVC favorite, Drake.

Pitching

SIU’s pitching staff will be young, but experienced. Brianna Jones was Southern’s workhorse a year ago, making 42 appearances in 52 games. She started 27 games, earned 23 victories and logged over 200 innings in her freshman campaign. At the end of the season she was a first team All-MVC selection and was a top-10 finalist for National Fastpitch Coaches Association Freshman of the Year. She will continue to be one of the key starters for the Salukis heading into this season and was named to the 2017 All-MVC preseason team.

Southern’s rotation will also be healthy. Sophomore hurler Nicole Doyle missed a majority of her freshman season due to a knee injury. In limited playing time, Doyle averaged more than a strikeout an inning and threw a no-hitter in her first career NCAA start against Hartford. The sophomore made only five appearances before she was shut down for the season. This past fall Doyle made several starts and looks to work her way into the starting rotation.

The last, but certainly not least, member of the pitching staff is junior, Savanna Dover. Dover enters 2017 looking to pick up where she left off. A season ago she pitched in 12 MVC games and won eight of them. Her performance in the conference play earned her a second team All-MVC nod.

Infield

Southern will again have a very experienced infield Shaye Harre, Sydney Jones, and Savannah Fisher started all 52 games for

Nashville’s Shaye Harre as Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week last season. (MVC file photo)

the Salukis last season. The other returning starter, Jessa Thomas, played in 38 games behind the plate. These four were responsible for 91 RBIs and 87 runs last season. Harre and Jones both earned all conference honors, and Harre was tabbed as a preseason All-Conference selection at first base.

Things will be slightly different in the middle of the infield this season as Fisher will move to her natural position of shortstop. Filling in at second base will be freshman, Maddy Vermejan. Vermejan showed in the fall ball season that she could contribute right away, hitting for average and playing errorless.

Two other freshmen, Kyleigh Decker and Katelyn Massa, also got some starts on the infield this past fall. Decker played mostly at first base and batted in the middle of the lineup. Massa split her playing time between catcher and the DP spot.The last newcomer, Kentucky transfer Haley Andrus, will also see action in her inaugural season in the maroon and white, splitting time at DP and third base.

Outfield
SIU’s outfield will yet again will be anchored by center fielder and two-time All-MVC defensive team selection, Merri Anne Patterson. Joining Patterson for her second year in the outfield is sophomore Eyrika Brandenburg. In her first season Brandenburg started 50 games and led the team in hits.

Rounding out the outfield will be two more newcomers. Freshman Susie Baranski took a majority of the starts in right field this past fall ball season. She batted at the top of the lineup and swung with power. Brittany Turner was the other newcomer that got playing time in the outfield. The junior transfer comes to SIU after playing at Lake Land Community College for two seasons.

Schedule

The Salukis start off their season with three non-conference tournaments on the road before coming home for the Coach B Classic. Following the home tournament Southern heads west for a three-day tournament, hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

After these five tournaments SIU plays one non-conference game against Southern Utah before starting their conference portion of their schedule. The Salukis play 13 home conference games, including big series against Drake March 25-26 and Wichita State on April 22-23. Both were selected in front of SIU in the preseason poll.
At the end of the year the team will travel up to Normal, Illinois for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on May 11.

Filed Under: Sports, Uncategorized

Popovich Resigns as Head Football Coach

February 12, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Drew Smith – Morthland Media Services

Coach Popovich with his QB Dennis Chester at a game against Robert Morris Peoria at Saluki Stadium earlier in the season.

WEST FRANKFORT, IL – Mike “Pop” Popovich has resigned as head football coach at Morthland College.

Citing a desire to be closer to and have more time for his family, Popovich informed Athletic Director Reid Cure of his decision to step down on Tuesday, January 31.

“It was a family decision. I need to spend more time with my wife and my kids, and driving 170 miles roundtrip every day just makes that difficult,” Popovich said, also elaborating on how difficult the decision was to make. “It was incredibly tough. We built something really special in a short amount of time. Our guys established core values, brought up the overall team GPA, and won some football games. I love these kids, and that made this decision a really tough one to make.”

Hired in early February 2016 to replace Mike Rude, Popovich hit the ground running, going after and securing some top level talent from all over the country. Perhaps his biggest recruiting success was at the quarterback position, where Pop was able to land the services of California quarterback Dennis Chester. Chester was third in the NCCAA in passing yards per game, thanks in large part to a fast-paced, spread offense to go along with his elite arm talent.

In the school’s first year of a full varsity schedule, the Patriots finished 7-3, garnering instant credibility for such a young program. The offense finished the season ranked first in scoring in the NCCAA at 39.5 points per game, while the team’s defense finished number one in the nation in yards allowed per game.

Facing the challenge of hiring a new football coach, Cure knows that replacing Popovich will be a tall order. “Coach Pop is one-of-a-kind. His energy and his ability to recruit kids here are things that will be incredibly difficult to replace. He did such a good job in building this program. The kids love him, and he will be missed.”

No timeline has been placed on naming Popovich’s replacement, but Cure has discussed making the decision in a timely fashion. “For the continuity of the program, we want to act quickly while still hiring the best possible candidate.”

Any interested candidates can email the athletics department at rcure@morthland.edu.

Filed Under: Slider, Sports

Game times for Class 1A -2A Boy’s Basketball Regionals first round games

February 10, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Here are the game times for the class 1A/2A Regional/Sectional complexes involving Franklin county schools.

There are a couple of things I am old school about . First of all the IHSA calls the Sectional Finals the Super Sixteen. On any thing I write, it will be the Sweet Sixteen.

Second, after the complexes are seeded, they are regionals now. I will give the seed like it is a regional.

Game times will be listed in chronological order. Records are going into tonight’s action.

Here are some links to the statewide pairings:

CLASS 1A: http://ihsa.org/SportsActivities/BoysBasketball/StateSeriesInformationResults.aspx?url=/data/bkb/1bracket.htm

CLASS 2A:

http://ihsa.org/SportsActivities/BoysBasketball/StateSeriesInformationResults.aspx?url=/data/bkb/2bracket.htm

FIRST ROUND GAME TIMES FOR AREA SCHOOLS

(4) WEST FRANKFORT (8-14) vs (5) Johnston City (12-13) Monday, February 20, 6:00 P.M., at the Eldorado Class 2A Regional
(4) Flora (11-15) vs (5) HAMILTON COUNTY (6-19) on Monday, Feburary 20, 7:00 P.M., at the Flora Class 2A regional
(3) Woodlawn (12-13) against (6) THOMPSONVILLE (6-15) a on Monday, February 20, 7:30 P.M., at the Wayne City Class 1A Regional
(2) SESSER-VALIER (14-12) vs (5) ZEIGLER-ROYALTON (2-18) on Tuesday. February 21. 6:00 P.M., at the Crab Orchard Class 1A Regional
(1) CHRISTOPHER (13-11) vs the winner of (4) Steeleville (17-9) and (5) Elverado (17-9) Wednesday, February 22, 6:00 P.M;. at the Crab Orchard Class 1A Regional

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Slider, Sports, Thompsonville High School Sports, West Frankfort High School Sports, Zeigler-Royalton High School Sports

Ferrell – Vaughn hit the 1,000 point mark for Crab Orchard Tuesday night

February 7, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford franklincounty-news.com

THOMPSONVILLE- I am going to bring you up to speed on The last several days of Tiger basketball. A week ago Friday, some key senior leadership down the stretch by Cory Wilce and Jared Payne from the free throw line, gave the Tigers a 55-44 win over Pope County, in the 7th place game of the GEC Tournament.

Saturday night down at Joppa, Thompsonville left the small Massac County school with a 61-54 loss. Foul trouble plagued the Tigers from the first two minutes of the game. Corbin Fitch led the Tigers with 15 points, and Tyson Kessler added 12.

A good crowd was a Doc Harvey Gym as the two long time rivals Thompsonville and Crab Orchard hook up between the two GEC schools.

A good crowd was a Doc Harvey Gym, as the two long time rivals, Thompsonville and Crab Orchard hook up. This was considered a non conference game in the GEC standings.

Last Tuesday night the Tigers played their best 32 minutes of basketball on the year in a 59-54 loss to the highly touted Crab Orchard Trojans. Tyson Kessler and Cory Wilce added 14 each for T’ville on the night.

I had the most fun that I ever had at a HS basketball game in years. When I visit Doc Harvey gym, I set behind the scorers table. First, I can see what is happening on both benches. Second, to keep me from doing my favorite thing to do, talking to the T’ville fans. I visit a lot during the JV game and at halftime.

One of my favorite people in the world I was able to have a good conversation with is Danny Droit, a follower of my blog and this website. I gained a lot of “magnificence.”

I was holding court anyway. It was good to reunite with a lot of old friends that was from Crab Orchard. Yes, I would talk a little smack every once in a while.

Thompsonville played their best game of the year against the Trojans. They led 34-24 at halftime. It was a one possession game all the way until the final few ticks of the clock as the Trojans iced it at the free throw line.

Listening to Jim Muir and Tom Wheeler over the years, they always say first few minutes of the third quarter are the most important. Caleb Vaughn and Cameron Stevens came out on fire, hitting two threes a piece in the opening three minutes of the half, as the Trojans took the lead 36-34 around the 4:30 mark of the third quarter.

The story of the night were two players that reached the 1,000 point mark for Crab Orchard in the same game. The First was post player McKager Ferrell, who came into the game with 999. He hit a stick back bucket at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter to put him over the top.

Ferrell had this to say about the feat, “It was amazing to finally hit 1000 and on the same night Caleb Vaughn hit his!”

Vaughn came into the game at the 970 mark. One his second of back to back threes, at the 2:52 mark of the fourth quarter, he hit the 1000 point mark. He had a game high 37 on the night.

I asked Caleb if he thought he would score 30+ on the night to hit 1,000. He said, “Not really, but I was hopeful that it would happen in the flow of the game. It was extra special to be able to do it with Mckager.”

Vaughn signed a letter of intent to go to the next level to play for Southeastern Illinois College, during the GEC tournament. He said that he had about three other offers, but decided to play for the Falcons because of the few miles to Harrisburg from home.

Vaughn reminds me of Christopher’s Jared Curry, as he plays all over the floor. Ferrell is a load to deal with in the post. They also have another good post player in Amos Beasley, who is strong as an ox. Stevens can shoot the lights out. The fifth starter, Jaden Schell is out with an injury and he will be back by regional time.

I gave the quick preview of the Trojans in case the Christopher Bearcats or Sesser-Valier Red Devils meet them in post season play.

Talking to Crab Orchard coach Jon Brown after the game, he felt his team had a let down after their big win against Gallatin County in the GEC championship. I told him, by far, it was the best 32 minutes the Tigers put together. We then went on to talk about some of the other teams they will face in the regional-sectional complex.

Talking to Thompsonvile coach Pete Gordon after the game he was telling me how proud he was of the effort, especially scoring 17 points in back to back quarters. He was feeling things were starting to come together at the right time of the year.

After the loss to Joppa, the Tigers are 5-14 on the season. They host Doug Miller’s Gallatin County Hawks at Doc Harvey Gym tonight in a GEC conference matchup.

After an 84-72 loss down at Cairo Thursday night, the Trojans are 18-6 on the season. They host Keil Peebles’ Carrier Mills Wildcats at Dee Ozment Gym tonight.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Slider, Thompsonville High School Sports