Bearcats finish the MWC 0-4 – Fall to AJ 53-48

January 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford – franklincounty-news.com

christopher-bearcatsWEST FRANKFORT IL –  The Christopher Bearcats dropped the seventh place game of the West Frankfort Mid Winter Classic, to the Anna Jonesboro Wildcats 53-48.

The Bearcats roared out to an 11-6 lead at the 3:30 mark of the first quarter before Anna-Jonesboro coach Mike Chamness calls a time out.  The Wildcats change from going to playing a 2-3 zone from playing man to man.  A-J began to kill Christopher on the boards, and out rebounded them for the game 29-18.  The differential was 13-5 at half-time.

Anna-Jonesboro scores the last five points of the quarter and both teams were tied at 11.  The Wildcats came out and Logan Sawyer hit a 15 foot Jumper out of the huddle to go up 13-11 and they never relinquished the lead.  Sawyer had twelve points and seven rebounds on the afternoon.

Jake Parr dominated the game on both ends of the floor in the second quarter as he had a game high 19 points and tied for the game high lead of nine rebounds.  The Wildcats had the lead at halftime 29-25.

The teams trade baskets for a while and Jordan Zimmerman hits a big three to put Anna-Jonesboro up 38-27 to cap off a big rally by them just over the four minute mark.

Christopher coach Eric Stallman calls a time out and goes to a 3/4 court press.  A-J struggles with it.  Zack Snell buries a 22 foot baseline jumper at the close of the quarter to cut the Bearcat deficit to six, 40-34 after three.

Jared Curry has three big coast to coast drives in the fourth and the Bearcats keep hanging around.  Curry had a game high 14 points on the afternoon, eight in the fourth quarter.  He also had nine rebounds.  He found Gabe Schimpf twice as well, on a couple run outs.  Schimpf led the way with four assists and had 11 points. Kaeleb Pedigo was the third Bearcat in double figures with 10 points.

The Bearcats cut it to a one possession game on a few occasions down the stretch.  A-J hit their free throws down the stretch, to ice the victory away.

The Bearcats (11-8) have two tough BDC West road tests in front of them this week, as they go to Chester on Tuesday and down to the Eagles Nest in Vienna on Friday.

Anna Jonesboro (7-13) makes the long trip up Route 127 Friday night to play the Nashville Hornets, and will make the return trip to Max Morris Gym on Saturday night to face the Redbirds.

I would like to give a shout out to a couple people from Anna.  Coach Mike Chamness has always been very accessible and just a good guy to talk HS basketball with.  Moury Bass, owner of WIBH-AM 1440. of Anna, always has kind and encouraging words to pass along to me. One of my highlights of the Midwinter Classic is being around these two men.

BOX SCORE:

ANNA-JONESBORO (53)  Parr 7 0 5-7 19; Sawyer 6 0 0-0 12; Zimmerman 6 0 0-0 12; McGrath 0 0 4-6 4; Renyolds 0 1 0-1 3; Pinnon 0 0 2-2 2; Pena 0 0 1-2 1; Gillis 0 0 0-0 0; McFarland 0 0 0-0 0

CHRISTOHPER (49)  Curry 5 0 4-4 14; Schimpf 3 1 2-2 11; Pedigo 2 2 0-2 10; Young 4 0 0-0 8; Snell 1 0 0-0 3; Pratt 1 0 0-0 2; Motsinger 0 0 0-0 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS:  

ANNA-JONESBORO    11    18    11    13  –  53

CHRISTOPHER            11    18      9     14  –  48       

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sports, Uncategorized

Host Rangers repeat as BIT champions

January 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Watching this on video last night, it was an awesome scene to watch the student section storm the floor at Rich Herrin gym (Thank you Penny Henson for letting me use this)

Watching this on video last night, it was an awesome scene to watch the student section storm the floor at Rich Herrin gym (Thank you Penny Henson for letting me use this)

BENTON – (Bucky Dent – Southern Illinoisan – Click on the link to read the full story, Here are some excerpts) – “This never gets old, man,” Rangers coach Ron Winemiller said of winning consecutive BITs. “Our defense was good for an entire game.” & Benton defended the championship of its 44th invitational tournament Saturday night with a wire-to-wire 52-42 win over Pinckneyville at Rich Herrin Gym that featured the expected suspense after a near-blowout. In avenging a 59-53 defeat to the Panthers at their tournament last month, the Rangers (19-1) established a 30-14 lead early in the third quarter and weathered a huge run that saw Pinckneyville (19-2) crawl within 38-37 on Grant Jausel’s transition bucket with 5:30 left. But Benton allowed just one field goal down the stretch and iced the game with superior foul shooting, canning 12 in a row over the last 4:21. All-tournament pick Derek Oxford sank six in a row and finished with 11 points — all after halftime…..

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

Redbirds came very close to upsetting Eldorado last night

January 21, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford (franklincounty-news.com)

In the way the pools shook out, the West Frankfort Redbirds and the Eldorado Eagles faced each other in a semi-final game last night at Max Morris gym.

wf-redbirdsThe Redbirds were very patient on the offensive end with both teams tied at seven.  On defensive end, West Frankfort Coach Kevin Toney plays that 3-2 zone a lot where Noah Allen, Kyle Hammers and Andrew Sturgill were giving the Eldorado guards havoc by several traps on the wings.  It was tied at seven after the first quarter.

In the second quarter Noah Allen bombed three long threes, forcing the Eagles into a man to man for a while.  When the Eagles went man, Kyle Hammers was open on a couple cuts to the basket.  Both teams go the locker rooms with the Redbirds up 23-19.

In the third quarter.  The Redbirds had a seven point lead, which they held quite a bit thorough out the night.  There were a couple of times throughout the night the Redbirds extended the lead out to nine.

Andrew Sturgill came up with a couple of big offensive rebounds.  In my very unofficial stats I had Sturgill leading the Redbirds with seven boards.  I also had the Redbirds out rebounding the triple towers of Eldorado 22-21.  Eathan Partrige was held to eight points, and Jacob Traxler was held to three.

Here was the back breaker for the Redbirds.  The Redbirds led by nine until about the six minute mark of the fourth quarter.  They wre one shot and out on two possessions in a row.  Eldorado scores on each possession and cuts it to three.

Big man Braden Attebury hits a big three and ties it up around the 4:30 mark. He led the Eagles on the night with 15.  I felt the air go out of the balloon for the Redbirds as well as the red clad crowd.  The crowd in purple was going nuts.  It was a big momentum switcher in the game, in which West Frankfort had the momentum all night.

Down the stretch the Eagles showed why they are the number six team in the state in the latest class 2A Associated Press poll, receiving some first place votes, and 21-1 on the season.  This is a team that beat Mt. Carmel, who have beat up on some Indiana schools in their conference that would be 3A and 4A in Illinois.  They are also ranked above Pinckneyville in the state wide polls.

The Eagles made their free throws down the stretch and that wins High School basketball games.  They will play the Marion Wildcats tonight in the championship game of the Midwinter Classic at 8:30 tonight.   West Frankfort (8-9) will face SIRR Ohio rivals the Herrin (12-5) Tigers in the third place game at 7:00 p.m.

Noah Allen led all scorers on the night with 17.  Austin Glodich added nine for the Redbirds with seven in the second half.

Along with Attebury’s 15.  Raymond May came of the bench and added 13 for the Eagles.

In other MWC action today, the Christopher Bearcats (11-7) will face the Anna Jonesboro Wildcats (6-13) at 3:30 for seventh place.  The Cairo Pilots will play the Carterville Lions for fifth place.

You played your guts out Redbirds.  Don’t hang your head after this loss.

BOX SCORE:

ELDORADO:  (48)  Attebury 3 1 6-6 15; May 6 0 1-3 13; Partrige 4 0 0-0 8; Meredith 1 0 3-3 5; Ogelsby 1 0 2-4 4; Traxler 1 0 1-1 3 Kaiser 0 0 0-0 0

WEST FRANKFORT (44)  Allen 1 4 3-4 17; Glodich 4 0 1-2 9; Hammers 3 0 1-5 7; Sturgill 2 0 2-3 6; Thrash 2 0 1-1 5; Wolfe 0 0 0-0 0;

SCORE BY QUARTERS: 

ELDORADO:                    7    16    11    10  –  48  

WEST FRANKFORT:   7    12      8    21  –   44

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: High School Sports, West Frankfort High School Sports

RANGERS WIN CROSS COUNTY BATTLE

January 21, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Benton's Austin Wills pulls up over S-V's Jamie Lance (Benton Gazette-Ian McMahon photo)

Benton’s Austin Wills pulls up over S-V’s Jamie Lance (Benton Gazette-Ian McMahon photo)

BENTON – (Ian McMahoan -Benton Gazette. Please click to read the full story. Here are some excerpts) Night three of the Benton Invitational Tournament is in the books, and the Benton Rangers are now 3-0 in the tournament and 16-1 on the season as they crossed off another ‘W’ in the score book over the Sesser-Valier Red Devils (8-11), winning 62-52 Friday night at Rich Herrin Gymnasium. & The Rangers were led by Wills, who scored 21 points on the night, 15 of which came in the first half. Wills, who is no stranger to being the Rangers’ leading scorer, has accomplished it twice this week in the B.I.T, having scored 25 points Wednesday night against Hamilton County. Benton Head Coach Ron Winemiller was impressed with how the senior has been playing. “Austin has been playing great this week. He is one of the best catch-and-shoot guys you’ll see in this tournament and that we will see all year,” said Winemiller. &Devils Head Coach Shane Garner was pleased with how his team started the first half, “Our boys played hard; we were down ten at the half, and there were just some offensive boards that went Benton’s way.” The Rangers led by a score of 38-28 going into half time.

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

Herrin sweeps field at West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic

January 21, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Girls All Tournament team for the Mid Winter Classic from left to right; Hannah Grotauge -Herrin; Hannah Garascia - S-V-W; Jaylin Haley - S-V-W; Cali Wright WF; Makalya Smothers; Herrin and MVP Morgan Griffith- WF

Girls All Tournament team for the Mid Winter Classic from left to right; Hannah Grotauge -Herrin; Hannah Garascia – S-V-W; Jaylin Haley – S-V-W; Cali Wright WF; Makalya Smothers; Herrin and MVP Morgan Griffith- WF

WEST FRANKFORT (from Scott Mees’ story yesterday in Southern Illinoisan. Here is an excerpt) &When the Herrin girls basketball team plays like it did Thursday in the finale of the Mid-Winter Classic, it is very difficult to beat. The Tigers dominated from early on and defeated the host Redbirds, 61-31. Herrin ultimately swept the field at the tournament. Herrin was firing on all cylinders from the tipoff. & “They were knocking shots in from all over and getting second opportunities,” said West Frankfort coach Matt Hampleman. “When Smothers made one off the backboard, we just knew it wasn’t going to be our night. It was just one of those games where it didn’t matter what we did.”…..

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

Redbirds 2-0 in the MWC and .500 on the season-upset Carterville

January 20, 2017 By Leave a Comment

WEST FRANKFORT-  (Steve Dunford-franklincounty-news.com) I have a nose for games going OT.  I was smelling it about the four minute mark.  I was smelling double overtime down the stretch.

Kyle Hammers (23) slashes through the lane, as Andrew Sturgill gets ready to set a pic, Keegan Thrash (35) has the ball at the top of the key for WF

Kyle Hammers (23) slashes through the lane, as Andrew Sturgill (33) gets ready to set a pic, Keegan Thrash (35) has the ball at the top of the key for WF

Teams need a signature win to go on a roll.  It happened  Wednesday night at Max Morris Gym as the West Frankfort Redbirds picked up that win, as they pulled out a 52-50 win over the Carterville Lions Wednesday night.

The Redbirds handled Carterville’s full court press in the first half. Like against Christopher, Austin Glodich was on fire in the first half as he had 12 of his 18 points in the first half.  The Redbird went to the locker room with a 27-21 lead.

Carterville came out of the locker room in a  full court man to man and played it in the entire second half.  The Redbirds had immediate trouble with it.  The Lions took the lead around the five minute mark of the third quarter and it was a see saw battle the rest of the night.

The only coach in Southern Illinois that compares to coaching with the intensity that Carterville Coach Shane Hawkins does, is Cobden Coach Rhett Barke, who is a Carbondale attorney.  I would want him as my lawyer.  I love that style of coaching

Shane Hawkins coaches like he played in high school at Pinckneville, in college at SIU, and now as a coach.  I asked him about going to the full court man to man in the second half he said “We just could not keep the intensity we had coming out the second half.”  We had a couple tough losses this week.”  The Lions fell to now 20-1 and state ranked in class 2A Eldorado 60-53 Monday night in a game that was closer than the final score.  The rest of the conversation was about Christoper tomorrow night.

The Redbirds played more zone that I have ever witnessed a Kevin Toney coached team play.  It was effective as big man Luke Ford, who coach Toney called a “full grown man” last night had only four points and was limited to three rebounds on the night.

The Redbirds shared the basketball very well on the night.  I had them with fourteen assists with Andrew Sturgill and Kyle Hammers had four each.

Scotty Clinton came in and gave the Redbirds some key minutes in late in the third quarter when the Redbirds were in foul trouble.

The other beast in the post for Carterville Taylor Heil.  I watched him play in junior high during my time living in Sesser.  He tied Gloodich leading all scorers for 18.  Brendan Beasley had 14 on the night.  Both will be on my all tournament team ballot.

Along with Glodich’s 18, Noah Allen was Noah Allen on both ends off the floor had 16 on the night for the Redbirds.

The Redbirds improve to 8-8 on the year and  will play either Marion or have a rematch in the with the Herrin Tigers.  If they pull the task and upset Eldorado  tonight they will play in the championship against whoever wins the Marion/Herrin game.

Carterville falls to 0-2 in the tournament and 10-8 on the season. They play another Franklin county team, the Christopher Bearcats at 5:30 p.m. tonight.

BOX SCORE:

WEST FRANKFORT (52)  Glodich 8 0 2-4 18;  Allen 5 1 3-4 16;  Thrash 3 0 0-0 6; Hammers 1 1 0-0 5; Wolfe 3 0 1-5 4; Clinton 1 0 0-0 2 Sturgill 0 0 1-2 1; Clark 0 0 0-0 0

CARTERVILLE (50) Heil 8 0 2-3 18; Beasley 3 2 2-2 14; Jackson 1 1 0-0 5; Johnson 2 0 0-0 4 Ford 2 0 0-2 4; Moore 0 0 3-4 3; Valerius 1 0 0-0 2

SCORE BY QUARTERS 

WEST FRANKFORT    15    12    12     6    7  –  52

CARTERVILLE            10    11    14   10    5  –  50

 

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sports, Uncategorized, West Frankfort High School Sports

Oxford’s clutch free-throw puts final arrow in Indians

January 19, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Derek Oxford shoots over a Carlyle defender. He had 10 points on the night including a game winning FT....

Derek Oxford shoots over a Carlyle defender. He had 10 points on the night including a game winning FT….

BENTON- (Click on the link to get the entire story from William McPherson of the Benton Gazette. Here is an excerpt) Night two of the Benton Invitational Tournament is in the books, and the Benton Rangers are now 2-0 in the tournament and 15-1 on the season as they pulled off a dramatic comeback win over the Carlyle Indians (9-9), winning 54-53 on Wednesday night at Rich Herrin Gymnasium…….Both teams exhibited great defense for the final minute of the game. The Indians called a timeout at the 28.1 second mark but were unable to get anything going. In the final possession of the game, Oxford drew a foul with just two seconds left in regulation. With the Ranger faithful in hushed anticipation, he sank his first shot. At this point Benton called timeout, and Oxford intentionally missed the final free throw to kill off the clock and not allow the Indians time to pull off another comeback……..“They got off to a good start, and we had kind of an uphill fight to get back in the game,” said Benton Coach Ron Winemiller. “The bottom line is our guys kept fighting and kept plugging away and whittled it down, and did what they do. Derek made a play at the end and we were able to come out victorious.”

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

Bearcats have a good second half against Eldroado on Tuesday

January 19, 2017 By Leave a Comment

WEST FRANKFORT -(Steve Dunford-franklincounty-news.com)  There is not a good way to put it but the Bearcats came out cold against the 6th. ranked team in class 2A the Eldorado Eagles.

The Bearcats were down 32-9.  Eldorado was pounding the ball inside and dominated Christopher on the boards 15-6 in the first half.  Eldorado coach Josh Bradley threw a variety of zones against the Bearcats and they were all successful.

Pedigo waiting for a pass on the wing Tuesday night in the Bearcat's 60-41 loss

Pedigo waiting for a pass on the wing Tuesday night in the Bearcat’s 60-41 loss

The second half was a different story.  For the second night in a row Kaeleb Pedgio was held scoreless in the first half.  He was on fire in the second half, connecting on five threes, four in the first quarter.

The turning point of the game was when Pedigo about hit his fifth three of the quarter, which would have brought the Bearcats within some six with about four and some change on the clock.

Christopher, being a class 1A team, just ran out of gas to stage the comeback against one of the top 2A teams in the state, as they fell 60-41.  There is nothing flashy about this Eldorado team, they just take care of business.  It would not surprise me to see them playing in Peoria.

The Bearcats fall to 11-6 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament.  If they beat Carterville tomorrow night they will play at 5:00 p.m. against the winner of Cairo and Anna-Jonesboro’s game tonight.   If they lose to Carterville they will play the loser of Cairo/A-J at 3:30p.m..

The Eagles improved to 20-1, with their only loss being to Fairfield on December 9th.

BOX SCORE:

ELDORADO (60) Attebury 7 1 2-2 19;  Partridge 4 0 3-4 11; May 4 0 2-4 10;  Meridith 1 2 0-0 8; Traxler 3 0 1-3 7; Kaiser 1 0 1-2 3; Oglesby 1 0 0-2

CHRISTOPHER (41)  Pedigo 0 5 2-2 17; Young 3 0 2-7 8; Pratt 3 0 2-2 8; Schimpf 1 1 0-0 5; Curry 1 0 0-0 2; Snell 0 0 1-2 1

SCORE BY QUARTERS:  

ELDORADO           14   18    13    15  – 60

CHRISTOPHER      4     5    14    18  – 41

 

 

 

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sports, West Frankfort High School Sports

RLC takes down conference leading Wabash Valley

January 19, 2017 By Leave a Comment
INA- (Reece Rutland-RLC Media Services) The Rend Lake College men’s basketball team came out on top during the battle of the Warriors Wednesday night as the RLC Warriors handed the visiting Wabash Valley College Warriors the loss by a final of 93-72.
It was a big conference win for RLC. Wabash Valley entered the night at the top of Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC)

RLC's Timothy Dunn goes for the bucket Wednesday night as the Warriors took on Wabash Valley College. (Reece Rutland/RLC Public Information)

RLC’s Timothy Dunn goes for the bucket Wednesday night as the Warriors took on Wabash Valley College.
(Reece Rutland/RLC Public Information)

Standings, sporting a 6-1 conference record. Wednesday night’s “W” puts Ina’s Warriors one step closer to the top. The win moves RLC to 11-5 on the season and 4-2 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference.

RLC scoring was led by Cory Thomas (Louisville, KY) with 21 points. Kel’Shawn Kinight-Goff (Louisville, KY) provided 11 points. Adrian Smith (Aurora) hit 18. Dwayne Ward (Chicago) contributed four points. Will Presson (Belleville) was credited with three points. Austin Swalls (Carterville) netted eight. Tim Dunn (Lexington, KY) contributed nine points. Nick Marlo (Sesser) put a pair on the board. Kenny Berry (Granite City) scored seven. Anton Ivy (Peroria) added eight points, and Chris McCraw (Louisville, KY) rounded out scoring with two.
The Warriors are on the road Saturday as they travel to Ullin to take on Shawnee Community College. That game has a 3 p.m. start time.
Filed Under: College Sports, Sports

Redbirds face Carterville at 8:30

January 18, 2017 By Leave a Comment

wf-redbirdsThe West Frankfort Redbirds try to improve to 2-0 and get to the .500 mark against the Carterville Lions tonight.

Coach Shane Hawkins gave me the points for game of his six man rotation:

  • Senior guard Brendan Beasley leads the way at 12.6 ppg.
  • His running mate in the back court 5′ 10″ senior Blake Jackson averages 6.9 ppg
  • Post player Luke Ford (Sr.) averages 7.6 ppg and is 6’6″
  • Taylor Heil is 6′ 5″ and seen some time as a freshman, and his four years on the floor provides senior leadership.
  • Dylan Moore a 6’1″ sophomore averages 6.1 per game.
  • Justin Johnson a 6′ 2″ junior averages 4.9 ppg.

Here is what coach West Frankfort coach Kevin Toney has to say about the Lions:

“Carterville is a well disciplined, well coached team whose players have an excellent balance of skills. They have a true point guard, their wings can each handle it and shoot it, their bigs complement each other very well, also. They just don’t have glaring weaknesses of which teams can easily take advantage of”

The Lions gave Eldorado everything they wanted.  I see them playing in the third place game on Saturday against Marion or Herrin.  I am going with the Lions by six.

I loved the intensity Shane Hawkins played with as a Panther first and a Saluki.  He has taken that intensity to the sidelines. wf-redbirds

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sports, West Frankfort High School Sports
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