Harrisburg defeats Lady Redbirds

December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The Harrisburg Lady Bulldogs had a strategy best suited for a long distance race: get the big lead early and hold on. The Lady Bulldogs beat the West Frankfort Lady Redbirds 69-32 Tuesday night in Harrisburg.

The game was an Ohio Division conference match-up. Fueled by a 20-6 lead in the first quarter, Harrisburg outscored the Redbirds in every quarter thereafter. Only in the third quarter did the Redbirds virtually hold their own, outscored by just 4 points. However, by that time it was too little too late.

Scoring leader for Matt Hampleman’s club went to Jacklyn Calvert  with 13 points.Other scorers included: Wilce 8, Cunningham 5, and 2 each for Melvin, Sailiez, and Jones.

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

Redbirds dominate Carmi-White County

December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

A smothering defense allowed the West Frankfort Redbirds to break a close game open Tuesday night. The Redbirds scored a 58-42victory over visiting Carmi-White County.

The game opened slowly as neither team scored until the halfway point of the first quarter. At the end of the first eight minutes, the score was tied 8-8.

At the halfway point, the Redbirds and Bulldogs had battled closely with the Redbirds taking an intermission lead of 19-16.

The Redbirds forced turnovers in the third quarter and kept Carmi-White County out of their comfortable shooting zones. Eric Dixon’s team became their own worst enemy as the game dragged on. They shot three-point shots freely, rarely connecting. and, in doing so went away from offensive rebounding which had produced results in the first half.

In quarter three, the Redbirds got balanced, scoring Braxton Koehl with 7 points and Trenton Easley had 6 in the frame. By quarter’s end, the ‘Birds had opened a 38-26 lead and had captured the momentum.

The fourth quarter saw the Redbirds open the lead even further, enroute to the 16 point win.

And, with that win, Dan Dewerff’s team ran their record to 2-5 for the season. Scoring for the Redbirds included:  Trenton Easley and Christian Dunning with 15 points each, Nick Korolenko had 10,,Braxton Koehl had 9, Keller, and Maller had 4 points apiece, and Fort had a single free throw.
The Redbirds and Carmi-White County each had 20 rebounds.
Carmi-White County came from behind to win the JV game 51-45 after the Redbirds had opened up a fourth quarter lead.
The Redbirds now prepare for visiting Benton on Friday night. This was a game scheduled to begin the 2012-13 basketball season until Benton requested a reschedule. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m. Friday, and the varsity game approximately 7:45 p.m.
Filed Under: High School Sports, West Frankfort High School Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sophomore Rangers get a win over Carbondale

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Dakota Head makes a free throw to go up by 2 at the end of the game.

By TAMMY HEAD

Benton took the lead early and held on for the entire game to win 56-54 over Carbondale. The sophomore squad was hitting on all cylinders Monday night equally sharing the scoring responsibilities.

Ahead 21-18 after the first period, Rangers extended their lead to 39-26 at the half maintaining a ten point lead at the end of the 3rd.

Carbondale made a run at Benton at the 6 minute mark bringing the score to 49-46 with 5:30 left to play. Rangers continued to battle for the next 5 minutes, then with 33 seconds remaining, Carbondale was within 1 point. Dakota Head hit the front end of a pair of free throws to make the score 56-54. Carbondale had time to tie it up but couldn’t get the shot to fall. Rangers held on to win 56-54.

Coach Brett Blondi said, “I thought our kids played extremely hard and turned out a gutsy performance.  We made big stops when we needed to.  I was very proud of our kids effort.”

Scoring for the Rangers:

Trey McDaniel – 12, Martin Ward – 12, Jesse VanHorbeke – 12, Gus Gibbs – 10, Dakota Head – 8, Brendon Ritchason – 2

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

Freshman Rangers lose a close game against Carbondale

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Chase Owens brings the ball down with pressure from Carbondale’s Joon Choi.

By TAMMY HEAD

Benton’s Tyler Marler had almost half of the Ranger’s points in the first half. Marler had 10 points providing the Rangers with the stability they needed to be ahead 22-18 at the half. Marc Torres was 4 for 4 from the line adding those all important free throw points in the first half as well.

While the Rangers still held the lead 27-24 at the end of the 3rd period, Carbondale had started to gain some momentum. At the 4:34 mark in the 4th quarter, Carbondale tied the game. Carbondale was able to take the lead on 2 free throws by Patrick Moore. Although the Rangers had several chances to regain the lead, they were unable to do so.

Carbondale was consistent at hitting their free throws in the final minute of the game to widen the lead. Final score was Rangers 35-Terriers 41.

Scoring for Benton:

Tyler Marler – 12, Chase Owens – 7, Marc Torres – 6, Brendan Ritchason – 6, Levi Pearce – 4

Trevor McKinney also saw action for the Rangers

Scoring for Carbondale:

Justin Robinson – 10, Trenton Payton – 10, Joon Choi – 6, Unree Westley – 5, Kobe Lewis-Moss – 4, Patrick Moore – 4, Shahere Lark – 2

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, High School Sports

Benton roars back in second half to hand Lady Devils first loss of year

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

By Jim Muir

It was a tale of two halves at Benton’s East Gym Monday night as the Rangerettes rebounded from a 16-point deficit to defeat Sesser-Valier-Waltonville 51-49.

The Lady Devils entered the game with a perfect 10-0 record and lived up to their billing as they blistered the nets in the opening half, shooting 76 percent from the field while coasting to a 37-23 halftime advantage.  S-V-W, who put a pair of 9-0 runs together in the first half, enjoyed its biggest lead of the night late in the second quarter doubling up the Rangerettes 32-16.

The off-the-charts shooting by S-V-W included 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc and coupled by 10 first half turnovers by Benton it appeared the Lady Devils were in command and heading to their 11th win of the season.  But a rejuvenated Benton team took the floor in the third frame and quickly began taking control of the game.

“I didn’t yell at halftime,” said Benton coach Andy Sloan.  “We just talked about playing better defense and taking better care of the basketball.”

Those words sank in for the Rangerettes as they outscored S-V-W 15-7 to cut the deficit to a workable 44-38 heading into a wild and sometimes frantic final quarter.  S-V-W had eight turnovers and went 6:20 seconds without scoring in the quarter as the Rangerettes whittled into the lead.

The comeback was complete for Benton with less than two minutes to play when sophomore Cali Carney hit two free throws to give Benton a 48-47 lead.  The Lady Devils came back and grabbed a 49-48 lead moments later on a layup by Chelsea Miller with only 16 seconds remaining.  Benton took a time out to set up a play and Morgan Corn made a strong move to the basket and scored and was fouled with only 10 seconds remaining to put the Rangerettes up 50-49.  Corn hit the charity toss and a final shot by the Lady Devils to tie the game fell short giving Benton the victory.  Corn turned in a double-double for Benton with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“This is a nice win for us and I think a confidence-builder,” said Sloan.  “We played well at Marion in the tournament to open the season but has had some ups and downs since.  We are still looking for our identity.”

After trailing 37-23 the Rangerettes outscored S-V-W 28-12 in the second half holding the Lady Devils to three two-point field goals and six free throws.

The win improves Benton to 8-3 overall and is the first of three ‘big’ games for the Rangerettes this week.  Benton travels to Massac County Tuesday night to take on the always-tough Lady Patriots and the returns home on Thursday to close out the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule against a much-improved Harrisburg team.

Along with Corn’s 16 points Benton got eight points from Evelyn Mendez and Sami Minor and six points each from Katie Sandusky, Mikala Carney and Cali Carney.  Rae Lappin led the Lady Devils in scoring with 16 including a pair of 3-pointers.  Chelsea Miller added 11 points followed by Rachel Marlo with seven points, Meagan Eskew with six and Mikala Williams and Cheyenne Pitchford with four each.

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

Benton wrestlers defeat AJ

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Benton Rangers wrestling team picked up a victory over Anna-Jonesboro on Monday night defeating the host Wildcats 56-12.  Listed below are the results.

 

BENTON – 56
ANNA-JONESBORO  – 12

106 – Jarred Burnett won by forfeit.
113 – Double forfeit.
120 – Benton forfeited to Lennie Kissel(A-J)
126 – Chase Worthey won by forfeit.
132 – Chris Worthey won by forfeit.
138 – Peyton Smith won by forfeit.
145 –Daniel Krug won by pin in 2:52 over Jacob Albert(A-J)
152 – Jarron Bennett won by pin in 2:49 over Teddy Albert(A-J)
160 – Luke Blackman won by forfeit.
170 – Double forfeit.
182 – Zach Mocoby won by forfeit.
195 – Double forfeit.
220 – Devon Siveking won by forfeit.
HVY – Jordan Piercy lost by pin in 1:36 to Chris Edwards(A-J).

Benton is 8-2 (1-0 in SIRR Ohio Divison) on the season.  Next up for coach Duane Bean’s team is a much anticipated appearance at the annual Class “A” Super Duals held at Huff Hall on the Campus of the University of Illinois. This prestigious event, held on Dec. 28-29 plays host to 32 of the top Class A schools in Illlinois.

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, High School Sports

Redbirds at home tonight

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The West Frankfort Redbird boys junior and varsity basketball teams are at home Tuesday night. The Redbirds play host to visiting Carmi-White County in a non-conference game.

The Redbirds are coming off a lopsided loss Friday at Herrin, 73-35.

The JV game begins at 6 p.m., and Varsity game approximately 7:45 p.m.

Both games can be heard online at www.wfschools.org

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

Benton wrestlers finish 5th, Peyton Smith shines at Cumberland meet

December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Jim Muir

The Benton Rangers wrestling team turned in a solid 5th place finish Saturday in the 17-team Cumberland High School “Skull & Crossbones Invitational Tournament.

Benton tallied 120 points in the prestigious event trailing Prairie Central (246.50), Shelbyville (179.50), Herrin (147.50) and Lawrenceville (124.00).

Individually the Rangers were led by freshman Peyton Smith who improved to 17-1 overall during the first year of his high school wrestling career.  Smith registered three wins on the day in the 132-pound class by pinning Jimmy Pearsley(Herrin) in 1:30, Zach Kocher(Lawrenceville) in 3.00 and Paul Garcia(Prairie Central) in 1:30.

Brothers Chris and Chase Worthey also had an outstanding day in Cumberland – Chris Worthey finished second and Chase Worthey finished third in the 126-pound and 120-pound classes respectively.

Benton coach Duane Bean said his young team “grew up a lot” during the tough competition.

“We wrestled well,” said the Benton coach. “It is a good tournament and we’re a better team after competing this weekend. Even some of our kids that didn’t win really improved.”

Bean pointed out that Benton was only four points out of fourth place and took only 10 wrestlers to the tournament that had 14 different weight classes.

He gave high marks to Chris and Chase Worthey and also to Smith.

“Chris and Chase wrestled very well and both were in a tough bracket,” said Bean. “And Peyton beat a kid who is ranked in the state, pinned him in 90 seconds. Peyton had a great day.”

TEAM SCORES

PRAIRIE CENTRAL         246.50
SHELBYVILLE        179.50
HERRIN            147.50
LAWRENCEVILLE        124.00
BENTON            120.00
CUMBERLAND        116.00
CARLYLE            112.00
OLNEY            111.00
MT. OLIVE               98.50
MT. CARMEL           88.00
OAKWOOD               80.00
CARMI-WHITE COUNTY       54.00
CARTERVILLE             46.00
HARRISBURG           42.50
DECATUR EISENHOWER    35.00
EFFINGHAM           33.00
EFFINGHAM ST. ANTHONY  9.00
CASEY-WESTFIELD         6.00

(Benton wrestlers listed in all CAPS)

132 LBS – PEYTON SMITH– Champion
Pinned Jimmy Pearsley(Herrin) in 1:30
Pinned Zach Kocher(Lawrenceville) in 3:00
Pinned Paul Garcia(Prairie Central) in 1:30

126 LBS—CHRIS WORTHEY finished in 2nd Place
Pinned Levi Baker(Effingham) in 1:16
Won by major decision 10-2 over Antonio Alvarez
Lost 6-2 to Eli Roberts(Herrin)

120 LBS—CHASE WORTHEY finished in 3rd Place
Pinned Jacob McKinstry(Lawrenceville) in 0:46
Lost 6-3 to eventual champion Zach Zvonar(Carlyle)
Beat Colton Carmody(Olney) 10-5 for 3rd Place

138 LBS—DANIEL KRUG finished in 5th Place
Pinned Hunter Welch(Carmi-WC) in 1:58
Lost to Wyatt Fox(Shelbyville) 4-1
Pinned James Kruep(Carlyle) in 3:30
Pinned Braden Dees(Carterville) in 3:20
Pinned Shon Calvert (Mt. Olive) in 5:20 for 5th Place

170 LBS—ZACH MOCABY finished in 6th Place
Pinned Cody Ayers(Oakwood) in 3:06
Lost 9-0 to eventual champion Josh Hicks(Shelbyville)
Won by major decision 10-0 over Tim Sturm(Olney)
Won 9-5 over Kane Garcia(Mt. Carmel)
Lost 6-2 to Tyler Godden(Cumberland)

106 LBS—Jarred Burnett finished in 6th Place
Lost by pin to AJ Dees(Carterville) in 0:46
Won by pin in :57 over Aaron Nettles(Carlyle)

152LBS—Jarron Bennett(did not place)
Pinned Tyler Flood(Carlyle) in 0:39
Lost by technical fall 15-0 to eventual champion Sam Schuler(Prairie C)
Pinned Jeff Klelel(Effingham) in 2:22
Lost by Pin in 5:39 to John Sandschafer(Eff. STA)

285 LBS—Tyler Wiliiams(did not place)
Lost 8-4 to Dillon Walters(DEC. Eisenhower)
Won by Pin in 0:16 over Trent Carll(Casey-Westfield)
Lost by pin in 1:14 to Brent Morgan(Mt. Carmel)

195 LBS—Devon Siveking(did not place)
Pinned David Nibbe(Oakwood) in 3:22
Lost by pin in 3:04 to Timmy Carll(Cumberland)
Pinned Scott Jones(DEC Eisenhower) in 1:03
Lost by pin to Dakota White(Mt. Olive) in 1:02

145 LBS—Luke Blackman(did not place)
Lost by pin to Zach Poe(Cumberland) in 1:22
Lost by pin to Zach Horatscki(Oakwood) in 2:25

BENTON PLACED 5TH PLACE AS TEAM IN THE 18 TEAM TOURNEY!!

BENTON TOOK 10 WRESTLERS TO CUMBERLAND AND 6 OF THEM PLACED IN THE TOP 6.

Benton will return to action TONIGHT when they travel to Anna-Jonesboro with the meet starting at 6:30pm.

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

SV wins conference match up against Christopher

December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Eric Stallman’s Christopher Bearcats had their five game winning streak stopped when they went north to Sesser-Valier and lost a hard fought Black Diamond Conference game 49-48 Friday night.

Kevin Merck’s scored at the 6:13 mark for a Cats 2-0 lead as the Bearcats didn’t score again for four minutes until junior Eric Young made a steal to tie the game at 4.  Tyler Atchison hit a three and Jake Towers scored on a great pass from Josh Calloni as the Cats took a 9-6 first quarter lead.

The Bearcats went on another four minute drought and didn’t score until the 3:53 mark when Atchison hit another three. The next time down the floor a loose ball caused a giant pile up and Christopher’s R.J. Kuh came up with a bloody face, after the game he was seen by a nurse who butter flied the cut closed. Jr. Ethan Conner hit a free throw at the 3:06 mark and a minute later Calloni knocked down two free tosses. Fellow freshman Hunter Wheeler grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled going back up and hit one of his charity tosses and then the Cats went in at half leading 19-17 in a defensive battle

Young started the second half with a steal and a lay-up, Merck’s followed with two free throws for a 25-18 Bearcat lead. Merck hit two free throws before  a S-V technical foul but the Cats missed both of these free throws and turned the ball over throwing it in. Young stepped up big again with his third steal and basket of the game to put CCHS up 29-20. The Cats lead then went to 31-22 and Young’s defense again got him another layup for a 33-22 lead, the biggest of the night.

Someone forgot to tell Coach Chip Basso’s crew that they were out of the game. The Cats evened the score when one of their players was called for a technical after fouling.  S-V’s Derek Hood hits both free throws and the Red Devils clawed back to being down only 33-25. The home team’s Jacob Vanwey scored and Jordan Gunter fired in a long range three. With the Red Devils down 33-30 the Cats fell asleep on a missed Red Devil free throw as 6-feet-6-inch Justin Kulich gets the rebound and scored his only field goal of the night as the Cats 11 point  lead was trimmed to 33-32 at the end of the third stanza.

The fourth quarter started with Mercks hitting one of two charity tosses for Christopher, followed by a rebound basket on the next possession giving the visitors a 36-34 advantage. The lead increased to four when Young scored on a nifty pass from Towers. Kulich hits one of two free throws when a foul was called on Christopher and where Cat fans were initially excited when they thought the call was a charging foul on SV’s all conference tight end. Young scored for a 40-35 lead but after a SV basket Coach Basso called a time out at the 3:12 mark and his team down 40-37.Reggie Eubanks is fouled at the 2; 32 mark and makes the first freebie but misses the second. The Cats then made a mistake that will later haunt them as no one screened Kulich out and he hit a bucket to tie the score at 40-40. Young scored the last basket of the night for him and the Cats are up 42-40 but Gunter answered with a basket and again it’s a tie game.

SV’s Hood hits another big basket and tied the score at 42 and there is under a minute to play.

To say the last 50seconds were wild would be an understatement — SV’s Kulich hits a free throw, Hood follows with a basket for a 47-42 SV lead. The Cats Atchison scores with 27.1 seconds left in the game to get close at 47-44. Then sophomore Nick Marlow hits one free throw at the 27 second mark  and after a Bearcat miss, Eubanks hits another freebie for a 49-45 SV lead with 25 seconds left in the game. Atchison hits his fourth trey of the game at the buzzer as the Red Devils win a hard fought contest 49-48.

Scoring for Sesser-Valier was Gunter 11, Hood, 10, Vanwey 8,Marlo 7, Tyler Baxter 7,Kulich 4 and Eubanks 4.

Young led the Cats with 15 ,followed by Atchison with 14, Mercks 9,Towers 4,Calloni and Kuh 2 and Conner and Wheeler a free throw.

Coach Jeremy Varner’s Bearcat JV squad remained undefeated with a 62-39 victory in the preliminary game to raise their record to 5-0.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Uncategorized

Eldorado Holiday Tournament draw set

December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The West Frankfort Redbirds have been assigned their 2012 opening opponent in the Eldorado Holiday Tournament. The Redbirds will play the Fairfield Mules in their first round game.

Fairfield was seeded No. 8, and will play West Frankfort in the 11:30 a.m. game, on the tournament’s first day, Dec. 27. If the ‘Birds win that game, they advance to play the winner of top seeded Harrisburg/Hardin County. Should the Redbirds drop the contest they play the breakfast game at 8:30 a.m. the following morning.

The tournament grid begins at 8:30a.m., when No. 4 Union County, Kentucky, tips off with Carrier Mills. The next game is set to begin at 10 a,m. when No. 5 Massac County plays Hamilton County. The Redbird game follows this one. Then, at 1:45 p.m., the Harrisburg Bulldogs take on Hardin County.

The Herrin Tigers return to the EHT field for a 3:15 p.m. game vs. Carmi-White County. Herrin is seeded No. 6. The tournament’s third seed, the Meridian Bobcats, play the 4:45 p.m. game against NCOE.

The evening session begins with a match-up between No. 2 seed Gallatin County and Galatia. The evening session concludes with host Eldorado, a surprising 7 seed, meeting Anna-Jonesboro.

The tournament concludes Saturday night with the title game starting at approximately 9 p.m. Harrisburg, top seeded and state rated with an unbeaten mark, is a heavy favorite to win the tournament.

Filed Under: High School Sports, West Frankfort Junior High Sports Tagged With: , , ,
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