Lady Redbirds fall to Herrin at MWC

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The West Frankfort Lady Redbirds had obviously set their goal to battle Herrin in the opener of the 2013 Mid-Winter Classic. And, they met that goal. However, their horn to horn effort fell just short as Herrin scored a 46-34 win that did not belie how close the game was for much of the contest. After one quarter, Herrin led the Lady Redbirds 12-10. The lead was 21-15 by intermission.

In the second half the Redbirds lost ground in the third quarter as they could not get their shots to fall, outscored in quarter three 13-4. But, in the final stanza, Matt Hampleman’s team made a comeback run out-pointing the Lady Tigers 15-12.

West Frankfort was led by the 11 points of Calvert, Wilce had 9, Stewart 6, Sailiez,4 Summers 2, melvin 2 and Williams 2 points.

This was the opening game for both teams in the tournament. Both teams are off until Tuesday night as Monday’s games are on the boys side of the tournament.

Redbirds at home tonight

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

Tigers hand Redbirds big loss

By BRUCE A. FASOL

General George Custer got a warmer reception at Little Bighorn than the Redbirds received Friday night at Herrin. Entering the game, both teams had won only once. Pre-game talk among the fans was a close game was expected. Then, reality set in. Final score: Herrin 73-West Frankfort 35.

A relentless trapping zone defense forced the Redbirds into three consecutive turnovers to begin the game. Still, early, the Redbirds held it close as Herrin struggled offensively. In fact, Nick Korolenko’s jumper tied the game at a bucket apiece three minutes into the contest.

However, Herrin corrected their offensive mistakes – and the ‘Birds never did. At the end of the first quarter Herrin held a commanding 17-2 lead. Still, there was hope. A week ago, Irvin Lukens’ club held a huge lead over Benton. But, the Rangers came back to win that game in overtime. The Redbirds would not be as lucky. Mistakes continued to haunt the “Birds into the second quarter and by half Herrin’s lead had ballooned to 38-8 .

In the second quarter, the ‘Birds offense did show some signs of a slight pulse. That continued in the third quarter.  Quarter Three was the most productive quarter of basketball for West Frankfort  Friday night. The Redbirds put 17 points on the Memorial Gym scoreboard in that frame. This was in part aided by two three-point shots from sophomore Braxton Koehl and a pair of buckets by sophomore Christian Dunning.

But, by then, the Redbirds also had quit defending the lane,and were giving up easy buckets off drives and entry passes. Herrin’s Jeril Pirtle used that quarter to knife his way through the porous defense for 9 third quarter points. teammate Justin Lukens had 8 in the quarter as Herrin substituted freely. Both teams finished the long ago decided game with bench personnel.

Herrin was led by the 26 points from Justin Lukens, son of the Herrin varsity basketball coach, Irv Lukens. Justin Lukens had quarters of 9,9 and 7 points, sitting out much of the fourth quarter. Pirtle ended up with 15 points for the game. No other Tiger scored more than 6 points.

Christian Dunning was the lone Redbird in double figures with 14 points. Korolenko had 7 points. Koehl had the two three-point shots mentioned earlier for a total of 6, senior Trenton Easley had 3 points, Drew Maller and Zack Fort had 2 points apiece and Gage Williams had a free throw for a single point.

The major statistic in the game was turnovers. Herrin committed 8 for the game. West Frankfort had 23 turnovers, as they were helpless against Herrin zone defenses and extended court pressure. The inability to even get shots attempted negated any hope of a comeback  for Dan Dewerff’s team.

The win improves Herrin to 2-5, 1-1 in conference play for the season. And, the Redbirds fell to 1-5, 0-2 in the Ohio Division of the River-to-River Conference. If there is any good news for the ‘Birds it is that they have time to regroup. Saturday night is an idle night for the Redbirds- a chance to forget one of those inevitable nights in the gym when nothing seems to go right – which happens to most every team.
Herrin easily won the junior-varsity contest, keeping the JVs winless with a 54-26 victory.
Next up for the Redbirds is a visit from Carmi-White County. That game will be Tuesday night, with the JV game set to begin at 6 p.m.

Lady Redbirds drop conference game

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The Herrin Lady Tigers came into Max Morris Gym Tuesday night and scored an impressive road win over the Lady Redbirds 49-25.

Not only was it a big win for the Tigers, but history was made by one of the opposing players. Standout Abby Horn scored her 1,000th point in her varsity career.

The Redbirds again got behind early and had to try to dig themselves out of a hole. At intermission, Herrin had built a 29-15 lead. They outscored Coach Hampleman’s squad 20-10 in the final two quarters to cruise to the win.

The Redbirds were led in scoring by Calvert’s impressive 17 points. From there, it was all two point totals for Wilce, Cunningham, Melvin and Vershuren.

Horn led Herrin with 15 points..

With the win, Herrin is 3-1 on the year. The Lady Redbirds dropped to 2-7 for the season.

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