03-02-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON – Heading into this season, the Carterville Lions were looking to take that next step for their basketball program.

The time has come for the second opportunity.

After having won a regional last February, Coach Scott Burzynski's club was ousted by Mt. Carmel at the DuQuoin 2A Sectional semifinals. This season the Lions are looking for a better run.

They sit at the same spot on the state tournament bracket as they were a year ago as they are poised to make a move.

Carterville has a fine won-loss mark at 23-4, with losses to Nashville, Pinckneyville, Riverview Gardens (MO.) and 3A Carbondale.

They won two tournament titles this season (Pinckneyville, West Frankfort) and added a second straight regional championship with a 58-45 victory over West Frankfort on the Redbirds floor.

Coach Burzynski has a set of twins that have been “double-trouble” for the opposition this winter.

Matt and Will Galik have stepped up this season for the Lions, on and off the court.

Will is a 6-foot-4 senior and is the top scorer on the team at 19.8 points a contest while brother Matt, a 6-foot-1 senior, adds 14.9 p.p.g. Off the hardwood, the twins have worked hard in the classroom and both scored 36's on the ACT.

The Lions have other weapons with guard Austin Swalls, a 6-foot-2 junior, adding nearly ten points a game for Carterville. Senior Blake Watson, a 5-foot-11 guard, is adding 5.8 points a night.

Coach Burzynski has a couple of kids in the middle that are keys to the team on the defensive end against bigger opponents.

Six-foot-five sophomore Taylor Heil and 6-foot-3 senior Gavin James try to clog the middle for the Lions and they have done a pretty good job.

The top win this season for Carterville was a 47-46 triumph over Nashville at home on February 13.

The team is hitting 70 percent from the free throw line and are outscoring their opposition 62-50 on average for the season.

While the Lions are looking at making a bigger splash in the postseason, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes are also looking for another rung up the ladder.

Coach Andy Fehrenbacher and this program have done everything right in the past four seasons but came up one game short each time, losing in the supersectional round.

However this program and coach haven't lost sight of the accomplishment of reaching the “Elite Eight” four times in-a-row, a place about 700 other member schools would love to be at.

This season, the Wooden Shoes are back on course, a voyage that this program and fan base hope will lead them back to Peoria for the first time since 2007.

The 25-4 'Shoes tackled a shoe-leather tough independent schedule and are primed for another shot at getting to Carver Arena.

Teutopolis only losses were to Breese Central at the Nashville Invitational Tournament and 3A clubs Mt. Vernon, Mt. Zion and Effingham.

In fact the Wooden Shoes were 10-2 versus 3A and 4A teams this season.

Signature wins include topping both Breese Mater Dei and Nashville in the same week at the NIT along with victories over Decatur Eisenhower and Danville in separate shootouts.

Six-foot-five junior forward Brett Mette tops T-Town with 15.9 points and 7.3 rebounds a contest.

The backcourt is solid, with 6-foot-4 senior Devin Smith (9.1 p.p.g.) and 5-foot-9 junior Michael Drees (5.6 p.p.g., 5.8 a.p.g.) running the show.

Sophomore Mitch Hardiek, a 6-foot-2 guard/forward (5.6 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-5 senior forward Tyler Gebben (7.6 p.p.g., 4.1 r.p.g.) add production on both ends of the floor.

Another frontcourt player who contributes is Jordan Thoele, a 6-foot-4 forward (6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds) while more backcourt help comes from 6-foot-1 senior Brock Mette, who tosses in 5.1 points a night.

It took all of them to put together enough points in Teutopolis' 54-51double-overtime slug-fest win over Marshall on the Lions home floor on Friday night to advance.

The Wooden Shoes secured the programs' 29th regional title, sixth in-a-row by this coach, and are looking at adding their 12th sectional title to the trophy case.

The Fairfield Mules have rode the hot hand of 6-foot-8 senior Nathaniel Lackey into the sectional as this forward came up with a huge game on Friday night as Fairfield topped Harrisburg to win the regional at Carmi-White County.

It was the first regional title for the Mules since 2007.

Lackey threw down 38-points in the teams 68-61 win.

This senior has averaged 20.7 points a game while grabbing nine rebounds a contest.

Andrew Gifford, a 5-foot-11 senior, adds 18-points to the totals each night for head coach Scott McElravy's 21-7 club that won the Black Diamond East Division, going unbeaten at 9-0.

Colton Land and Sky Kollak, both 6-foot-1 juniors, pitch in nine points each.

Some good wins include topping West Frankfort for third place at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and also a victory over 1A regional winner Casey-Westfield on the same floor at Benton where this sectional is held back on February 7.

The Lawrenceville Indians are one of the surprise teams in the postseason mixture having won the Little Illini Conference regular season and tournament titles under the tutelage of long-time head coach Randy Bishop.

In the three seasons at this school, Coach Bishop has helped turn things around and the 22-5 Tribe are serious contenders for a sectional championship.

Lawrenceville has four key scorers with two averaging double-figures.

Five-foot-eleven junior Brandt Cochran tops the charts with 18.2 points a game while 6-foot junior Harry Loeb adds 12.4 p.p.g.

Six-foot-one junior Dylan Volkman (9.4 p.p.g.) and 5-foot-11 junior Jordan Shick (7.5 p.p.g.) give Coach Bishop four solid scoring options.

Sophomore Bryce Willingham (7.9 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-1 senior John Barnes (4.8 p.p.g.) round out the young Indians squad who won the programs' first regional title since 2005.