03-01-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
FLORA - The Lawrenceville Indians have had an awesome season, which was expected with five returning senior starters coming back from a regional championship team in 2014-15.

Coach Randy Bishop has led this Tribe to a 27-2 mark, with losses to Mt. Carmel and Newburgh (IN.) Castle as the only blemishes.

The Indians won two of their three tournaments, the Lawrence County Capital Classic with a 74-70 championship game victory over Teutopolis and the Little Illini Conference Tournament title with a 67-60 overtime win over Robinson.

Other notches on the gun belt include wins over Evansville (IN.) Reitz and 3A Troy Triad at the St. Anthony Shootout along with 20-game winner Carmi-White County.

When you have five players all averaging double-digits in scoring you are going to be a difficult team to defend.

The Indians are led by Brandt Cochran, a 6-foot senior guard, who leads the team with 18.8 points a contest, which is basically what he averaged as a junior last season.

Six-foot-two senior forward Jordan Shick (14.1 p.p.g.) helps keep the opposition honest as does 6-foot-1 senior Harry Loeb (13.4 p.p.g., 5.9 r.p.g., 4.5 a.p.g.).

Dylan Volkman, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, addes 13.4 points a game while 6-foot-3 center Brady Benson, scores 10.9 points a game while topping the rebounding chart at 6.6 rebounds a contest.

The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes are once again in the scrum for a trip to a 2A Supersectional after taking care of Marshall on their home court to win the Teutopolis Regional.

This marks the seventh consecutive regional title for the Wooden Shoes as they will try to win their fifth sectional crown in six seasons this week at Flora.

The history of this program is well documented and head coach Jason Hanson, in his first year at the helm, is trying to carry on the winning postseason tradition.

T-town is 24-6 after the 58-50 win in the regional final and they have been paced by four-year varsity performer Brett Mette.

Mette averages 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds a game for the Shoes.

Six-foot-three junior Mitch Hardiek is second with 10.7 points a night with 3.4 rebounds while 6-foot-4 senior Devin Smith adds 9.5 points per game.

Kyle Smith, a 6-foot-1 senior, tosses in 5.9 points.

The Wooden Shoes, other than a bad week at the Nashville Invitational Tournament, have been a pretty consistent bunch.

Coach Hanson's team has some good wins on the slate from this season, beating 3A teams Effingham (2), Taylorville, Paris, Mattoon, Highland, Mt. Zion, Breese Mater Dei and Benton along with splitting games with 2A power Breese Central.

The losses are to Lawrenceville in the title game of the Capital Classic in November, Mater Dei, Nashville and Central at the Nashville Invitational Tournament, Warrensburg-Latham at the T-Town Shootout and Decatur Eisenhower at the Effingham St. Anthony Shootout.

Teutopolis has now won 29-regional championships and they have their eyes on a 12th sectional title.

The Mount Carmel Golden Aces take part in a thorny path of a schedule, being a part of an Indiana conference that has little forgiveness each night.

However Coach Tyler Buss's crew is 14-2 versus Illinois teams coming into the sectional after dispatching Vienna to win the Vienna Regional last Friday.

The Golden Aces (18-11) have two very large underclassmen leading the way in scoring, which is a sign that Mt. Carmel should also be in the hunt next season as well.

Six-foot-eight junior Justin Carpenter averages 17.8 points a night for the Aces along with 8.6 rebounds.

Six-foot-seven sophomore Jackson Marcotte nets 16.8 points and 6.2 rebounds. These two have led the Aces into some wars this season.

Braden Stipp, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard, is third on the scoring list (5.2 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-1 Bret Doan adds 3.9 p.p.g.

The two Illinois loses were to Teutopolis at the Capital Classic and to Lawrenceville at the Toyota Classic.

The Aces split two games with the Indians, winning at Lawrenceville back on February 2, 83-75. They also have an overtime win over Carterville back in January so they are very familiar with the opposition in this sectional.

Mt. Carmel has 19-regional titles to their credit along with five sectional championships in the long history of the school, along with a single state title in 1927.

The Carterville Lions won their second consecutive regional title with a triumph over Carmi-White County at the Hamilton County Regional on Friday night.

Coach Dave Brown has has one of the leading scorers in the South in senior Austin Swalls.

Swalls, a 6-foot-2 guard, nets 23-points per game for a team that won the Pinckneyville “Duster Thomas” Classic in December.

Up front the Lions have junior center Taylor Heil, a 6-foot-5 center, who is averaging 13-points and 10-rebounds a game while blocking four shots a contest.
Five-foot-eight junior guard Brendan Beasley is averaging 15 points and five assists while 5-foot-10 junior Blake Jackson adds five points and two assists.

The Lions have had an up and down sort of season but all is well as they head into the sectional after their 56-49 win over CWC.

The record is 21-10 with losses to 3A Carbondale, Nashville (2), Pinckneyville (2) and Mt. Carmel as the most mentionable.

They stumbled badly at the West Frankfort “Mid-Winter” Classic as one of the favorites, losing to both Vienna and West Frankfort to finish in seventh place.

But they closed the season winning 2-of-3 with wins over 3A Harrisburg and Herrin and followed that up with victories over Flora and Carmi as the Lions would love a return trip to SIU-Arena to the supersectional.

Last season the Lions made their second trip to a supersectional and the first since 1987.