02-29-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
BRIDGEPORT – Now with three-straight regional championships safely tucked away in the trophy case, the Patoka Warriors head into the Red Hill Sectional with a head of steam, having taken the wind of the sails of top-seeded Altamont 65-63 on Friday night at the St. Elmo 1A Regional finale.

For head coach Joe Eddy, his club proved the naysayers wrong again with another gutsy effort.

The Warriors are now 22-11 on the season, a roller coaster variety with a lot of high's and low's that has put them to within two wins of reaching Peoria, which would make them only the second team from the Egyptian Illini Conference to ever reach the state finals (St. Elmo 1988).

Actually this coach was on a regional championship team in his prep days at Ramsey (2000) and now he is reliving this postseason glory as a head coach.

It doesn't hurt that he has one of the top scorers in the state in 6-foot-1 junior guard Jered Cain.

This three year starter is on a torrid career scoring pace and he is netting 24.3 points a game this season.

He popped home 27-points in the regional title game win and the last time he played in a sectional game last March he scorched Casey-Westfield with 43-points in a semifinal loss.

Cain has been a “pain” in the sides of the opposition each time he takes the court.

The good news is his classmate Garrett Belcher is also a scoring threat, averaging 15.2 points a contest to go with 9.2 rebounds.

He scored 18-points and grabbed 15-rebounds in the win over Altamont.

Patoka has other weapons, the unsung heroes of the squad who get the job done when needed.

Dylan Back (7.9 p,p.g.) and Shane Cain (5.9 p.p.g.) are seniors that have stepped up into roles where they can contribute.

Both scored huge points in the fourth quarter of the regional title triumph.

Junior forward Bailey O'Brien (3.8 p.p.g.) and Jordan Cobb (3.3 p.p.g.).

The Warriors have played the other three teams in this sectional, having beaten Edwards County 60-57 at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament back in December while splitting a pair of games with Effingham St. Anthony, losing to the Bulldogs at St. A on December 22 before beating them at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament six days later.

They lost to Dieterich, 66-54 on February 19.

The Edwards County Lions are probably the least likely of this group to be here.

Coach Russ Gerlach had his team ready for the postseason and it resulted in a fine performance at the North Clay Regional as they put away North Clay, Sandoval and Grayville to grab the championship.

Edwards County (17-13) is led by 6-foot-5 junior forward Nathaniel Schmittler who brings an average of 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds a game into the sectional.

Coach Russ Gerlach has two other players who average almost double-figures in scoring, with Eli Mosson and Maverick Troyer.

Six-foot-five senior Troyer adds 9.7 points a game while Mosson, a 6-foot senior, tosses in 9.1.

They mirror each other on the stat sheet in rebounding as well, with both around five boards a night.

Six-foot-one freshman Cade Schnicker and 6-foot-1 junior Bobby Brake ad 6.2 and 5.6 points per game.

The Lions record reflects a tough conference slate of games in the Little Illini Conference as they have played against two 3A teams (Olney, Paris) as well as 2A teams Lawrenceville, Robinson, and Marshall while facing non-conference foe Carmi-White County.

They finished third in the Wayne City Holiday Tournament and second at the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Effingham St. Anthony Bulldogs won its second regional title in the last three years with a win over Nokomis on Friday night to win the Nokomis Regional title, 55-38.

Coach Cody Rincker, (61-32 in three seasons) has his Bulldogs growling at the right time of year as they head into the sectional.

His club has also been in with some tough competition, as these program shies away from no one on the schedule.

St. Anthony played six 2A clubs and two 3A teams, included on that list are rival Teutopolis, Breese Mater Dei, Effingham, Shelbyville, Flora and Vandalia.

Drew Gibson and Nick Grunloh have been the players to count on offensively for the Bulldogs in 2015-16.

Gibson, a 6-foot-3 junior nets 12.5 points a game while Grunloh, 6-foot-4 senior forward, adds 12.1 p.p.g.

The duo each hit for 17-points in the regional title game victory.

Five-foot-eleven senior Kyle Hartke (7.2 p.,p.g.) and 6-foot-1 senior Chandler Martelli (6.2 p.p.g.) also are offensive threats for the Bulldogs,

Cade Walsh and James Kabbes also provide important minutes and numbers for this team that won the program's 20th regional championship.

Effingham St. Anthony's all-time winning percentage (.694) is one of the best in the state as they were one of the fastest programs ever to reach 1,000 wins as they sit at 1,351-595 in their. 70-years of existence.

The Dieterich Movin' Maroons felt the extreme heartbreak last season, being undefeated and ranked number-one in the state before falling in the regional title game to Casey-Westfield.

However head coach Jeff Staser and the returning group returned to the postseason winning ways, grabbing a regional title at home last Friday with a win over Oblong, 48-43, and are now in search of a second sectional championship in three seasons as they head to Red Hill.

Dieterich, champions of the National Trail Conference Tournament and also their own holiday event, are led by a trio of players in scoring.

Six-foot senior Lance Niemerg leads the club with 12.5 points a night while also grabbing 4.6 rebounds and handing out 4.7 assists.

Travis Niemerg, a 6-foot-6 senior tosses home 11.1 points while snagging seven rebounds per contest.
Nick Feldhake, a 6-foot-1 senior adds 11.9 points and 3.3 rebounds to the effort.

Dieterich took down Altamont to win the NTC Tournament title game and they have some good wins over Cisne, Newton, Cumberland, Oblong (2), and they split games with St. Anthony, losing to the Bulldogs in the regular season and topping the Dawgs in the semifinals of the NTC.