| 04-03-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
 The
recent basketball season was a special one for southern Illinois.
Two state
champions were crowned from the South and many records fell.
But now
the dust has settled on 2011-12 and it is time for the ABV All-South
Teams to be released and the ABV “Player of the Year”
and “Coach of the Year” to be awarded.
As for the
POY's, just like this past season, they are all over but the
crying.
In fact
you can “Book It” and “Kiss It Goodbye.”
Crab Orchard's
Ben Kissing and Breese Central's
Brandon Book are the winner's of
the 2011-12 “POY” in 1A and 2A.
These two
senior forwards have a great deal in common and are deserving
of this honor.
Both are
four-year varsity starters. Both have what is called “inside/outside”
game.
Both are their respective school's all-time leading scorers.
These two
can play all over the floor on both ends.
Kissing,
a 6-foot-5 senior, finished his prep run with 2,374-points and
1,232-rebounds. He has improved each years since his freshman
campaign, added strength and skill as he led Crab Orchard to
back-to-back regional titles, the only two in the program's
history.
While Kissing
was in uniform, the Trojans were 102-25 in his four seasons.
After a 17-13 freshman year, Crab Orchard rolled to 26, 29 and
30 wins in consecutive seasons.
The Trojans
dropped a 74-67 decision to then top-ranked Mounds Meridian
in the title game of the Gallatin County Sectional.
But Crab
Orchard put on a furious rally in the fourth quarter that nearly
turned into a trip to the Elite Eight.
Kissing
sparked the comeback with eight consecutive points to begin
the fourth quarter and he finished perhaps his best overall
game of his career with 28-points and 18-rebounds against a
very quick and talent Bobcat bunch.
As for the season, Kissing averaged 20.9 points and 11.4 rebounds
a night.
“This
Kissing kid is just a monster. You can slow him down, maybe.
But you can't stop him,” said Meridian head coach Jeff
Mandrell. “And when you honor that, he can kick it out
to the little guys who can shoot it.”
Kissing
will head to the University of Southern Indiana next season
and it is likely that he will walk-on for the Screaming Eagles.
His work
in the classroom was also stellar with a 4.55 GPA and a 27 on
the ACT.
“Ben
is a very hard worker and he spent an enormous amount of time
in the weight-room during the off-season,” said Crab Orchard
head coach Jon Brown.
 Book,
a 6-foot-6 senior, became just the third small-school boy's
basketball player to play in four-consecutive supersectional's,
joining Marty Simmons of Lawrenceville and Lowell Hamilton of
Providence St. Mel.
Book's resume
speaks volumes.
He is the
top scorer in Cougars' history with 1,848-points and 890-rebounds.
As a senior
he averaged 20.6 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.
He was also
a dead-eye from the foul line, hitting 84.6 percent (115-of-136)
which included four straight free throws in the final minutes
of Central's 37-30 win over Harrisburg in the 2A Carbondale
Supersectional.
While he
was on the hardwood, Central amassed a sparkling 124-12 record,
including four-consecutive 30-plus win campaigns.
The Cougars
captured their first boy's basketball state championship this
past March going 34-1 and Book was a key factor in the title
game triumph over Normal University High with 28-points and
11-rebounds in Central's 53-47 win.
Book, like
Kissing, was a big mismatch for most of the teams that played
Breese Central the past four years.
He stepped
out and hit 135 career 3-pointers and could take the ball inside
as well.
As for the
“Coach of the Year” awards, there are many different
mentors who are deserving of this praise, but ABV decided to
look a bit deeper into the coaching ranks.
The job
that head coach Jon Brown at Crab
Orchard needs to be recognized here.
At a school
that is this small and in a league that has longed for respect
(the Greater Egyptian Conference) ABV acknowledges Coach Brown
for getting his Trojans to not only back-to-back regional titles
but setting school records in wins and losses the past two seasons.
Crab Orchard
won consecutive GEC regular season titles going 28-0 (14-0 each
season) and were 59-7 overall in those two campaigns.
Coach Brown
is the 1A Deep South “Coach of the Year” for 2011-12.
Also in
2011-12 there was another team that reached a sectional title
(2A Eldorado Sectional) that surprised some experts (including
ABV) this season.
The Pinckneyville
Panthers, a long standing tradition rich program, wasn't supposed
to be that good this season but the coaching staff at this school,
led by head coach Bob Waggoner,
molded this group into a blue-collar unit that beat the teams
they were supposed to beat (10-0 in the SIRR Mississippi Division)
and shocked a few others on their way to a sectional title game
loss to Harrisburg.
The Panthers
finished 26-5 this season with a team that on paper didn't look
imposing.
But until
these games are played on paper, good coaches like Mr. Waggoner
will find ways to win.
His work
this year with this club warrants his selection as 2A Deep South
“Coach of the Year.”
EDITOR'S
NOTE:
As with the previous year's - the ABV lists will be scrutinized.
But as always I stand by my selections. Most importantly these
awards are about the kids. If you - as a fan - have a comment
that is disparaging to the ones chosen then send it to me. Don't
post it on some message board and embarrass some young man.
If you have a complaint send it to me.
There were several coaches who didn't contact me with nominations
and, or, their final stats. If someone is left off of this list
that deserves to be on here it is likely that they weren't nominated.
Like Harry Truman said - "The Buck Stops Here."
There is always someone left off of this team that I will hear
about and you could probably make a case for them to be on the
list. I believe 60 players in each class - 1A and 2A - is enough.
There are over 100 schools in the ABV Area.
This is the setup as it has been in the past.
Breese Central and Woodlawn get three players each on the lists.
Those teams got the job done in the postseason.
No other team gets more than two players listed.
Each list consists of a 15-Player First Team; 15-Player Second
Team and 30-Player Special Mention.
Names are listed in alphabetical order. I'm sure there will
be one or two of them with misspelled names or the wrong heights
or class. I can fix those later.
I hope you enjoy.
Jack. |
