02/24/2023
BY DAN L. CHAMNESS
TUSCOLA - A high school basketball game in Illinois is 32 minutes of time on the hardwood.

At Tuscola on Friday night, it is fair to say that while two Douglas County teams and foes for the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Tuscola Regional Title, the Tuscola Warriors and the Arcola Purple Riders, were on the court for 32 minutes, the game was decided sooner than that.

Much sooner.

The Warriors lost a NCAA Division I player to graduation from last year's team, but they have not lost a step, earning a bid to the Altamont Class 1A Sectional with a 63-46 victory over the Riders.

The Riders finished their season with a 17-14 mark.

They were 5-5 in the in the Lincoln Prairie Conference.

"It is great to play in front of a crowd like this and it is great to get into the regional title game for the second year in a row," said Greg Gisinger, Arcola's head coach. "Next year, we want to improve our win total over this year. This is the second year in a row we won 17 games. I want to see the boys that are returning get in the gym."

The Warriors, who at times were putting defensive pressure on Arcola at half-court, would have a lead of 17 points the margin of victory in the final minute of the first quarter.

At the 2:29 mark of the first quarter, Kam Sweetnam nailed a trey from the left wing.

His first trey of the 9-0 run also stretched the Warrior lead to double digits, 16-6.

Sweetnam would follow that with a layup and other three-ball from the left wing.

A pair of free throws by junior point guard Josiah Hortin with 37 ticks left on the clock gave Tuscola a commanding 23-6 lead.

The Riders got a bucket from sophomore Braden Phillips with one second to play in the opening eight minutes.

The Warrior lead ballooned to over 20 points in the opening three minutes of the second quarter.

While Phillips hit the opening bucket of the second quarter, Tuscola would score the next 10 points of the quarter.

Parker James started 10-0 run with an old-fashioned three pointer within the first 35 seconds of the second quarter.

Sweetnam followed with yet another trey and juniors Jackson Barrett and Jordan Quinn each followed with buckets inside the arc to complete the drive with Tuscola leading 33-10.

"In our losses this year, we have been slow starters," said Justin Bozarth, who has coached his Warrior team to a 27-6 record thus far. "We have some great athletes on this team. We are looking forward to getting in the gym, getting back to practice and getting ready for the next game."

"We were confident that we were the better team when the game started," said Hortin. "We had played them earlier in the year and beat them then as well. They switched up defenses a few times tonight. They did not do that the first time we played them. Also, they tried to speed us up a little bit."

All five Warrior starters scored and four were in double figures.

The four starters also each struck from three point land.

Sweennam led the team with four three-pointers and five field goals to finish with 22 points.

He was in double figures before the end of the first quarter.

Quinn (15 points), Hortin (14 points), James (10 points), and Christopher Boyd (two points) rounded out the scoring for Tuscola.

"We are excited to be headed to the sectional again," said Hortin. "We were prepared for this game. We will be ready for the sectional, no matter if it St. Anthony or Christ Our Rock."

For the Riders, Phillips had eight field goals and two free throws to finish with 18 points.

Miller had 13 points on three field goals, two treys and one free throw.

Like the Warriors, the Riders had five athletes that scored.

Ryan Lindstrom (seven points), Gerardo Alanis (six points) and Tyson Lewis (two points) all scored for the Purple Riders.

The Riders lose only one athlete to graduation.

"We knew that this was going to be a tough one for us to get," said Gisinger. "We would have to have a very good game, our best of the season and they would have to be a little off. But, this is a great atmosphere and the rivalry between us is a good, healthy one."

The Warriors will play Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Altamont.

They will face Effingham St. Anthony, who topped Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran, 40-34.

The game will start at 7 p.m.

Arcola (46) – Lindstrom 2 1 0-0 7, Garcia 0 0 0-0 0, Alanis 1 1 1-2 6, Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 0 0-0 2, Phillisp 8 0 2-4 18, Rardin 0 0 0-0 0, Miller 3 2 1-2 13, Guevara 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-4, FT-4-8, PF-9.
Tuscola (63) – Sweetnam 5 4 0-0 22, Hortin 2 2 4-4 14, James 3 1 1-1 10, Quinn 3 3 0-0 15, Boyd 1 0 0-0 2, Musgrave 0 0 0-0 0, Barrett 0 0 0-0 0, Kurtz 0 0 0-0 0, Spillman 0 0 0-0 0, Woodard 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-10, FT-5-5, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.