02-10-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAMPBELL HILL - Getting out to a great start in their game Saturday night, the Eldorado Eagles showed the kind of effort that head coach Greg Goodley hopes will carry into the next two weeks.

Forcing eight Trico turnovers in the first quarter – six of which were steals – Eldorado roared out to a double-digit lead and eventually a 64-52 win in the finale of the Black Diamond Conference Shootout held Saturday at Trico.

Austin Bradley – Eldorado's senior leader from the backcourt – and freshman Cody Lane proved to be way too quick for the Pioneers.

The 5-foot-10 Bradley topped all scorers with 20 points while Lane added 16.

Hitting exactly half of their shot attempts (21-of-42) from the field – the Eagles reached the 20-win plateau with the victory.

Eldorado (20-9) also got key points and contributions from post players Jordan Williams, Isaiah Cunningham and Alex Parker.

The trio combined for 17 points and much of the 27 team rebounds.

Trico failed to get over the rash of miscues early as they saw their record fall to 21-6 on the season.

Coach Shane Hawkins got a team-best 15 points from Brandon Crain. But six of those points came in the final quarter on two 3-pointers as the Eagles were putting the final touches on their 20th win.

Allen Brandon and Skylar Barlow added 12 and 10 points respectively.

“We talked about coming out early and setting the tempo and I thought that we did that,” said Coach Goodley. “They (Trico) have a nice ballclub. They're physical and they defend well and we knew it wouldn't be a cakewalk tonight. We wanted to get ahead and try to keep their fans out of the game and I think we did that as well.”

Forcing those early mistakes – Eldorado jumped out to a 15-4 lead.

After Trico's Allen Brandon got loose for a score in the lane for the Pioneers' only lead of the contest – Eldorado made its first big scoring sprint.

Bradley was a thief in the first quarter – stealing three Trico passes with two of them on consecutive Trico possessions that turned into a pair of fast break scores.

His second lay in with 6:37 left gave Eldorado a 5-2 lead.

As it turned out – the Eagles wouldn't trail again.

Of the next eight points by Eldorado – Bradley scored four of them.

Cody Lane got in the stealing act with a pilfer and a pass to Cunningham for a transition score.

Bradley's third fast break lay in made it 13-2 with 3:18 left.

Trico's Ryan Ellett scored his only four points of the game toward the end of the quarter. A nice finger roll lay in by the Pioneer guard ended the scoring for the first frame at 17-8 Eldorado.

Coach Goodley's club kept its hosts at bay by not allowing any second quarter runs.

Eldorado's Parker and Bradley hit back-to-back shots to push the lead back over double-digits late in the second quarter.

Bradley grabbed an offensive rebound and took it strong to the asket to make the scoreboard read 26-15 at the 1:54 mark.

A Crain rebound score and a Jake Carlock made free throw cut the Eldorado lead to 26-18 at the half.

The Pioneers were still in chase in spite of 12 first half turnovers and a 6-for-20 showing from the field.

Trico's best run of the game put them into contention for a comeback win in the third quarter.

A 10-4 spurt with Brandon scoring six of the points got the lead down to just a single point with under a minute left.

His score on a nice pass from teammate Bryan Rodewald made it 36-35 with :39 seconds remaining.

But a costly foul by Ellett sent Bradley to the line with no time remaining on the clock.

Bradley converted the two free throws into points and a three point lead heading to the final eight minutes.

Eldorado had seen enough of the Trico rally.

The Eagles went on a game clinching 10-1 run to begin the final quarter.

Bradley stuck the most important blow in the run with a conventional three-point play while spinning in the lane and being fouled by Brandon.

His made freebie put Eldorado up 44-36 with 6:23 left.

When Eldorado's Dallas Robinson scored on a fast break - after taking a pass from Bradley after yet another steal – Trico called timeout at 48-36.

The Eagles hit 8-of-9 free throws in the final 3:41 and made its first six field goal attempts in the fourth quarter to slam shut the BDC Shootout win in a contest of the two first place teams from either side.

Trico hit just 20-of-50 shots from the floor in the contest - including a 4-of-16 effort from behind the arc.

The Pioneers did outrebound Eldorado 28-27 but the 17 total turnovers and the hot shooting of the Eagles were too much to overcome.

“This was a real nice effort tonight all-around,” added Goodley. “He (Bradley) had another great game. He has done that all year for us. He's been our second leading rebounder this year and he finds a way to get on the glass and he knocks down his free throws when he gets fouled. He gives us a lot of senior leadership.”

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Eldorado	17	9	12	27	-	64
Trico	8	10	17	17	-	52

Eldorado (64) – Bradley 7 0 6-7 20, Creamer 1 0 4-4 6, Robinson 1 0 3-4 5, Lane 6 0 4-8 16, Cunningham 2 0 1-2 5, Parker 2 9 0-0 4, Williams 2 0 4-4 8.
2FG-21, 3FG-0, FT-22-29, PF-13.
Trico (52) – Barlow 2 1 3-4 10, Bollman 2 0 0-0 4, Ellett 2 0 0-0 4, Crain 2 3 2-2 15, Rodewald 2 0 0-2 4, Schutte 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon 6 0 0-1 12.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-8-13, PF-21.
Fouled Out – Crain, Trico.
Technical Fouls – None.

CHRISTOPHER 45, HAMILTON COUNTY 38
In what might be considered a mild upset in the ugly game of the day – the Bearcats stunned the Foxes in a battle of the second place clubs in the BDC.

Hitting just 13-of-28 free throws - including just 6-of-15 in the final eight minutes – Christopher (19-6) managed to hang on for the win.

Zach Thomas and Nick Minor paced Coach Gary Gischer's club with 16 and 14 points.

Bryan Thomas was the only double-figure scorer in the contest for Hamilton County (13-12) with 11 points.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Hamilton County	8	10	11	9	-	38
Christopher	10	9	13	13	-	45

Hamilton County (38) – B. Thomas 4 0 3-5 11, Taylor 2 0 0-0 4, Welch 3 0 3-4 9, L. Thomas 2 0 0-0 4, Hall 4 0 0-0 8, T. Thomas 1 0 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-0, FT-6-9, PF-21.
Christopher (45) – Twitty 1 0 4-11 6, Minor 4 1 3-5 14, Overturf 0 0 2-4 2, Palmer 2 0 0-0 4, Thomas 6 1 4-8 16, Menckowski 0 0 0-0 0, Crnokrak 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-13-28, PF-9.
Fouled Out – Hall, Hamilton County.
Technical Fouls – None.

CAIRO 71, ZEIGLER-ROYALTON 50
The Pilots took care of the Tornadoes as nine of Coach Dion Real's players scored in the blow out.

Senior Charles Johnson topped all scorers with 18 points while teammates Russell Mackins and Arthur Williams added 12 and 11 points to the final tally for Cairo (8-15).

Zeigler-Royalton (9-12) struggled offensively against the quicker Cairo players and fell behind early.

Josh Bramlett and Aaron Jones paced Z-R with 16 and 15.

A 26-12 sprint in the second half by the Pilots ended the drama as Johnson and Mackins chipped home seven points apiece in the run.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Cairo	12	20	26	13	-	71
Zeigler-Royalton	9	15	12	14	-	50

Cairo (71) – Madison 1 0 1-2 3, Brown 3 0 0-0 6, Lemmon 4 0 0-0 8, Woodson 3 1 0-0 9, Johnson 6 2 1-1 18, Mackins 5 0 2-5 12, Wright 0 0 0-0 0, Pilgrim 0 1 0-0 3, Williams 5 0 1-2 11, Baldwin 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-27, 3FG-4, FT-6-12, PF-16.
Zeigler-Royalton (50) – J. Bramlett 6 0 4-8 16, M. Bramlett 0 0 0-0 0, Fletcher 3 0 1-2 7, Jones 6 1 0-0 15, Mitchell 1 1 2-2 7, Downen 0 0 0-0 0, Fitch 0 0 3-4 3, Ingersoll 1 0 0-0 2, Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Fann 0 0 0-0 0, Beasley 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-8-13, PF-21.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Wright, Cairo.

FAIRFIELD 59, CARTERVILLE 48
The Mules (15-11) took down the Lions (12-15) behind 22 points from guard Jordan Cessna and 14 from Derek Tucker.

Carterville was led by Bradley Griffith and Tony Brown with 14 and 11 points.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Fairfield	16	12	16	15	-	59
Carterville	12	8	10	19	-	48

Fairfield (59) – Baker 1 0 4-8 6, Cessna 7 1 5-8 22, Tucker 2 2 4-7 14, Reever 2 1 0-0 7, Zurliene 1 0 2-2 4, Hodges 0 1 0-0 3, Troyer 0 0 0-0 0, Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Vaughn 1 0 1-1 3, Dunn 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-16-269, PF-17.
Carterville (48) – Bleyer 1 0 0-0 2, Brown 4 1 0-1 11, Wachter 0 2 0-0 6, Griffith 5 0 4-6 14, Drust 2 0 0-0 4, Davis 4 0 1-1 9, Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Lenzeni 0 0 0-0 0, May 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-7-10, PF-22.
Fouled Out – Wachter, Carterville.
Technical Fouls – None.

CARMI-WHITE COUNTY 61, SESSER-VALIER 46
Three Bulldogs hit double-digits in the win.

Carmi-White County saw its record improve to 16-10 overall with a stellar 14-of-15 performance from the foul line.

Travis Jones led the way with 17 points while Tim Steed and Luke Pyle added 15 and 14.

Todd Carpenter was the top scorer for the Red Devils (10-12) with 16.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Carmi-White Co.	19	11	10	21	-	61
Sesser-Valier	7	13	11	15	-	46

Carmi-White County (61) – Kittinger 1 0 0-0 2, Pyle 5 0 4-4 14, Steed 3 2 3-4 15, Jones 4 2 3-4 17, Willams 2 1 2-2 9, McVey 1 0 2-2 4, Smock 0 0 0-0 0, Watts 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-14-15, PF-18.
Sesser-Valier (46) – Tinsley 1 0 1-1 3, Ty Vandekerkhove 3 0 1-2 7, Crocker 0 0 2-2 2, Matyi 4 0 1-2 9, D. Eubanks 0 0 0-0 0, gibson 2 0 1-2 5, Carpenter 6 0 4-10 16, Trey Vandekerkhove 1 0 0-0 2, T. Eubanks 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-8-13, PF-18.
Fouled Out – T. Eubanks, Sesser-Valier.
Technical Fouls – None.

JOHNSTON CITY 55, ELVERADO 51
The Falcons nearly held off the Indians for their first win of the season but a Johnston City rally kept them winless on the season.

Nick Dean and Tyler Smith scored 18 and 16 points respectively in the JC win for Coach Mike Stallings.

Elverado (0-23) got a game best 23 point from Justin Snell and led 43-40 heading into the final quarter.

Johnston City (8-19) also got 11 points from Thomas Campbell.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Johnston City	14	11	15	15	-	55
Elverado	14	18	11	9	-	51

Johnston City (55) – Beal 1 0 2-2 4, De. Solomon 2 0 2-3 6, Campbell 4 1 0-0 11, Stallings 0 0 0-0 0, Du. Solomon 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 7 0 2-2 16, Dean 7 0 4-9 18, Chitty 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-1, FT-10-18, PF-14.
Elverado (51) – Arnett 1 0 4-6 6, J. Evans 3 0 2-3 8, Snell 8 1 4-7 23, Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Cobin 0 2 0-0 6, Cochran 4 0 0-2 8, L. Evans 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-11-15, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.