02-19-15

Having led by as many as 13-points in the third quarter and still clinging to a three-point lead, Christopher only needed to close out the game late in the fourth quarter from the foul line.

But the hosts allowed rival Sesser-Valier to stay too close for comfort.

This played right into the hands of the senior led Red Devils.

Getting one final chance in the closing seconds of regulation, senior guard Nick Marlo made the most of the situation.

Trailing 64-61, this 5-foot-10 leader drove to the right side of the floor right in front of the Red Devils' bench and launched a prayer of a 3-point attempt.

Falling away well past the arc, Marlo's shot banked home just as the buzzer sounded.

This bucket evened the score and sent the game into overtime.

It took eight more minutes, and two overtime sessions, for Sesser-Valier to finally wear down the hosts.

Behind Marlo with 27-points and senior Luke Thompson's 22, Coach Shane Garner's squad log jammed the top of the BDC West Division standings with a miraculous 89-78 come-from-behind win on the road in a game that was being made up from Tuesday because of the bad weather that hit southern Illinois.

“I really don't know what kind of shot that was (Marlo 3-pointer) but they say it is better to be lucky than good,” said Coach Garner about the game-tying score. “I was debating whether or not to call a timeout but I am really glad I didn't. Sometimes those shots just go in. When you work as hard as he (Marlo) does you earn stuff like that. Nick is good about getting to the basket and making the defender make a play.”

A large crowd braved these elements to witness an epic showdown with the visitors claiming a share of the conference lead with Trico and Christopher with each team having a conference game remaining to squeeze in this weekend.

The Red Devils improved to 19-9 overall and 6-3 in the division while Christopher also stands at 6-3 with a 19-5 overall mark.

Coach Eric Stallman's Bearcats were led by junior point guard Hunter Wheeler with 25-points while sophomore Isaac McPhail added 12.

“It comes down to nine seconds left and Marlo has the ball but we have a three-point lead. We have a chance to win this game. It was a situation where you think 'do we foul or not foul' but I felt with nine seconds that was too much time left,” said Coach Stallman. “We did a great job guarding him. It was an impossible shot. He banked it in with two hands (defender) in his face. Just give the kid (Marlo) credit. That was a tremendous shot. Then in the overtime we made some mistakes.”

There were many factors in the outcome of this contest.

Most of which pointed toward Christopher not being able to hold on to a lead late from the foul line.

Although they were a respectable 18-of-26 from the stripe, Christopher is normally better than that.

In fact the Bearcats missed some key charity shots in the final minutes that could have secured the win.

Just before the Marlo “miracle” McPhail made just 1-of-2 from the line with :13.2 left.

Christopher also had the ball with a four-point lead with 1:40 remaining holding the ball.

However an offensive foul on a moving screen was called on sophomore Kaeleb Pedigo gave the ball back to Sesser-Valier.

It was one of five crucial fourth quarter turnovers that helped turn the tide to a Red Devil maroon.

After that turnover, Marlo put his team on his back.

Despite being called for a pair of charging fouls in the in the second half, this senior showed no fear in driving into the paint.

Marlo scored twice on moves to the basket, his second of which cut the Bearcats' lead to just 61-60 with :40.5 left.

McPhail made both free throws after being fouled at the :29.8 and then Marlo made 1-of-2 from the line, again driving to the goal.

This set up the final moments as Sesser-Valier sent McPhail back to the line.

Christopher could have fouled Marlo as he crossed mid-court but chose to play straight up on the defensive end.

Marlo made them pay for this decision.

Wheeler tried to carry his club to a win in the extra session.

After spotting S-V a quick four-point lead in the first overtime, Wheeler scored six-points in the first OT.

His second drive to the basket produced a game-tying lay in at 72-all with :36 left.

The Red Devils scored the first seven points in the second overtime and never looked back.

Thompson, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored on a driving lay in just seconds in to the second overtime.

The next time he got a chance, Thompson nailed a back-breaking 3-pointer from the right corner for a 77-72 lead with 3:04 left.

Jacob Vanwey, a 6-foot senior guard, added 13-points on the night for Sesser-Valier.

And he also stepped up big late, scoring six of his points in the two overtimes.

He netted back-to-back shots for S-V on a back door cut to the basket and another score from the right wing.

When his second shot found the mark, the Red Devils were up 81-75.

Sesser-Valier closed out the win, cashing in 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:22 to post the victory.

The Bearcats can point to those five crucial fourth quarter miscues (21-total) and seven more in the third quarter, which helped Sesser-Valier stay close.

Christopher held a 10-point advantage at halftime and used a 9-1 run to open the second quarter with freshman Bradley Young adding a basket and McPhail converting a conventional three-point play while being fouled by S-V's Zane Wilson.

When senior Luke Saeger scored on a drive down the baseline, the 'Cats led 27-18.

Leading 33-26 in the final seconds, Wheeler drove up the right side of the court and launched a 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the circle.

This rainbow shot found the bottom of the twine for a 10-point spread at intermission.

The Bearcats appeared ready to put the Devils away in the early going of the third quarter as they got the lead up to 40-27 on a pair of free throws by 6-foot-3 sophomore Josh Calloni and a basket by Young from the right side of the goal.

Calloni and Saeger, the big guys in the middle were both in foul trouble and the personals began to add up in the third quarter as each ended up on the bench after respectively picking up their fourth fouls.

Saeger went to the bench early (7:30 left) and Calloni got number four in the final seconds of the third.

Having these forwards on the bench allowed Sesser-Valier to be more aggressive going to the basket in the second part of the contest.

“I thought we were way more aggressive at the end of the game going to the hole. We were attacking and getting those fouls called,” said Coach Garner. “I thought we did a good job adjusting to the calls and adjusting to the game.”

Despite the turnovers in the third quarter and the foul issues that were mounting, Christopher was still in command.

Wheeler added another basket on a drive and he stole the ball in an inbounds play and assisted sophomore Gabe Schimpf on a driving lay in for a 51-45 lead heading to the fourth.

There were several key plays that helped fuel the Red Devils rally and the first big play happened with 6:12 remaining.

After Wheeler scored on yet another drive through the S-V defensive for a 55-46 lead, Thompson nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner while being fouled by Young.

His made free throw converted the four-point play which helped resuscitate the Red Devils.

“My kids are big game kids. Luke (Thompson) stepped up and made some big shots in every game he has played in. He just steps up and knocks down shots,” said Coach Garner. “When he is hot, he's hot and he knows he has the 'green light'.”

Christopher managed to score three more points (1-of-2 from the foul line by junior Luke Winget and another Wheeler drive) but Sesser-Valier had grabbed the momentum.

Not to be overlooked in the game changing plays was a pair of steals and fast break baskets by senior John Galloway for S-V.

Two steals just seconds apart got the Red Devils within 58-55 with 2:45 remaining.

Wheeler scored again with just 2:16 left for a 60-55 lead.

Marlo took over from there, leading to the overtime and eventual victory for the defending conference champs.

Statistically not much separated the two clubs.

Sesser-Valier and Christopher both shot the ball well enough to win as the totals were nearly identical.

The hosts were 28-of-58 overall (48.2 percent) while hitting 4-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc.

The Red Devils were 29-of-60 (48.3 percent) while converting 5-of-17 from downtown.

S-V held a 29-24 rebounding edge while committing just 13-turnovers, eight less than the host Bearcats.

The Red Devils took advantage of the Christopher foul troubles, converting 26-of-37 from the free throw line in the victory.

“This (experience in big games) was a factor tonight. We talked about at halftime. We were down double-digits in two sectional games last year and came back and won them. I thought we lost a little bit of composure there tonight our motto in the second half was to get a score and a stop and that turned out in our favor,” said Coach Garner. “But I'm proud of our effort tonight, it's a big win. The kids are excited about playing games like this and we have a chance to share this league title now. Execution wise there were some things we could have done better tonight but we are learning and the kids are understanding and correcting mistakes as the game goes on.”

Coach Stallman's club was 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from the line but missed three important ones in the final minutes.

“We made some mistakes tonight late but we can't use that (inexperience) as an excuse now. They (Sesser-Valier) have seniors that have played in big games but we had lots of opportunities,” said Coach Stallman. “We had the game won. We were up four with two minutes left and we have the basketball. We are going to hold it and make them foul us. We pick up an offensive foul and that was a game-changer. I felt like we had opportunities but we need to grow some more. But we aren't going to use that as an excuse. Being in these kind of games will only help us in the long run.”

Each team has one game left to play in the Black Diamond.

Christopher can pick up a share of the conference title with a win over Zeigler-Royalton on the road Friday night while Sesser-Valier will play host to Chester on the same night.

The last Bearcat outright title was in 1989-90.