It turned out that the foul line would prove to be the difference.

The top-seed in the tournament Christopher trailed by just a point heading into the fourth quarter and had chances to get the lead back but they couldn't convert chances after being fouled.

Coach Eric Stallman's Bearcats went 0-of-4 from the line in the fourth quarter, and added a lane violation on another free throw attempt, as they ended up just 9-of-17 for the game.

Those five empty chances were too much to overcome.

Forced to foul late in the game, Christopher watched as the hosts took care of their part of the free throw parade.

Sesser-Valier made 7-of-8 from the stripe in the fourth and 8-of-10 in the title game.

After slugging it out for 32-minutes with their Franklin County rivals, the host Red Devils came away with a 37-31 title game win.

“They (Sesser-Valier) were up seven at our place (earlier in the year) and we ended up winning by seven (39-32 December 17th) and tonight we were up five at half and they ended up beating us by six. That's how this game is going to go between us and Sesser-Valier. That is just how competitive these games are,” said Coach Stallman.

Defensively Coach Shane Garner's club held Christopher to just nine second half points and no field goals in the third quarter as they improved to 8-3 overall and handed the Bearcats (10-1) their first defeat of the season.

Getting 14-points from sophomore Colt Packer and 13-points from senior Gavin Woodland, the Red Devils did just enough offensively to go with a defensive effort that was a winning formula in front of a large crowd

Christopher senior forward Peyton Mazur led the Bearcats with 15-points but he was part of the free throw problems that suddenly appeared.

He had a chance to convert a pair of scores into three-point plays in the fourth but missed both free throws and was just 3-of-8 from the line for the contest.

The Red Devils defensively put up the best number of the night.

That number was 15:28.

That was the amount of time between field goals made by Christopher from near the end of the second quarter into the middle of the fourth quarter.

The Bearcats' Scout Hudgens made a 3-point shot from the left wing to give his team its largest advantage at 22-14 with 3:27 left before the half.

Christopher's next made field goal occurred with 3:59 left in the fourth quarter.

By this time Sesser-Valier had erased the eight-point deficit (five at halftime) with an 11-3 third quarter.

“Not getting a bucket in the third quarter was brutal. We hit three free throws and that was it. We had good looks but we missed some good opportunities and you have to credit Sesser-Valier for that,” said Coach Stallman. “They defended us well. We held them to 37. We did our part defensively but we couldn't score. They held us to 31.”

Defensively the Red Devils put the finishing touches on the championship by forcing the Bearcats into nine-turnovers, five in the second half.

As for most times when these two programs get together, the margin for error was small.

Christopher took a 9-8 first quarter lead as they got a 3-pointer from senior guard Colin Sveda and baskets by Mazur and junior forward Trey Cole.

Cole's drive in the lane for a score with :38 left in the quarter gave his team a one-point lead at the end for the quarter.

An 8-2 run, its best scoring move of the night, gave Christopher the lead in the second quarter.

Four free throws (two each from Hudgens and Cole) along with two inside scores from Mazur forced a S-V timeout at 17-10 at the 5:11 mark.

After the Hudgens' trey near the end of the half, S-V got a 3-pointer from Woodland as the half ended at 22-17.

Scores from senior Eli Schoenbaechler, Woodland and Packer highlighted the Sesser-Valier rally in the third quarter while junior teammate Gabe Gunter added a shot in the lane.

Packer's bucket beat the third quarter buzzer as S-V led 28-25.

Christopher managed just 3-of-4 free throws in the third and ended up 0-of-5 from the floor with three of its turnovers coming at crucial times.

The opportunities for Christopher were there for the taking in the final eight minutes but not much went right for Coach Stallman's squad offensive.

However they did get within 31-29 in the final minute after a steal and lay in by Hudgens and subsequent timeout with :50.3 left.

Six consecutive made free throws by the hosts took care of what was left of the Bearcats' chances as the Red Devils won their 11th championship of their own event and first since 2018.

The final numbers showed how close things were as the defenses dominated.

Christopher ended up just 10-of-28 from the floor overall, 2-of-7 from the arc while the Red Devils were 14-of-32 and 1-of-8 from the 3-point line.

Sesser-Valier held a slight 21-16 rebounding edge and the turnovers were nearly even with the Bearcats nine to the Red Devils eight with free throws deciding the outcome.

“These guys (his kids) have worked their butt's off and they've earned everything they've got this week. They have grown as a team and defensively they've done a tremendous job on two great teams (Altamont and Christopher) the past two days,” said Coach Garner. “We've battled sickness, injuries and cancellations and it has been really hard to get into a flow. But we've had time to grow and this week has been great for that. This (championship) is a great moment but we want to continue to grow. We found a way to win.”

Sesser-Valier (37) – Gunter 1 0 0-0 2, Schoenbaechler 1 0 0-0 2, Woodland 3 1 4-6 13, Packer 6 0 2-2 14, Hoffard 1 0 0-0 2, Menser 1 0 2-2 4. 2FG-13, 3FG-1, FT-8-10, PF-16.
Christopher (31) – Janello 0 0 1-2 1, Sveda 0 1 0-0 3, Cole 1 0 2-2 4, Freeman 0 0 0-0 0, Hudgens 1 1 2-2 7, Goins 0 0 1-3 1, Mazur 6 0 3-8 15. 2FG-8, 3FG-2, FT-9-17, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach John Niebrugge's squad upped the record to 10-4 on the season while taking home the hardware.

Senior guard Noah Klimpel hit for 12-points, including a pair of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Junior guard Jared Hammer added nine-points while junior guard Mason Robinson and junior forward Eric Kollmann added seven-points each.

Altamont hit 8-of-12 free throws in the final minutes, including 6-of-8 to clinch the victory.

The Appleknockers finish fourth at SVHT as Coach Wendell Wheeler, the highest placing of the school in their long history at the tournament.

Six-eleven senior Elliot Lowndes scored 17-points and 6-6 junior Tyler Franklin added 15 for the 9-5 Appleknockers.

Altamont (45) – Hammer 0 2 3-4 9, Jahraus 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 0 3-4 7, Klimpel 0 4 0-2 12, Robbins 0 1 0-0 3, Winn 1 0 2-2 4, Schultz 0 1 0-0 3, Kollman 3 0 1-2 7. 2FG-6, 3FG-8, FT-9-14, PF-12.
Cobden (38) – Reynolds 1 1 0-0 5, Cam pbell 0 0 1-2 1, Franklin 3 3 0-0 15, Lowndes 8 0 1-1 17, Flamm 0 0 0-0 0, Funes 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-2-3, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Marissa/Coulterville (43) – Charleston 5 0 0-0 10, Weis 0 0 0-0 0, Hurst 2 2 1-2 11, Carter Trieb 0 0 0-0 0, Harrell 3 3 0 4-4 10, Caleb Trieb 2 1 4-4 11, Meddndorf 0 0 1-2 1. 2FG-12, 3FG-3, FT-10-12, PF-15.
Goreville (50) – Moss 1 1 3-4 8, Suits 0 1 0-0 3, Green 1 0 0-0 2, Holm 0 0 0-0 0, Peas 0 0 0-0 0, Calhoun 0 0 0-0 0, Dunn 5 0 2-4 12, Compton 2 0 0-0 4, Sopczak 4 0 2-3 10, Lingle 0 0 0-0 0, Rhoads 0 0 0-0 0, Geyman 5 0 1-2 11. 2FG-18, 3FG-2, FT-8-13, PF-10.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Jordan Beckley's club scored 21-points in each of the first three quarters to take a 63-30 into the final quarter with continuous clock.

Nine different Sparta players scored in the win as they closed out the first half of the season with three-consecutive wins and are 4-8 overall.

Six-three junior forward Ethan Willis lit up Thompsonville with 22-points to lead the scoring while Brayden Henry added 16.

Senior guard Dauntay Merideth added 11-points, junior Tyler Brown tossed in eight-points and Sparta got seven-points each from sophomores Zach Bodeker James Pillers.

Sparta canned 12 3-pointers in the game, led by Henry with four.

The Tigers and head coach Kevin Smith ended up 2-2 in the tournament and are now 4-9 overall.

Senior guard Brody Rone led Thompsonville with 18-points and junior Hayden Linhorst pitched in 11.

Thompsonville (45) – Rone 5 1 5-5 18, Woodring 1 0 0-0 2, Shelby 3 0 1-4 7, H. Lindhorst 3 1 2-2 11, S. Lindhorst 0 0 1-2 1, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Sandy 0 0 0-0 0, Clem 0 2 0-0 6, Mullins 0 0 0-0 0, Castel 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-9-13, PF-11.
Sparta (79) – Brown 1 2 0-0 8, Merideth 1 3 0-0 11, Pillers 2 1 0-1 7, Loesing 0 1 0-0 3, Nesbitt 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 0 0-0 2, Bodeker 3 0 1-2 7, B. Henry 1 4 2-2 16, Willis 9 1 1-3 22, Valleroy 0 0 0-0 0, Sheldon 1 0 1-2 3, J. Henry 0 0 0-0 0, Littlepage 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-19, 3FG-12, FT-5-10, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Clem - Thompsonville.
Technical Fouls – None.