11-22-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - The adage in sports is that the one that makes the least mistakes will usually win the game.

That theory took a hit on Wednesday night in the semifinals at the 32nd Annual Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament.

Committing 24 turnovers, Sesser-Valier looked like they had wasted an opportunity to get to the championship game.

But their good shooting night and a defensive stand outweighed the turnovers in the end.

Christopher had outscored S-V 21-6 in the third quarter to take command and when Nick Minor connected on two free throws with just ten second gone in the fourth, the Bearcats were in the ‘cat-bird’ seat at 46-35.

But Coach Danny Kirk’s kids outscored Christopher 13-1 in a run lasting 4:27, to pull even to force overtime.

Sesser-Valier stepped up its defense in the fourth quarter and extra session and, combined with a 5-of-6 performance from the free throw line, advanced to Saturday nights’ title game by topping the Bearcats, 59-53.

“This wasn’t pretty but they (the kids) found a way to win and that’s the most important thing,” said Sesser-Valier head coach Danny Kirk. “The young kids showed a lot of composure in the fourth quarter and overtime. They’ll get better and grow as we play. When you play three freshmen major minutes the way we do there are going to be mistakes but they also made some big plays, too.”

Coach Gary Gischer saw his ‘Cats ‘hock up’ that double-digit lead with five critical turnovers in the fourth quarter along with a 1-for-7 performance from the field.

At 1-1 on the season, Christopher dropped into the third place game for the second consecutive year.

“When we got up on them, the same shots that we were hitting stopped going in the basket,” said Christopher head coach Gischer.

Todd Carpenter has had quite a tournament so far.

This 6-foot-5 junior center produced 19 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots for the undefeated Devils in the semifinal win.

“We have worked with Todd a lot since he was a freshman on his offensive post moves and he is getting better at keeping the ball up and not bringing it down,” added Coach Kirk.

Carpenter opened the game with seven first quarter points as the two teams traded 10 turnovers and combined for 15 missed shots.

The Red Devils turned an 8-4 deficit into a 15-8 lead as the quarter came to an end.

After a three-point play from Carpenter, Ty Vandekerkhove sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Justin Matyi score.

Vandekerkhove’s leaning jump shot from 17 feet in transition beat the buzzer for a 15-8 lead.

Nick Minor got into the scoring action with nine of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter. Hitting a 3-pointer and scoring on a conventional three point play early; he netted eight of his points in succession, cutting the Christopher deficit to 17-16 with 5:21 before the intermission.

Coach Gischer’s group fell behind again as Carpenter scored four more points and Vandekerkhove drilled a late 3-pointer from the right corner as the two Black Diamond Conference West Division rivals left the court at 29-23.

Whatever adjustments Coach Gischer and the Bearcats made at halftime sparked a grandiose scoring burst in the third quarter while shutting down Sesser-Valier.

Like turning the page of a book to find a new chapter, Christopher started over with a game plan to get the ball to Minor.

The 6-foot-3 senior responded with 11 third quarter points.

It took less than two minutes of game clock for the ‘Cats to claw back into the lead with a driving score by Zach Thomas along with back-to-back three-point plays by Minor.

Those points gave Christopher a 33-31 lead and forced a S-V timeout with 6:05.

Following a Carpenter score in the lane on a pass from Vandekerkhove Christopher finished the period with a 10-2 spurt, which ended when Minor tossed in a two-handed heave from 25-feet at the horn.

All signs pointed to the Bearcats heading into the championship game.

However Sesser-Valier and their young kids that have been winners before at the grade school level, wouldn’t quit.

Four points from Carpenter matched by a pair of baskets by Sesser-Valier Jan Behrens gave the Devils their first lead since the second quarter at 48-47.

Thomas, who finished with 15 points for Christopher, drilled home his third 3-pointer of the evening to give his team back the lead at 50-48.

On Sesser’s next possession, Carpenter was called for traveling giving the ball back to Christopher and seemingly the outcome was settled.

But in a turnover filled contest bad things kept happening all around.

The Bearcats, under a full court press by the Devils, failed the inbound the ball within five seconds and gave the ball back to S-V with :34 left in regulation.

Vandekerkhove put up a shot in the lane that missed fired but in the scramble for the rebound, one of the Christopher players tipped the ball in for a score (credited to Behrens) and a 50-all tie.

“That five second call hurt us because all we really need to do is get the ball in and they would have to foul us,” added Gischer. “Then they put up a shot and we got position on a rebound and we tip it in for them.”

Again, Christopher had destiny in their own hands.

Fouled with :23 left by Behrens, the Bearcats’ Josh Overturf had a one-and-bonus that would have given Christopher back the lead.

However he missed the free throw and the following S-V possession produced a missed 3-point attempt by Vandekerkhove, sending the teams into an extra session.

The missed opportunity took some of the wind out of the Christopher sails and Sesser-Valier took advantage with a big defense steal by freshman Myles Tinsley and the previously mentioned clutch free throw shooting.

Christopher’s last points came on a Minor drive in the lane that gave them the lead back, 53-52.

The last two minutes of the overtime belonged to the eventual victors as Carpenter and Vandekerkhove each scored in close.

The Bearcats, needing a 3-pointer to tie the game in the final moments, committed their 15th turnover as Tinsley stepped in front of an errant pass and was fouled with :10 remaining.

Tinsley made 1-of-2 shots and, after Minor misfired on a 3-pointer, Kyle Crocker put the outcome to rest with two more free throws with less than a second left.

“Minor is a heck of a player but Crocker did a good job guarding him and Vandekerkhove did a good job on Thomas tonight,” Coach Kirk said. “Our seniors and our juniors have never played on a winning basketball team and so they have to learn how to win. They took a big step tonight in that process.”

The Red Devils shot well from the floor, overcoming the other mistakes by hitting 60 percent of their attempts overall (24-of-40).

Carpenter’s 19 points led S-V followed by 14 from Vandekerkhove and 11 from Behrens.

Christopher out rebounded the Devils 25-22 but hit only 19-of-54 shots (35 percent).

Minor and Thomas combined for 39 of the 53 Bearcats points with no other player hitting double-figures.

“We had some starters on the bench with fouls so we had some inexperienced kids out their on the floor,” added Coach Gischer. “But we will learn from this. We’re playing hard and it was a good ballgame. They’re (Sesser-Valier) a pretty good and I have been preaching all year that our conference is going to be good and our kids realized it tonight.”

Christopher (53) - Twitty 2 0 0-0 4, Minor 6 2 6-7 24, Overturf 3 0 1-2 7, Thomas 2 3 2-4 15, Motsinger 0 0 0-2 0, Palmer 1 0 0-0 2, Crnokrak 0 0 1-2 1, Treadgill 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-10-17, PF-15.
Sesser-Valier (59) - Behrens 4 0 3-4 11, Ty Vandekerkhove 5 1 1-1 14, Crocker2 0 2-3 6, Matyi 2 0 2-2 6, Carpenter 9 0 1-3 19, Tinsley 0 0 1-2 1, Gibson 1 0 0-0 2, Eubanks 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-1, FT-10-15, PF-19.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

EGYPTIAN 75, WEBBER TOWNSHIP 52
The Pharaohs advanced to the consolation championship game by outscoring Webber Township 46-27 in the second half.

Zed Woodson topped all scorers with 27 points and teammates Darius Ballentine Brady Buckley added 15 each.

Nick Skorch led Webber Township (0-2) with 18 points while Johnathan Kiel finished with 15.

Egyptian will play the winner of Wayne City/Cobden Saturday afternoon for the consolation title while Webber will take loser.

Webber Township (52) - Scott 2 1 1-4 8, Snow 2 1 0-2 Sheilds 0 0 0-0 0, Kiel 6 0 3-5 15, Skorch 9 0 0-0 18, Brookman 0 0 0-0 0, Beal 0 0 0-0 0, Cantron 1 0 0-0 2, Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Bowdler 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-21, 3FG-2, FT-4-11, PF-12.
Egyptian (75) - R. Woodson 4 0 0-2 8, Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, Toots 2 0 0-1 4, Z. Woodson 12 0 3-3 27, Ballentine 7 0 1-2 15, Buckley 7 0 1-1 15, Petermichael 2 0 2-2 6, Ward 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-34, 3FG-0, FT-7-13, PF-15.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.