01-30-18
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAMPBELL HILL - Senior Ryan Vogt scored just seven-points in the Pioneers game against Christopher on Tuesday night.

But his final three-points were the most important ones of the game.

The 6-foot-4 forward, with the clock running down in overtime with the game tied, got himself open in the left corner near the Trico bench.

His 20-footer found the bottom of the twine with :04 remaining to give his team a 48-45 hard fought win over the visiting Bearcats.

Christopher did get a timeout with :02.5 showing on the clock but a desperation shot by senior Bradley Young fell way short of the mark at the final horn.

Coach Andrew Wilson saw his Pioneers improve to 9-14 overall and 2-5 in the BDC West with the victory.

Christopher saw its mark slip to 16-6 overall, 5-2 in the West.

“He (Vogt) is a good player and he made a good move and got open. I thought we did a good job on him all night. But he is going to get his buckets,” said Coach Stallman.

The Pioneers were led by 6-foot-6 senior Jared Meyerhoff with 16-points and eight rebounds in the triumph.

Sophomore Nick Compton tossed in eight-point to go with the seven scored by Vogt.

Coach Eric Stallman got 20-points from 6-foot-4 senior forward Bradley Young and 10-points from 6-foot-6 senior guard Jared Curry.

Junior Gage Hawkins and sophomore Bryce Pratt added eight and seven-points for Christopher as those four players were the only ones to score.

Battling illness (flu) the Bearcats had nine players who missed school on Monday and four players didn't suit up because of the sickness.

Nevertheless, Christopher battled until the end but couldn't get some late shots to fall.

In fact they struggled most of the night offensively, hitting just 18-of-49 shot from the floor (36.7 percent) and just 1-of-9 from the arc.

The Bearcats also committed 11-turnovers.

“He (Young) had over a 100 degree fever today and was only there a half of a day,” said Coach Stallman. “He battled through it, he gutted it out. Today was Curry's first day back. He has influenza B so he has been out. He was out there tonight. We had nine kids out of practice yesterday. I'm very proud of our kids. They gutted it out tonight.”

Trico finished 18-of-43 overall and 5-of-18, including the game-winner, from the 3-point line.

The Pioneers survived 15-turnovers of their own to get the victory at home.

Meyerhoff was the key contributor for Trico in the early going as he netted seven of his points in the opening frame.

He, too, was feeling the effects of the flu as were some of his other teammates and also Coach Wilson.

Two scores came in the paint and his third made basket was a 3-pointer from near the top of the circle to give the Pioneers a 11-9 advantage

Junior Carter Naile scored five-points for Trico, including a 3-pointer to open the game's scoring.

Senior Gavin Thies scored on an inbounds play to close the quarter at 13-9 Pioneers.

“He (Meyerhoff) is a huge part of what we do. If he isn't scoring at least 15 points for us, we are not going to win. He draws a lot of attention. He is very good inside. Last night he was struggling because he is sick. The day before he didn't come to school and he passed out and fell. He got a cut on his arm and he didn't even know what he hit it on,” said Coach Wilson. “For him to play as well as he did, that was pretty impressive.”

Curry scored five of the Christopher points in the first frame and he hit his teams' only 3-pointer of the game, one that bounced off the rim and backboard before falling in.

Hawkins and Pratt were the only two Bearcats to score in the second quarter for Coach Stallman.

Pratt hit 3-of-4 free throws while Hawkins added a pair of early quarter shots and two free throws for the nine-points that Christopher had in the second stanza.

Senior Seth Myers got into the scoring act for Trico, while sophomore Seth Levan added a bucket for the Pioneers.

Meyerhoff scored on a baseline jumper to close the half at 24-18 Pioneers.

The Bearcats managed to stay close to Trico in the third quarter, thanks to Young who scored six-straight points.

He grabbed his own rebound for a score to cut the Pioneers lead to 26-24.

After a Meyerhoff 3-pointer, Christopher outscored Trico the remainder of the quarter 5-1 to make it 30-29 heading to the fourth quarter.

Pratt scored in the lane on an assist from Young and then Curry converted a three-point play as the Bearcats were within one-point heading to the fourth.

After a pair of baskets to open the fourth by Thies and Vogt, Christopher made its best run of the game to take their first lead since the opening period.

Young scored twice in the paint and Hawkins took another assist from Young to give the lead back to Christopher.

Curry closed the run with a bucket near the basket on another assist from Young for a 37-34 advantage with 2:44 to go in regulation.

Compton drove to the basket for a lay in while being fouled for a three-point play and yet another tie for Trico.

Then Young added two more baskets with the second one, with 1:02 left, also while being fouled.

Young missed the free throws but the Bearcats were up 41-37.

It was on Trico's next possession that they got a basket from Naile while being fouled by Curry.

Naile also missed his free throw and Christopher ended up with the rebound and a chance to close out the game.

Bearcats' junior Dalton Saeger toed the foul line for a one and bonus with :29.8 left after Thies committed his fifth personal foul.

But he missed the free throw and Trico got the rebound and then got the ball to Vogt, who was fouled by Young with :16.2 remaining.

Vogt nailed both free throws to even things at 41-all.

“I thought Ryan Vogt played very well, he hit those two big free throws at the end of the game. When he gets to the free throw line he is 'ice cold'. He practices free throws everyday and he doesn't miss often,” said Coach Wilson. “I was pretty confident he was going to make those.”

Coach Stallman's crew had one more chance in regulation to escape with a victory.

Young again got open for a shot but it missed the mark.

Compton's halfcourt heave drew iron but fell to the court at the horn as the teams would need extra minutes to decide the contest.

Young added to his scoring total with two more buckets, which were matched by Meyerhoff scoring on a hook shot in the lane and a shot by Myers.

Young's second score tied the game at 45-45 with :17 remaining and set the stage for Vogt's game-winner.

“On that play (game-winning shot) I was debating on whether or not to call timeout or let it play out,” said Coach Wilson. “But I saw some of out guys were open and I was just waiting to see if we could make a pass. Finally we did and I don't think we would've gotten a better shot than that no matter what I would have drawn up.”

This was a tough league road loss for Coach Stallman's club as they are now 2.5 games behind Sesser-Valier in the West Division race.

The Bearcats host Goreville on Friday night, February 2 in their next contest.

Trico plays its next game against Zeigler-Royalton on Saturday at home.

“If we make a couple of free throws, get maybe a couple of more rebounds, maybe a call goes the other was or we get a bounce go our way, it would have been different,” said Coach Stallman. “But it didn't. That is what overtime games are. I'm glad our kids gutted it out.”