01-23-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - Overcoming an upset and comeback bid by the host Bulldogs – the Columbia Eagles continued their quest for the championship of the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic.

But it wasn’t easy.

Coach Mark Sandstrom’s club weathered the onslaught of prayers and its own missed free throws to hold off Sparta, 46-42 in the finale of Pool Play on Friday night.

With the win the Eagles moved into the title game on Saturday night against Trico – who won a three-way tie with Du Quoin and Red Bud by free throw percentage in the tourney to reach the title game with a 2-1 record.

The Bulldogs (6-12 overall, 1-2) will play Red Bud in the fifth place game on Saturday.

Coach Greg Bass saw his Sparta squad push Columbia to the limits before falling late in the game.

Sparta had two late chances to tie the game and one 3-pointer that would have given the Bulldogs the lead also missed the mark.

Columbia improved to 17-2 on the season and 3-0 in the tournament.

“We talked to the kids before the game and told them that they were wearing a big “bull’s-eye” on their backs and that the kids on the other teams look at records and they know about us and see that we are 16-2 coming in,” said Columbia head coach Mark Sandstrom. “We were playing a team on their home floor and they came out really disciplined. Coach Bass has done a great job with his kids. This was the most disciplined that I had seen from them this season.”

After struggling early in the fourth quarter – Columbia nailed down the win by hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the final :35 of regulation.

Sparta did a good job defensively – holding potential all-state forward Brad Buettner to just nine points.

However four other Columbia kids stepped up for double-figures.

Tory Arzola led the Eagles with 12-points, which included an outcome clinching two free throws with :05.2 to go.

Tanner Hall and Brian Winters added 11 and 10 points respectively and DJ Gallagher added four points.

“They hit some 3-pointers at the end and I don’t know what we were from the line in the fourth quarter but we normally close out games like this,” added Sandstrom. “I feel confident in our team if we have a two-possession lead with two minutes that we will close it out. Even though we missed some free throws in the fourth quarter we made enough.”

Jake Hargis paced Sparta with13-points, which led all scorers. Malcolm Oliver added 12 for Coach Greg Bass’ ever improving team.

“Hands down that is the best we have played all year. We did a great job defensively. We held Buettner to nine points after he ate us up (19-points) the last time we played them,” said Coach Bass. “We stayed in the game and they didn’t kill us like they did last time (a 64-49 loss at the McKendree/Lebanon Tournament). We executed offensively and we rebounded tonight. We had some open looks but we didn’t hit enough shots. We came up short but this was a heck of an effort.”

After a brief 4-3 Sparta lead in the early part of the first quarter – Columbia took charge for the remainder of the half.

Winters – a 6-foot-1 senior vet – scored five points in the first frame.

Connecting on a 3-pointer from the right corner with 5:50 to go – Columbia broke the game’s last tie to lead 9-6.

Coach Sandstrom’s Eagles were posed to delver the knockout blow by jumping on Sparta with a quick 6-0 burst to lead 21-11 with 5:26 left before the break. A pair of rebounding baskets by Gallagher and Hall followed by a drive to the basket by Buettner put Sparta in a bad way.

But unlike previous games this season – the Bulldogs bit back.

Maurice Austin – a 5-foot-9 junior guard – senior guards Jake Hargis and Clay Peck stepped up late in the second quarter.

Austin came off of a nice screen and buried an 18-footer to get Sparta back in the hunt.

Hargis and Peck each scored – taking the ball to the basket on drives past Columbia defenders.

A late free throw Malcolm Oliver closed the half at 25-20 Columbia.

Sparta was patient in the third quarter in spite of trailing and held the ball nearly two minutes on one possession before Oliver lay in a shot to cut the Columbia lead to 26-23.

After Arzola hit a 3-pointer to stretch the Eagles lead to 29-23 – Sparta’s Hargis snagged and errant pass and scored on a fast break.

Two free throws by Buettner closed the quarter but Sparta had already decided that they would be in this for the long run.

Buettner and Winters hit Sparta with a couple of early shots to push the lead to nine.

Buettner hit his only 3-pointer of the game and Winters scored taking the ball to the basket for a score and a 36-27 lead.

The Eagles uncharacteristically failed to put Sparta down in the middle of the fourth quarter – missing 4-of-8 free throws in a :43 stretch.

Two 3-pointers by Sparta made things much more interesting than what Coach Sandstrom anticipated.

Hargis stroked one home with :35 remaining from the top of the arc that got a rise out of the crowd at 41-39.

Then a unique situation occurred when Columbia couldn’t get the ball inbounds on three consecutive chances.

The Eagles were forced – by Sparta full-court pressure – to burn two timeouts in a row.

On the third chance – Columbia was called for a five-second violation that gave Sparta the ball back underneath its own basket.

But Hargis saw his potential lead changing trifecta bounce out into the hands of Hall.

The 6-foot-2 junior calmly sank both free throws to push the lead back to four.

Trailing 44-39 – Sparta’s David Sams pulled a 3-pointer out of his pocket – launching a 25-foot shot from the left wing that cut the advantage to just 44-42.

That was the last hurrah for the Bulldogs as Arzola closed the scoring with two free throws with :05.2 left.

Sams missed a second 3-point attempt and time expired on a Columbia win.

“We have been in this situation before in the last few weeks but we didn’t fold up tonight,” added Coach Bass. “We our crowd firing us up tonight and we aren’t used to that. We hit some shots tonight. Our record doesn’t indicate how good we can be.”

Columbia finished 12-of-31 from the floor and committed just seven turnovers. The Eagles made 17-of-23 free throws.

“Our kids take pride in closing out games. We have four kids that have been through the wars before and I feel totally comfortable with when the game is close,” finalized Coach Sandstrom. “If Sparta gets a little bit of a lead they can spread you out because they can take advantage of their quickness. But I felt like we were in total control of the game with the lead and we think that we can guard five-on-five in the half court better than most teams. Any coach will tell you that you must rely on your defense to win championships and that is what our kids believe in.”

The Bulldogs were 14-of-37 from the field and 10-of-14 from the stripe.

Both teams protected the ball combining for just 13-turnovers (C-7, S-6) in the contest.

“We played really well and I was surprised that we could play that well,” Bass added. “We came out and played really well.”

Columbia (46) – Hall 3 0 5-6 11, Azola 0 2 5-8 12, Gallagher 2 0 0-0 4, Babb 0 0 0-0 0, Hermann 0 0 0-0 0, Winters 1 2 2-5 10, Buettner 1 1 4-4 9. 2FG-7, 3FG-5, FT-17-23, PF-10.
Sparta (42) – D. White 1 1 3-8 8, C. Peck 2 0 0-0 4, Hargis 4 1 2-2 13, L. Oliver 0 0 0-0 0, Austin 1 0 0-0 2, M. Oliver 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-10-14, PF-19.
Fouled Out – C. Peck - Sparta.
Technical Fouls – None.

DU QUOIN 78, LEBANON 35
The Indians ran away from the Greyhounds in the second half for an easy win.

Eleven Little Indians scored in this scalping on Friday night.

DQ (2-1 in Pool A, 13-5 overall) received just one double-digit performance as A.J. Hill posted 15-points for Coach Mike Crews' crew.

Matt Gossett and Dalton Morgan bullied their way inside and out for nine points each.

Lebanon (0-3, 11-8) was led by long-range bomber Jeremy Moore with 16-points with four 3-pointers.

Du Quoin's Cody Youngmann scored eight points off the bench including a big 3-pointer to close the first quarter at 14-10 Tribe.

Gossett and Morgan triggered a half-closing 11-2 scoring sprint to put DQ ahead for good at 35-24.

Using its deep bench - Du Quoin put the hammer down on Coach Chad Cruthis' Lebanon team.

Jamor Reed hit a pair of 3-pointers for DQ and when his second bomb detonated - the Indians led 43-29.

The outcome was finalized by a a 9-0 run to give DQ a 58-32 lead.

The Indians (because of finishing 2-1 but second on the list in free throw percentage) will play Steeleville in the third place game on Saturday.

Lebanon (35) – Moore 2 4 0-0 16, Bush 1 1 0-0 5, Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Clark 1 0 1-2 3, W. Essenpreis 1 0 0-0 2, R. Essenpreis 1 0 0-0 2, Neil 1 0 0-0 2, Lewis 0 0 1-5 1, Sonsoucie 0 0 0-0 0, Thornton 0 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0 0-0 0, Zurliene 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-5, FT-2-9, PF-14.
Du Quoin (78) – Hill 5 0 5-6 15, Gossett 3 1 0-0 9, Morgan 4 0 1-3 9, Reed 3 0 2-2 8, Youngman 1 2 0-0 8, Davis 1 0 4-4 6, Schneider 2 0 1-2 5, Flint 2 0 0-0 4, D. Rose 1 0 2-2 4, C. Rose 2 0 0-0 4, CArson 0 1 0-0 3, Clarry 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-22, 3FG-4, FT-15-19, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Lebanon Bench.

STEELEVILLE 64, WATERLOO 52
The Warriors get to play in the third place game with the win over the Bulldogs in the Friday night opener.

Six-foot-five senior forward Peter Zobel led the charge with 19-points - including 11-of-14 from the foul line.

Steeleville (1-2, 6-13 overall) also got 18-points from Colin Smith and 11 from Calen Lalis in the win.

Waterloo (1-2, 2-15 overall) was paced by Nick Bretwisch and Deron Duncan with 14 and 10-points respectively.

Steeleville led 22-15 at the half and held off the Dawgs by hitting 17-of-23 fourth quarter charities.

Waterloo (52) – Bretwisch 2 3 1-2 14, Duncan 3 0 4-4 10, Dillenberger 2 1 1-2 8, Kaufmann 2 0 3-7 7, Bennett 0 0 3-4 3, Degener 1 0 1-2 3, Clinebell 1 0 0-0 2, Hartenstein 1 0 0-0 2, Vogt 1 0 0-0 2, Sandersfeld 0 0 1-2 1, Stroh 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-4, FT-14-23 PF-24.
Steeleville (64) – Zobel 4 0 11-14 19, Smith 5 0 8-11 18, Lalis 4 0 3-5 11, Pokrzywinski 3 0 2-5 8, Becker 0 1 2-2 5, Diercks 0 1 0-0 3, Gerberdin 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 0 0 0-0 0, Reel 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-26-37, PF-17.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Editor's Note: The original story listed Trico, Du Quoin and Steeleville as being tied in Pool A. Steeleville is actually in Pool B. Red Bud should have been listed.
Waterloo is 1-2 in the tourney, not 0-3 as listed.