02-20-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - The Du Quoin Indians have stumbled through the darkness of an unimpressive 2005-06 season.

However the second season has begun and head coach Mike Crews' club appears to have found a light at the end of the basketball tunnel.

With four Indian players hitting for double-figures in scoring while forcing some Sesser-Valier mistakes, this SIRR River-to-River Mississippi Division club won its tenth game of the season with a 75-53 dominating performance.

Spreading the floor on the offensive end in the second half DQ scored on a lot of easy shots to send S-V home with a 10-17 record.

Du Quoin, with the win, is now 10-18 and set for another shot at conference rival Nashville for whom coach Crews' club failed to beat in two previous encounters.

Those two teams will play at Woodlawn on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm in the second of the brackets' semifinal games.

"You can start talking about quality opponents and who you are playing and who you are not playing but all I know is when they assign them you have to beat them because if you don't you get the big box out and start packing uniforms," said Du Quoin mentor Mike Crews. "I know it is sometimes tough to play games like this because we really felt like we should win. I am glad the kids took care of business tonight."

Ridge Thompson, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, topped the Tribe with 19-points and Brandon Hirsch stepped up with 14. Scottie Anders chipped in 13 while Bubba Harsey added five field goals for 10 points as DQ put together a strong inside-outside game to frustrate the Red Devils.

"They (Du Quoin) were just bigger, stronger and faster," said Sesser-Valier coach Danny Kirk, whose club bows out of the regional in the first round for the second consecutive season. "We couldn't matchup with their quickness and couldn't keep them from penetrating. Our kids played hard and did the best they could but that wasn't nearly good enough tonight. They were the better team."

Sesser-Valier came out ready to play in the first quarter and held the lead for the better part of the opening frame.

Six early points from 6-foot-5 sophomore Todd Carpenter gave the Devils some spark. His score on a 'high-low' pass from teammate Tyler Wingo gave Sesser its final advantage at 11-9 with 3:28 remaining.

But it didn't take long for the Indians to make a run to take over as they outscored their opposition 12-1 the remainder of the quarter.

Two baskets from Harsey in close were followed by a drive to the basket in transition by Thompson that got the DQ lead to 15-11.

But it was back-to-back 3-pointers by Anders that really knocked the Devils back on their heels.

His second one from the same spot on the floor as the first one - the left corner - just before the first horn sent the teams 'RUSH-ing' back to the bench at 21-12 DQ.

Sesser tried to stay close in the second quarter with Ty Vandekerkhove scoring six of his team high 20-points.

But balance was the key for Du Quoin with Brandon Hirsch stepping off of the Indians bench for 10-second quarter points.

On consecutive trips into the offensive end, Hirsch scored points in the lane. His conventional three-point play while being fouled by Carpenter resulted in the S-V center picking up his third personal.
Hirsch jumped high in the air for a rebound and score on his next try, making it 36-21 DQ.

A Stephen Whitehead 3-pointer for Sesser cut the gap down a bit before the break but DQ countered with a Thompson shot from the right elbow ending the half with the Indians in control, 38-25.

Thompson switched over to guard Whitehead in the second half and that defensive move made a big difference when Du Quoin extended their lead.

"Hirsch can really elevate in the paint for us and he got some rebounds and some scores for us," Crews added. "And Thompson (Ridge) really had an effect on their point guard Whitehead (Stephen) when we switched him over on in the second half."

Sesser scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut the lead to nine. Carpenter and Wingo scored those baskets in the lane to make it 38-29.

But from there it was a 16-2 Indian 'war hoop' that took the wind out of the Sesser sails.

Hirsch, Thompson and Garrett Gross all had points in the run.

Thompson got a steal and a transition score that was followed later by an additional run out; a Harsey steal and assist setting up Thompson.

Another Gross drive to the basket made it 54-31 with 2:51 left.

Sesser still had some fight left in them as Carpenter and Whitehead rallied their team with six points.

Whitehead hit a 3-pointer and Carpenter converted a three-point play.

But one final dagger, a 3-pointer from Anders from the top of the arc finished the third quarter and the Red Devils at 57-37.

Sesser-Valier could get no closer than 18 the remainder of its final game of the 2005-06 season.

"I felt like most of the season that we were just a physical team without a lot of basketball in us but I think now we are playing some of the ball that we are capable of playing basketball wise," explained Crews.

Both teams offensively shot the ball well.

Du Quoin connected on 33-of-53 shots from the field (62 percent) with 6-of-14 from behind the arc.

Sesser-Valier was 18-of-34 (53 percent) while going 5-of-10 on its 3-point attempts.

Du Quoin led the rebounding battle 18-15 with boards being very scarce in this high percentage-shooting contest.

Sesser's 'Achilles Heel' was turnovers, as the committed 12 with most of them being forced by the DQ 'D'.

Behind Vandekerkhove's 20 points, Carpenter chipped in 19 for the Devils. Whitehead added seven points on a pair of 3-pointers and a free throw.

"We made some strides this season and improved our record," said Kirk, whose team went from 3-23 in 2004-05 to 10-17 this season. "We have some youngsters to build with in the future."

Du Quoin now has a date with conference rival Nashville on the docket for Wednesday.

"I think that we are getting better at recognizing that when we spread the floor some that we can use our quickness to create some problems for the other team," added Crews. "The score has to be right before you can do it but I think we have enough quickness that we can put it on the floor and give other teams problems."

	1	2	3	4		Total
Sesser-Valier	12	13	12	16	-	53
Du Quoin	21	17	19	18	-	75

Sesser-Valier (53) - Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Whitehead 0 2 1-4 7, Kirk 0 0 0-0 0, George 0 0 0-0 0, Tinsley 0 0 0-0 0, Ty Vandekerkhove 3 3 5-6 20, Crocker 0 0 0-0 0, Ratajczyk 0 0 0-0 0, Marlo 0 0 0-0 0, Carpenter 7 0 5-8 19, Trey Vandekerkhove 1 0 1-1 3, Wingo 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-12-19, PF-7.
Du Quoin (75) - Harsey 5 0 0-0 10, Bullock 0 0 0-0 0, Hirsch 6 0 2-2 14, Piper 0 0 0-0 0, D. Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Campanella 1 0 0-0 2, Gross 1 1 1-2 6, Thompson 8 1 0-0 19, Ehler 1 1 0-0 5, Bastien 0 0 0-0 0, Hill 2 0 0-0 4, Anders 2 3 0 0-0 13, C. Bastien 1 0 0-0 2, Booker 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-27, 3FG-6, FT-3-4, PF-14.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

CHRISTOPHER 61, WOODLAWN 45
The Bearcats won the rubber match with the Cardinals and advanced to Tuesday night where they will get another shot at Waltonville in the Woodlawn Class A Regional semifinals.

Zach Thomas and Nick Minor paced the Black Diamond Conference West Division champs with 21 and 17 points respectively.

Having split their first two games, this victory was more indicative of the first meeting where Christopher won 67-52 to win the consolation title at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

This game turned on an 8-0 run by the Bearcats ending the third quarter and starting the fourth.

Minor scored six of those points as his two drives to the basket and two free throws made it 43-32 with 6:23 to go.

Coach Shane Witzel's Cards would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as they finished their season at 14-13.

After Minor got on a roll, Thomas followed it up with a couple of scores.

Christopher's Will Toney provided a little 'icing on the cake' when he got a nice backdoor pass from Thomas and finished a conventional three-point play giving the Bearcats a 52-37 lead.

Woodlawn got 16 points from senior Mike Tiemann and 11 from classmate John Kindle. Tiemann hit three 3-pointers in the game.

Following Thomas and Minor, Justin Palmer added 11-points while oney contributed eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

"We had a goal to get to the basket tonight and we didn't think that they (Woodlawn) could control us in the paint," said Christopher coach Gary Gischer, whose team improved to 18-10. "We have some size and Minor is bigger than most of their guards and he is physical. We really wanted to dominate them on the inside and I thought we did that."

Woodlawn had its chances but a poor shooting night kept them from making any sort of run.

Christopher committed five third quarter turnovers and 14 for the game

But the Cardinals hit just 2-of-11 shots in that same time frame.

The hosts were just 14-of-40 overall from the field while Christopher was a much better 23-of-43.

The Bearcats outrebounded Woodlawn 28-20 as they get a shot at Waltonville on Tuesday night.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Christopher	10	17	10	22	-	60
Woodlawn	11	14	7	13	-	45

Christopher (60) - Minor 6 0 5-7 17, Niblett 0 0 1-2 1, Palmer 5 0 1-3 11, Thomas 7 1 4-7 21, Toney 3 0 2-3 8, Twitty 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Overturf 1 0 0-0 2, Crnokrak 0 0 0-0 0, Phipps 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-22, 3FG-1, FT-13-22, PF-13.
Woodlawn (45) - McNeil 0 0 1-2 1, Kindle 2 1 4-6 11, Tiemann 1 4 2-2 16, Bonifacius 0 0 1-2 1, Kabat 1 0 1-3 3, Ritchey 2 0 0-0 4, Hassler 0 1 0-0 3, Shurtz 1 0 2-4 4, Boldt 1 0 0-0 2, Meador 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-8, 3FG-6, FT-11-19, PF-20.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

FAIRFIELD CLASS A REGIONAL
CISNE 49, WAYNE CITY 45 OT
Cisne rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime with Wayne City on Monday night at the Fairfield Class A Regional.

Coach Kevin Bowen's club then outscored the Indians 9-5 in the extra session to advance to the semifinals to face the top seed in the event Mount Carmel Wednesday night.

The Lions received 22-points from Ben Farleigh in the win, which included 14 in the fourth quarter to lead the Cisne comeback.

Cisne connected on 15-of-20 free throws in the game and 7-of-9 in the OT.

Wayne City saw its season end at 11-16 and was paced by Tyler Bradford with 18-points and Ryan Clevenger with 10.

Cisne outscored Wayne City 22-13 in the fourth quarter and 31-18 in the final 12 minutes of action.

	1	2	3	4	OT	-	FINAL
Cisne	9	1	8	22	9		49
Wayne City	7	6	14	13	5		45

Cisne (49) - Kincart 4 0 4-6 12, Rodgers 0 0 0-0 0, Farleigh 4 3 5-6 22, Rutger 1 0 0 0-0 2, Lowery 0 0 2-2 2, Obrecht 0 0 0-0 0, Lowe 2 1 2-2 9, Vaught 0 0 2-4 2.
2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-15-20, PF-16.
Wayne City (45) - Talbert 2 1 2-2 9, Braddock 2 0 0-0 4, Bradford 5 1 5-7 18, Clevenger 5 0 0-0 10, Tubbs 2 0 0-0 4, Rightnower 0 0 0-2 0, Loker 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-7-11, PF-15.
Fouled Out - Rutger, Lowery - Cisne; Clevenger, Rightnower - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls - None.

ELDORADO CLASS A REGIONAL
GALATIA 85, NCOE 77
The Bearcats, after the win, get a rematch with Eldorado from last season's regional title game after holding off Norris City-Omaha-Enfield in the first game at Eldorado on Monday.

Six-foot-four sophomore guard Ethan Robinson paced the 'Cats with 25-points while senior guard Eli House added 20.

Galatia (14-14) withstood a 37-point onslaught by NCOE's Michael Laughard.

Coach Rod Wallace's club led 27-11 at the end of the first quarter and held off the Fighting Cardinals.

Sophomore Robbie Engle and senior Kyle Hodson also reached double-figures for Galatia with 16 and 12.

NCOE (9-19) backed up Laughard with Dylan Bowman (15) and Jesse Flannigan (11) as coach Doug Miller's crew saw its season come to an end.

	1	2	3	4		Total
NCOE	11	11	29	26	-	77
Galatia	27	16	20	22	-	85

NCOE (77) - Laughard 12 1 10-11 37, Bowman 3 2 3-4 15, Flannigan 4 0 3-6 11, Anderson 2 0 0-0 4, Taylor 3 0 0-0 6, Phillips 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-26, 3FG-3, FT-16-21, PF-20.
Galatia (85) -Allen 1 0 5-8 7, Hodson 5 0 2-3 12, House 5 2 4-6 20, Robinson 10 1 2-5 25, Engle 2 4 0-0 16, Gurley 1 1 0-0 5.
2FG-24, 3FG-8, FT-13-22, PF-14.
Fouled Out - Bowman, NCOE.
Technical Fouls - None.

HAMILTON COUNTY 61, GALLATIN COUNTY 35
Coach Curt Reed's Foxes keep rolling as Hamilton County pounded the Hawks in the other opening round game at Duff-Kingston Gymnasium on Monday.

Winners of 10-straight games, Ham Co. (18-10) was led by Cedrick Graham with 16-points.

Travis Ackley added 11 with Bryan Thomas adding nine points for the Foxes who led after every stop as they ended Gallatin County's season at 7-15.

The Hawks were topped by Andy Montgomery with 13 points while teammates Blaine Barker and Jacob Shoulders added six points apiece to go with five points from Garrett Jones.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Galatin County	4	12	7	12	-	35
Hamilton County	12	10	20	19	-	61

Gallatin County (35) - Montgomery 0 2 7-10 13, Barker 3 0 0-0 6, Shoulders 3 0 0-0 6, Belford 0 1 0-0 3, Duffy 0 0 0-2 0, Schou1 0 0-0 2, Vickery 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 1 1 0-0 5, Vaughn 0 0 0-0 0, 2FG-22, 3FG-1, FT-13-22, PF-13.
Hamilton County (61) - Welch 3 0 0-1 6, Graham 5 0 6-8 16, Waier 3 0 2-2 8, Walls 1 1 2-2 7, Ackley 4 1 0-0 11, Taylor 1 0 0-0 2, B. Thomas 4 0 1-1 9, L. Thomas 1 0 0-2 2.
2FG-22, 3FG-2, FT-11-16, PF-10.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

NEWTON CLASS A REGIONAL
NEWTON 52, OBLONG 40
The host Eagles won their regional opener with a win over Oblong Monday night.

Grant Keller led the 6-17 club with 16-points. Teammate Eric Schackmann chipped home 14 and Clay Britton added 13.

Oblong got 17-points from Jeremy Ackman in the season ending defeat.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Oblong	8	9	8	15	-	40
Newton	10	13	13	16	-	52

Oblong (40) - Ackman 3 2 5-8 17, N. Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Littlejohn 0 0 1-4 1, Hill 3 0 0-2 6, Walls 3 0 1-1 8, Rodrick 0 0 0-0 0, Mundhenk 3 0 2-2 8.
2FG-12, 3FG-2, FT-9-17, PF-16.
Newton (52) - Britton 5 0 3-5 13, Keller 4 2 2-2 16, Schackmann 5 0 4-6 14, Will 0 0 2-2 2, Bierman 0 1 0-0 3, E. Mamoser 2 0 0-0 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-11-15, PF-14.
Fouled Out - Littlejohn, Oblong.
Technical Fouls - None.

MARTINVILLE 51, CUMBERLAND 50
Martinsville (13-14) the number 10 seed in its sub-sectional, surprised Little Illini Conference rival Cumberland at the Newton Regional.

Andy Chambers tipped in a Dylan Cribelar shot just before the final horn to give the Blue Steaks the upset.

Coach Jeff Holloway's club received 13-points from Cribelar while Brogan Wolfe and Matt Higginbotham added nine each in the win for the Streaks.

Cumberland (19-9) saw its season close with the loss, despite 17-points from Keith Starwalt and 16 from Dillon Shupe.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Martinsville	6	9	21	15	-	51
Cumberland	5	18	11	16	-	50

Martinsville (51) - Cribelar 4 0 5-5 13, Simonton 0 0 1-2 1, Chambers 3 0 1-3 7, P. Higginbotham 2 0 3-5 7, Wolfe 3 1 0-0 9, M. Higginbotham 2 0 5-6 9, Blankenbeker 0 1 0-0 3, Von Behren 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-15-21, PF-20.
Cumberland (50) - Starwalt 1 3 6-8 17, Plummer 0 2 1-2 7, Shupe 2 3 3-7 16, M. Sudkamp 0 0 2-2 2, Wallace 0 2 0-0 6, Butler 0 0 2-4 2.
2FG-3, 3FG-10, FT-14-23, PF-18
Fouled Out - Simonton, P. Higginbotham, Wolfe - Martinsville; Shupe, M. Sudkamp - Cumberland.
Technical Fouls - None.

STAUNTON CLASS A REGIONAL
STAUNTON 69, MULBERRY GROVE 40
Coach Kevin Gockel and his Bulldogs picked up a opening night win at home with a sound beating of Mulberry Grove.

Nine different Staunton players scored as the hosts advanced to play top seed Trenton-Wesclin on Wednesday night.

Ben Atwood topped all scorers with 20-points with Adam Brackman adding 12.

Staunton roared out to an 18-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 33-18 at halftime.

Mulberry Grove got 12-points each from Reuben Betts and Aaron Kendall in head coach Tom Jackson's final game as the coach of the Aces after 24 years on the bench.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Mulberry Grove	0	18	10	12	-	40
Staunton	18	15	8	24	-	65

Mulberry Grove (40) - Betts 1 3 1-1 12, Jolliff 0 0 2-2 2, A. Kendall 2 1 5-6 12, Du. Lindahl 1 0 1-2 3, Richman 2 0 1-4 5, Clanton 2 0 2-2 6, Nickel 0 0 0-0 0, De. Lindahl 0 0 0-0 0, Ja. Kendall 0 0 0-0 0, Coates 0 0 0-0 0, Neathery 0 0 0-0 0, Tompkins 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-4, FT-12-17, PF-21.
Staunton (65) - Atwood 9 0 2-3 20, Bianco 2 0 2-2 6, Rodworski 3 0 1-1 7, Redfern 2 1 2-2 9, Billings 0 0 1-2 1, Brackman 5 0 2-5 12, Henrion 3 0 0-0 6, Loots 0 0 0-1 0, McMahon 0 0 0-0 0, Coyne 0 0 2-2 2, Rhodes 0 0 2-2 2, Hormeier 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-24, 3FG-1, FT-14-20, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Betts, Mulberry Grove; Redfern, Staunton.
Technical Fouls - None.

BUNKER HILL 68, PATOKA 35
Another Egyptian Illini Conference team bit the dust on the opening night of the state tournament as Bunker Hill walloped the Warriors in the second game at Staunton.

Six-foot-six senior Marcus Voss led the Minutemen with 26-points while Brandon Hanner added 12 as eight of coach Jason Bauer's players scored in the win.

The Minutemen (12-15) will face Greenville Wednesday night in the second semifinal game on tap.

Patoka saw its season end despite 17-points from Jordan Potter.

	1	2	3	4		Total
Patoka	9	7	6	13	-	35
Bunker Hill	15	16	15	22	-	68

Patoka (35) - Jenkins 0 0 1-2 1, Murfin 0 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Cain 1 0 0-0 2, Back 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 2 3 4-4 17, Sullens 0 0 0-0 0, Hames 4 0 0-2 8, Wimberly 0 0 0-0 0, Carroll 1 0 5-8 7.
2FG-7, 3FG-3, FT-10-17, PF-16.
Bunker Hill (68) - Golike 4 0 0-0 8, Gill 2 0 1-1 5, Meehan 0 0 0-0 0, Hanner 2 2 2-2 12, Stratman 0 0 0-0 0, Welch 3 0 1-1 7, Ivester 1 0 2-2 4, Voss 11 0 4-6 26, Sloan 2 0 0-0 4, Petty 1 0 0-1 2
2FG-26, 3FG-2, FT-10-13, PF-14.
Fouled Out - Hames, Patoka.
Technical Fouls - None.