12-29-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - In recent seasons at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament – the Meridian Bobcats would always find a way to lose in this event – including title games.

In fact head coach Jeff Mandrell has witnessed his team win every other trophy at this long-standing event except the biggest one.

On Tuesday night – they found a way to win.

Rallying from eight points down in the final 2:50 in the fourth quarter – head coach Jeff Mandrell’s Bobcats forced Harrisburg into eight turnovers in the fourth quarter and broke a 70-all tie in the waning seconds to secure the school’s second EHT title since 1976 with a come-from-behind 72-70 title game triumph.

Senior Zach Mitchell grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a short bank shot with :12 remaining.

Harrisburg had a shot to tie the game but Cain Sheldon’s attempt in the paint in the final moments misfired and a rebound attempt by the Bulldogs also missed as the Meridian celebration began.

Meridian’s DeVante McClung scored 28-points – including six 3-pointers – to lead his team back from a 69-61 deficit.

Turning up the defensive pressure – Meridian outscored the Bulldogs 11-1 in the final 2:23 by forcing four late Harrisburg turnovers.

McClung’s steal and fast break slam-dunk triggered the late scoring serge as Coach Mandrell’s club improved to 15-1 on the season while Harrisburg saw its overall mark drop to 10-4.

“They (our players) just wouldn’t quite tonight. It is a cliché but they were determined to win. There for a while I thought we had lost it but it is just one of those things,” said Coach Mandrell. “This is one of our biggest wins because this is a great tournament and in our time here we had won every place in this tournament but first but tonight we got that. I’m proud of this group.”

The Bulldogs were all set to cut down the nets to win the championship for just the second time in the programs’ history (1987) but failed to hold onto the lead.

Harrisburg broke a 52-all tie in the early going of the fourth quarter as 6-foot-7 senior forward Lucas Elverd scored seven of his 15-points in a two minute stretch as part of a 9-0 run to give the Bulldogs a commanding 61-52 advantage.

But at this point of the proceedings – McClung got hot. As in scorching hot.

He buried four 3-pointers in the final 3:59 and his steal and fast break slam ignited the Meridian fire.

His teammates also picked up their games and forced Harrisburg into crucial mistakes.

Reserve guard Brandon Madison and Mitchell each scored in transition off of Bulldog errors.

“Tonight we played 30 minutes of really good basketball and perhaps we relaxed a little bit too much and they turned up the heat. We didn’t react to it very well,” added Coach Smithpeters. “McClung got hot on us and we didn’t do a good job of stepping up to try and control that. He is a very good player.”

Mitchell stole a simple inbound pass near mid-court and his lay in gave his team a 70-69 lead with :49 left.

Sheldon could have given his club back the advantage but he could only hit 1-of-2 free throws with :33.2 remaining.

Meridian worked the ball to McClung for a final shot but his 3-pointer turned into an air-ball right into the hands of Mitchell who banked home the game winner.

“This is the most composed team I’ve had and we have a lot of kids that can play the game well,” added Coach Mandrell. “They’re making good decisions and they have stayed in these games mentally very well. Our depth helps us especially when you have to play two games in one day like we did today.”

Harrisburg hesitated getting the ball inbounds wasting precious time.

However Sheldon had a point-blank shot with under :04 left but his shot bounced off the rim. Elverd’s rebound attempt also was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.

“I had a timeout left and I always want to keep one,” said Harrisburg head coach Smithpeters. “We wanted to ‘grab it and go’ and we wouldn’t have gotten a better look had we taken a timeout. We actually had time to get the ball down the floor and to run what we wanted to run. But again that is something that we wanted to experience and get better at.”

After falling behind by double-figures early in the first quarter – Harrisburg got going on a 16-7 run from the end of the first quarter to halftime to take the lead.

Reid Roper scored six points in the run – including the final points of the half. Roper faked a 3-point shot and drove the baseline for a score and a 36-35 advantage at intermission.

After committing no turnovers in the first quarter – the Bobcats had five TO’s in the second frame.

Both teams shot the ball well for the contest with Harrisburg nailing exactly half of its overall shots (25-of-50) but were just 6-fof-23 from behind the arc.

Meridian was 28-of-55 (9-of-18 from 3-point land) for 51 percent.

The difference in the contest was Harrisburg’s inability to handle the late Meridian pressure.

The Bulldogs committed 18 turnovers in the contest – including eight in the final quarter.

“It is something that we talked about in playing a team like Meridian there is no way you can simulate that quickness in practice,” explained Coach Smithpeters. “Meridian is a good basketball team and their strength is their quickness and athletic ability.”

McClung led all scorers with his 28 - 16 of which came in the fourth quarter. Amos and Mitchell added 11 each while Meridian also got seven points apiece from Brent Kennedy and Jerry Johnson.

Coach Mandrell wasn’t exactly sure how good his team was going to be coming into this season but the first half of the season has exceeded expectations.

“I would have been happy with eight or nine wins at this point of the year with what we had back and not having “Hoopy” (Jones) I’m very pleased,” Mandrell said. “I don’t know if I would say that they have a chip on their shoulder but this group has been determined to show that they are a good team. I think most people thought that we would be a 12 to 15 win team this year and they just want to show that they are better than that.”

Sheldon led four Harrisburg players hitting for double-digits in scoring with 22-points. Roper scored 19 while Elverd and Capel Henshaw added 15 and 12 respectively.

“We beat some good teams to get here (the championship game) and we are happy about that,” added Smithpeters. “But this team has to experience some things and tonight it was the first time that we experienced quite a few things. That was the first time we played and saw that type of quickness and that type of rebounding team. It was also our first experience with a game that came down to the wire. So that is something that hopefully will make us better in the future. There are things that we have to get better at because we have some teams coming up that are going to do those sort of things to us. We have gotten better this season.”

Meridian (72) – Johnson 3 0 1-2 7, Kennedy 1 1 2-2 7, Amos 4 1 0-0 11, McClung 3 6 4-5 28, Hackney 0 0 0-0 0, Nesby 2 0 0-0 4, Mitchell 4 1 0-0 11, Engram 0 0 0-0 0, Madison 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-19, 3FG-9, FT-7-9, PF-19.
Harrisburg (70) – Roper 1 5 2-4 19, Rasch 1 0 0 0-0 2, Sheldon 6 1 7-11 22, Elverd 7 0 1-2 15, Henshaw 4 0 4-6 12, T. Smithpeters 0 0 0-0 0, R. Smithpeters 0 0 0-0 0, King 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-19, 3FG-6, FT-14-23, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

HERRIN 55, ANNA-JONESBORO 51 (OT)
The Tigers rebounded from a disappointing loss to Harrisburg in the afternoon for a comeback win over A-J.

Coach Irv Lukens’ team rallied for the win behind Alex Brown’s 16-points and David Mallow’s 15.

Herrin improved to 7-6 overall with the victory while A-J fell to 7-8 with two losses on the final day of the EHT.

The Wildcat put three players in double-figures with J.R. Woodward leading the way with 13.

Gabe Pecord added 11-points while Brady Wright chipped in 10.

Anna-Jonesboro (51) – Adams 1 1 1-2 6, Pecord 4 1 0-0 11, Woodward 3 2 1-5 13, Livesay 1 0 4-8 6, Wright 1 2 2-2 10, Duckworth 2 0 1-2 5, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Brimm 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-6, FT-9-19, PF-14.
Herrin (55) – A. Brown 7 0 2-3 16, Harris 3 0 0-0 6, Hart 1 1 0-1 5, Mallow 6 0 3-5 15, Jones 2 1 0-1 7, Caldwell 2 0 0-0 4, Orso 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-22, 3FG-2, FT-5-10, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Hart - Herrin.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Joe Hosman’s club – missing some players due to injury – was led by James Lang with 18-points and Jarelle Johnson with 17-points.

Nine of the Massac County players scored in the lopsided win that was a rematch of last seasons’ EHT title game.

Head coach Mark Motsinger had just one player – Jordan Miller – in double-figures as he had 10-points in the loss. Wyatt Kirkland hit three 3-pointers for nine total points.

Carrier Mills saw its overall mark drop to 10-2 on the season.

Massac County (62) – Johnson 7 0 3-5 17, Lang 8 0 2-4 18, Glass 1 2 0-0 8, Bazor 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 2 0 2-2 6, Farmer 1 0 0-0 2, Sommer 0 0 1-2 1, Thigpen 1 0 2-3 4, Henry 1 0 0-0 2, Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Lee 0 0 0-0 0, Stoner 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-23, 3FG-2, FT-10-16, PF-12.
Carrier Mills (29) – Miller 4 0 2-4 10, Craig 0 0 0-0 0, Jackson 1 0 1-1 3, Kirkland 0 3 0-0 9, Ward 2 0 1-2 5, Harrison 1 0 0-0 2, Morgan 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Gregory 0 0 0-0 0, Taborn 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Crim 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, Wolf 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-8, 3FG-3, FT-4-7, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

HAMILTON COUNTY 48, ELDORADO 24
The Foxes doubled-up the host Eagles as they sprinted to a 34-10 lead after three quarters and coasted home for the consolation title.

Duke Greisemer – Hamilton County’s 6-foot-4 senior center – led the way with 17-points.

Clint Hopfinger tossed in a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 11-points.

Cody Lane finished with a game-best 21-points but got three free throws from Cody Johnston in defeat.

Eldorado (24) – Lane 9 0 3-6 21, Johnston 0 0 3-6 3, Weir 0 0 0-0 0, Monroe 0 0 0-0 0, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Langley 0 0 0-0 0, Aldridge 0 0 0-0 0, Houseright 0 0 0-0 0, Sigler 0 0 0-0 0, Griffin 0 0 0-0 0, Parker 0 0 0-0 0, Walters 0 0 0-0 0, Essary 0 0 0-0 0, Unthank 0 0 0-0 0, Lowery 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-9, 3FG-0, FT-6-12, PF-18.
Hamilton County (48) – Hopfinger 2 2 1-2 11, R. Rubenacker 1 0 2-4 4, Greisemer 7 0 3-4 17, B. Webb 1 0 2-5 4, J. Webb 2 0 2-3 6, Cravens 0 0 4-4 4, S. Lemmons 1 0 0-0 2, Irvin 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Flannigan 0 0 0-0 0, Karcher 0 0 0-0 0, Biggerstaff 0 0 0-0 0, A. Rubenacker 0 0 0-0 0, CJ Lemmons 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-2, FT-14-22, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.