12-27-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - When assessing the talent of coach Jim Drew's Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats, the names Jimmy Drew and Ramehl Macon are the first names to roll off the tongue with good reason.

But more and more, it is the unsung role players that keep coming up big for A-J.

With opposing defenses keyed in on erasing the Macon/Drew line in the scorebook, the rest of the Wildcat bunch are holding their own.

On Tuesday night in a tough game against third-seeded Carmi-White County, 6-foot senior forward David Sanders came up with eight huge second half points.

His rebound basket with 3:30 remaining in the game turned out to be the game winner in a 47-46 Anna-Jonesboro triumph.

In a game that started out like it would be a scoreboard flickering shootout, the two clubs locked into a defensive struggle in the second half which wasn't decided until Drew tipped an inbounds pass away from Carmi's Keegan Dennis as time expired.

Sixth seeded A-J now moves into the semifinals to take on the host Eldorado Eagles, a 66-42 winner over Carrier Mills in the other evening quarterfinal.

Jimmy Drew led all scorers with 25-points and connected on six 3-pointers in the game. Macon was his usual steady self from the backcourt with 11.

But it was Sanders, with four big baskets that proved to be the difference in the second half.

"He (Sanders) was slipping to the basket on some screens when they (Carmi) were over playing Jimmy," said Coach Drew about Sanders. "Jimmy had six three's and they (Carmi) were running at him and Sanders made the shots."

Carmi can point to a 9-of-17 effort from the foul line, including 4-of-8 in the fourth quarter that kept them from getting back the lead at the end.

"We have shot really well from the free throw line this year but for whatever reason we didn't tonight," said Carmi coach Jarrod Newell.
"We didn't get off to a real good start but the kids battled back. We had opportunities there at the end but we didn't get the shots to fall. Drew is a good player and he got off to a great start. We moved some people around on him when we had some foul trouble and we slowed him some in the second half."

Falling behind early at the start of the game, CWC never gave up or backed down.

Struggling a bit in the beginning offensively, the Bulldogs committed three early turnovers that led to three quick A-J scores.

The 6-foot-5 senior Drew hit his first two shots from the field, both happened to be from behind the 3-point line.

Macon cashed in on a drive to the basket while being fouled by Carmi's Lincoln Talley. In a blink of a scoreboard's eye and a Macon made free throw, the Dawgs' trailed 9-0 at 6:10 left in the opening quarter.

The 3-point barrage wasn't all one-sided on this night.

Carmi hit three of them in the first quarter themselves, and eight for the game.

Dennis connected to get CWC on the board with 5:50 remaining and teammate Tyler Choate hit for a pair of trifectas.

But Macon and Drew closed out the quarter in style.

The 5-foot-7 guard scored on a jumper after a crossover dribble freed him up for a 15-footer and Drew hit another long-range bomb for a 20-11 A-J lead.

A-J had the look of a team ready to pull away and win the contest in a romp when it went on a second quarter opening 7-3 run to grab its largest lead at 27-14. Drew scored on a rebound basket and yet another 3-pointer in that sprint.

However Carmi wasn't about to fold.

The Bulldogs began to breakdown the Anna-Jonesboro match up zone.

Keith Jones came off the bench to hit a pair of 3-pointers in the period; Choate added five points in the frame and Mark Healy came up with a big basket just before the halftime horn.

After Macon missed the front end of a one-and-one, Carmi went the length of the floor in :05 seconds with Choate feeding Healy for a fast break score to make it 32-27 A-J at the break.

Carmi made its best move to begin the second half to gain its first lead of the game.

A 9-2 run, capped by a Dennis drive down the middle of the lane for a bucket.

When his shot banked in, CWC led 36-34 with 4:13 left in the third.
A-J's Sanders kept the Bulldogs defense honest in the quarter, scoring six points on some easy shots coming off of 'screen and roll' situations.

With the Bulldogs overplaying Drew, Sanders hit back-to-back shots to even the game at 38-all.

Choate scored on a conventional three-point play on a drive to the basket while being fouled by Macon.

His free throw and 1-of-2 charity tosses from Healy ended the third at 42-40.

Drew got the lead back for the Wildcats with a pair of baskets early in the final quarter.

Another 3-pointer from the right corner evened the game at 43-all and his backdoor lay in on a pass from Sanders gave A-J back the lead.

After Sanders' game winning shot with 3:30 left, Carmi had several opportunities but failed to capitalize.
Healy made just 2-of-4 free throws late in the contest.

With the score 47-46 late in the fourth, A-J would spread the floor and run some clock.

But a traveling call on A-J's Chris Hand gave the ball back to Carmi with :49 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs missed a pair of shots in the final seconds. After getting an offensive rebound, CWC called timeout with :02 remaining to set up the final play.

When Drew, then Macon, tipped the ball away on the inbounds pass, the buzzer sounded sending the Wildcats to the final day with a chance to return to the title game for the first time since 2002.

"This is a huge win for our program and the kids really believe in themselves," added Coach Drew. "We feel very fortunate to win but these kids work real hard in practice and deserve this."

Three double-digit scorers led Carmi with Choate tossing in 14-points while teammates Dennis and Healy adding 11 each.

Neither team made many mistakes in the well-played match.

The Bulldogs played very well in defeat in shooting 15-of-34 (43 percent) from the field, including 7-of-15 from behind the arc.

After some early gaffes, Carmi committed just six turnovers for the game.

A-J was equally impressive, connecting on 16-of-35 from the field and 8-of-15 from 3-point land.

The Wildcats held a slight 19-18 rebounding edge and hit on 7-of-10 free throws.

"No matter what we did defensively they had open shots," added Drew. "It was a very physical game on both sides and both teams played hard and clean. They (CWC) have a good ballclub."

Carmi-White County will play Carrier Mills in the fifth place bracket Wednesday morning at 10:30 am.

	1	2	3	4		Final
Carmi-White Co.	11	16	15	4	-	46
Anna-Jonesboro	20	12	8	7	-	47

Carmi-White County (46) - Ch. Kittinger 2 0 0-0 4, Choate 2 3 1-3 14, Dennis 2 2 1-2 11, Jones 0 2 0-0 3, Healy 2 0 7-12 11, Talley 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-7, FT-9-17, PF-13.
Anna-Jonesboro (47) - Drew 2 6 3-4 25, Macon 2 1 4-6 11, Hand 0 1 0-0 3, Bass 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 4 0 0-0 8. 2FG-8, 3FG-8, FT-7-10, PF-17.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

HAMILTON COUNTY 63, WEST FRANKFORT 49
The Foxes pulled the biggest surprise of the tournament in upending defending champion West Frankfort in the first afternoon quarterfinal.

Holding the Redbirds top gun Matt Weeks to just six points in the game (11 below his season average) Hamilton County reached the final four of the EHT for the first time since winning the event in 1997.

Ham Co. received a game-high 17-point performance from Cedrick Graham as coach Curt Reed's club improved its overall mark to 2-4. If the Foxes reach the .500 mark for the season with a pair of wins on Wednesday, this school will have won its fifth Eldorado championship.

Isaiah Simelton led West Frankfort (7-4) with 15-points.

The Redbirds will face NCOE Wednesday morning at 8:30 am in the fifth place bracket.

MASSAC COUNTY 67, NCOE 40
The Patriots made quick work of the Fighting Cardinals in the other early quarterfinal game.

Landon Bremer scorched the Cards with 25-points, sending MC into the semifinals.

Outscoring NCOE 46-20 in the middle two quarters, coach Joe Hosman has a chance at his seventh EHT crown (five with Massac County, one with Eldorado) with two more victories.

BENTON 67, HARRISBURG 64
The Rangers can become the first team in EHT history to win three-consecutive consolation championships with a win over Fairfield Wednesday afternoon.

Benton shaded the Bulldogs with four Rangers hitting double-figures.

Seiger Shurtz topped the group with 18-points while Mason Satterfield, Todd Browning and Bryson Hammond chipped in 17, 15 and 10 respectively.
Harrisburg saw its tournament end with Mason Medley scoring 21-points and Cliff Ford adding 17.

ELDORADO 66, CARRIER MILLS 42
The host Eagles punched their ticket into the semifinals with a convincing win over their Saline County rivals in a late game.