01-21-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
WEST FRANKFORT - If you want to find out how much difference Craig Parks makes in the Eldorado Eagles lineup? Just ask Anna-Jonesboro coach Jim Drew.

Without the 6-foot-4 junior, Eldorado lost to the Wildcats in the semifinals of the Eagles' holiday tournament as A-J won the championship back in December.

But on Saturday afternoon at the West Frankfort Mid-Winter Classic, A-J got a full dose of Parks on both ends of the court.

His 15-points in the game was a good effort.

However his defensive work against A-J's Jimmy Drew was a difference maker that wasn't there when the two squads hooked up three weeks ago.

Holding down A-J's potent offense for the entire 32-minutes, the Eagles put the game away early in the second half and coasted home with a 61-39 victory.

The Eagles followed up that effort with a 73-58 win over the host Redbirds to capture the WF event Saturday night.

With the two wins on Saturday, Eldorado is rolling along at 18-5.

"He (Parks) makes a big difference in their line up," Drew said. "I don't know how we would have done against them if he had played back at Eldorado?"

Defensively the Eagles held A-J to just six fourth quarter points and a zero-of-13 result from behind the 3-point line.

"He (Parks) did what we needed back in December," said Eldorado coach Greg Goodley. "We needed that big body to defend on Drew and those two banged on each other pretty good today. His defense on Drew to make him not be able to just pull up and shoot was a big key."

The Eagles were good in the game from behind the arc, going 5-of-9.

Three of the bombs exploded in the opening stanza, as the Eagles took flight.

Following a Ramehl Macon conventional three-point play, A-J held a 7-6 lead with 3:48 to go.

But Eldorado went on an 11-2 run, highlighted by a pair of 'trifectas' by Parks.

His second one from the top of the arc made it 17-9 with 1:13 left.

Anna-Jonesboro got two late baskets by David Sanders and Macon to finish the quarter at 17-13 and they opened the second quarter with those two players scoring four more points to even the game at 17.

However the Wildcats couldn't sustain any sort of offensive flow.

Five points from Parks and a pair of driving buckets by Ryan Frailey made it 28-20 late in the half.

A basket by Drew and a free throw by Macon closed the second quarter at 28-23. But it was clear the A-J tank was nearing empty.

Eldorado got its first double-digit lead with just a minute and a half gone in the third quarter.

A Daniel Etienne basket and three-point play by Frailey on an assist from Parks and it was 33-23 Eagles.

Coach Drew's club had a final run left with Macon scoring consecutive baskets to cut the margin down to 35-29.

But then Eldorado shifted into another gear in the final quarter.

Another big run (9-2) broke the game open. Five points from Lee Roberts on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws and yet another drive to the basket for points by Frailey got the score to 52-37 with 4:21 left.

Eldorado finished off the game with five free throws and additional baskets from Parks and Etienne as Eldorado got a bit of revenge from their semifinal loss to A-J back on December 29.

"We were able to do some things that we couldn't do the first time we played them," Goodley added. "The first time we played we let them pick us apart and we didn't get enough pressure on the ball. Today we did a better job of keeping them from finding Drew. When they threw the ball away we were able to capitalize with some points. Today we limited their other kids. The last time Bass and Hand stepped out and hit some shots but today we didn't have to help out as much on Drew."

Frailey topped all scorers with 19 while Parks' 15 and Etienne's 11 paced the Eagles.

Eldorado was 21-of-35 from the floor overall to go with the 5-of-9 showcase from 3-point land.

Anna-Jonesboro limped into the Saturday night session after a 15-of-40 (37.5 percent) from field, including the 'bagel' from behind the arc.

"We just don't match up in tournaments like this when we get dinged up some like we are now," explained coach Drew, speaking about Ramehl Macon and Jimmy Drew having injuries. "We don't have the kind of bench that we can afford to have starters miss minutes. This is a tough week and we are just trying to get out of here healthy and with some wins. This is a tough tournament."

	1	2	3	4		Final
Anna-Jonesboro	13	10	10	6	-	39
Eldorado	17	11	15	18	-	61

Anna-Jonesboro (55) - Drew 5 0 4-5 14, Macon 5 0 3-5 13, Hand 0 0 0-0 0, Bass 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 5 0 0-0 10, Pengress 0 0 2-2 2, Pecord 0 0 0-0 0, Griffin 0 0 0-2 0, Lafevre 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-0, FT-9-15, PF-17.
Eldorado (61) - Etienne 3 1 2-3 11, Bradley 1 0 4-4 6, Frailey 8 0 3-3 19, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Parks 2 3 2-4 15, Roberts 0 1 2-2 5, Cunningham 2 0 0-1 4, Parker 0 0 1-2 1, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Behrens 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-14-19, PF-16.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

CARTERVILLE 70, JOHNSTON CITY 58
The Lions topped rival Johnston City Saturday afternoon.

Scott Gulley paced Carterville with 21-points while A.J. Bleyer added 19 and B.J. Thompson tossed in 12.

Kyle Kirkpatrick led all scorers with 30-points.

With a win over Herrin Saturday night, the Lions finished the event 3-2 while improving to 15-6 overall.

Johnston City dropped both of its games on Saturday, losing 58-55 to A-J in the night session to finish up 1-4 for the week, 3-15 overall.

	1	2	3	4		Final
Johnston City	12	13	16	17	-	58
Carterville	13	20	15	24	-	70

Johnston City (58) - Payne 0 0 1-2 1, Kee 1 1 0-0 5, Humes 1 0 1-2 3, Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Cobb 0 1 2-4 5, Smith 2 0 1-2 5, Beal 1 1 2-2 7, Kirkpatrick 12 0 6-7 30.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-13-19, PF-20.
Carterville (61) - Bleyer 5 2 3-6 19, Wachts 0 0 2-2 2, Thompson 5 0 2-4 12, Siefert 0 0 0-0 0, Poore 1 1 0-0 5, Griffith 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 2 1-2 9, Allen 0 0 0-0 0, Drust 0 0 0-0 0, Lenzini 0 0 0-0 0, Thomas 1 0 0-0 2, Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Sigler 1 0 0-0 2, Gill 0 0 0-0 0, Gulley 9 0 3-6 21.
2FG-23, 3FG-5, FT-11-20, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Kirkpatrick, Campbell, Kee - Johnston City.
Technical Fouls - None.

WEST FRANKFORT 70, HERRIN 38
Ten players scored points for the Redbirds as they took care of Herrin in the afternoon session.

Matt Weeks and Isaiah Simelton each scored 16-points in the afternoon contest.

Matt Brown also hit for double-figures for coach Kevin Toney's club.

With the Saturday night loss to Eldorado, West Frankfort finished 4-1 in the tournament and stand 15-4 overall.

Herrin (0-5, 1-19 overall) was led in scoring by Dase Timmons with 12.

	1	2	3	4		Final
West Frankfort	14	22	18	16	-	70
Herrin	12	7	9	10	-	38

West Frankfort (70) - Wall 0 0 0-0 0, Jackanicz 1 0 0-0 0, M. Brown 2 2 1-1 11, Weeks 4 1 5-6 16, Cogdill 0 0 0-0 0, Perry 0 0 0-0 0, Wilburn 1 0 0-0 2, Jones 2 0 4-8 8, Melvin 0 0 1-2 1, Gutierrez 2 0 1-1 5, Moake 0 0 0-0 0, K. Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Simelton 8 0 0-0 16, Warren 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-23, 3FG-4, FT-12-18, PF-13.
Herrin (38) - Sherrill 2 0 1-2 5, Blair 0 0 0-2 0, Timmons 4 1 1-2 12, Derry 3 0 1-2 7, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Harrison 0 0 0-0 0, Lukens 0 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Brewster 0 1 0-0 3, Varracalli 1 0 0-0 2, Hampleman 1 0 0-0 2, Miller 2 0 2-2 6, Morris 0 0 1-4 1.
2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-6-14, PF-15.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.