02-22-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - There isn't much doubt who the top team in Illinois 2A boy's basketball in the deep south is.

The Harrisburg Bulldogs have more than earned this recognition.

On Friday night in the title game of the Eldorado 2A Regional, Coach Randy Smithpeters' team did nothing to diminish their reputation.

Taking control from the first few moments the top-ranked ABV team in 2A, and also the state's elite club, demolished SIRR Ohio Division rival Benton 77-46 on Friday night in a contest that wasn't one.

Turning up the defensive heat from the beginning, the Dawgs rolled out to an improbable 24-1 lead and coasted home in the second half to improve to 28-1 on the season.

Thirteen different Harrisburg players scored in the game, led by 6-foot-4 junior forward Eli Taborn-Scott with 16-points.

Senior guards Tyler Smithpeters and Capel Henshaw added 14 and nine points while reserve forward Bahari Amaya notched 10-points.

Ryne Roper also added nine points to the effort as the Bulldogs moved into the West Frankfort 2A Sectional with hopes of getting to Peoria very much alive.

“What I'm happy with is the level that we played at. We wanted to come in to postseason play and play at a top level and not be an up-and-down type team so I'm really happy that we performed at both ends of the floor,” said Coach Smithpeters. “We thought that they (Benton) might come out and try to slow it down so we knew it was important to get off to a good start on the defensive end. We also knew that we needed quality on the offensive end. I thought we did a good job of pressuring without giving up anything easy. It was a good team effort.”

Forcing Benton into five turnovers in its first six possessions, Harrisburg took complete advantage of the forced issue, sprinting out to a 14-0 lead with just 2:30 gone in the game.

Roper, Smithpeters and Henshaw got everything started early, each hitting key shots to get their team out to an early advantage.

Roper's 3-pointer from the left wing ignited the run and when Smithpeters hit another long distance shot with 5:30 left, Harrisburg was up two touchdowns.

After Benton's Daulton Ward hit 1-of-2 free throws to get the Rangers on the scoreboard, Harrisburg scored the next 10-points to put the game basically out of reach.

Amaya came off the bench replacing Dakota Upchurch, who had picked up his second foul, and proceeded to nail a pair of long range shots.

His second blast was a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 19-1 advantage.

Taborn-Scott scored his first six points during the same run and Roper added another trey, this time from the right wing on an assist from Smithpeters.

By the time Smithpeters scored on a drive to the basket in the final minute of the first quarter, Harrisburg led 30-6.

“Their length just bothered us so much. They (Harrisburg) got some transition baskets early and it was just a hole that we couldn't recover from,” said Coach Winemiller. “The first time we played them (52-39 Harrisburg win on January 5) we were very competitive with them. It seemed like we turned the ball over into dead ball turnovers where they didn't get any run-outs out of. But tonight they did that (transition points) and they got out to that big lead.”

Some teams might suffer a letdown after getting off to such a strong start but on this night, the Bulldogs never let Benton off the hook.

Henshaw scored seven of his points in the second quarter.

When he hit back-to-back shots (a fast-break lay in from Smithpeters and a 3-pointer from the left wing) Harrisburg led 45-14 at the 2:49 mark.

Yet another 3-pointer from Smithpeters, another score from Henshaw on an offensive rebound and a free throw from reserve Snjolfur “Snowy” Bjornsson pushed the lead to 53-16 at the half.

Harrisburg added to the scoring avalanche by opening the second half with a 10-2 run.

Taborn-Scott closed his night with a pair of scores and Amaya hit another shot on a drive to the basket as the lead reached its summit at 63-18 before Coach Smithpeters let off of the pedal.

Benton (11-21) had few bright spots but one of them was the play of 6-foot-2 junior Nathanael Higgins, who led the Rangers with 16-points.

However no other player for Coach Ron Winemiller scored more than five points as the Rangers season ended.

The numbers in the onslaught for Harrisburg were staggering for a regional title game.

Coach Smithpeters saw his team force 13 of Benton's 20-turnovers in the first half.

The Bulldogs hit 20-of-36 shots in the opening 16-minutes and had only five first half turnovers.

Overall Harrisburg hit 54.2 percent from the floor (32-of-59) while holding a 38-24 rebounding edge.

The Rangers finished 15-of-52 (28.8 percent) overall in defeat.

“We have great help off of the bench and I think that we defend so well,” added Coach Smithpeters, in comparing last season's team to this group. “I think our defense is overlooked because we score 70-points a game and we hit 3's and push the ball up the court. But I think sometimes people forget that we hold teams to the teens (scoring) for a half. It makes a tremendous difference and this group takes a lot of pride in.”

Harrisburg will tangle with Chester on Wednesday night at the West Frankfort 2A Sectional.

The Yellow Jackets won the school's first boy's basketball regional title since 1975 with a 69-48 win over Trico at the Murphysboro Regional on Friday.