02-06-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - The Meridian Bobcats just keep finding ways to win games.

Whether it is a “high scoring” affair or a “grind it out” type game – the Cats meow in many different ways.

Saturday night Meridian shook loose from rival Carrier Mills to win the marquee matchup of the 2nd Annual GEC/SEC Shootout 53-41 in the eighth and final game of the day.

Coach Jeff Mandrell’s Cats – the top rated 1A team in the ABV Rankings – improved to 22-1 on the season with the victory – their second close triumph over the Wildcats this season.

In the first week of the campaign at the Vienna Turkey Tournament – Meridian bested CM 50-41.

In the same sort of scrum – Meridian used a big third quarter run and then pulled away by scoring the last 10-points of the contest in shutting out Carrier Mills in the final 4:08 of the game.

“It is always a tough game with them (Carrier Mills) and we play them every year. They (the contests) are always good games. They’re always a solid team and Mark (Coach Motsinger) does a good job with them,” said Coach Mandrell. “They are solid defensively, smart offensively and that is a good team to play this time of year because they are tough. You have to do some things right against them. We’re glad to get the win.”

DeVante McClung led the Bobcats with 14-points and hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter against Carrier Mills’ 1-3-1 zone.

Edreco Amos – a 5-foot-10 senior guard – scored 11-points for Meridian and 6-foot junior guard Brent Kennedy added 10.

Six-foot-two senior Gregory Nesby chipped in nine points in the win.

“I told the kids at halftime that this is a team (Meridian) that is a team of spurts and we should come out and expect it,” said Coach Motsinger. “And that is exactly what they did in the third quarter. We played about as good of a first half as we could’ve played.”

Carrier Mills (19-4) were led by Wyatt Kirkland with 10-points while nine points came from 5-foot-11 Dillan Harrison. Chase Craig and Raeshawn Ward added eight points each.

The Wildcats played without senior point-guard Jordan Miller (who sat out due to a disciplinary action) and J.R. Brown who is nursing a sore knee.

“This was our first game without Miller and our first kid off the bench is Brown so it took a little bit of adjusting for us,” added Coach Motsinger. “I thought the Morgan kid (Gabe) came in and did a real good job. But they (Meridian) are so athletic and when you try to run six kids out there it is just a little bit more than we can handle. Kirkland is normally our main scoring threat but he had to play the point for us, too. He had to try and control the tempo for us.”

Harrison nailed a trio of 3-pointers for Coach Mark Motsinger’s club and his first one in the opening quarter gave CM a 12-9 lead with 1:34 left.

Craig added a basket on a baseline drive to push the lead to 14-9 before McClung nailed his second trey in the frame to close the gap to 14-12 at the end of one.

The Wildcats’ largest advantage came after a Kirkland 3-pointer from the top of the arc following a long rebound for a 23-17 spread.

But Nesby scored six straight points to tie the game at 23.

A basket by Amos on a steal and fast break gave Meridian a short-lived lead.

Harrison closed the half with a 3-pointer from the left corner for a 26-25 Carrier Mills lead at the half.

Ward opened the second half scoring for Carrier Mills with a transition score for a 28-25 advantage.

Meridian’s first big offensive move followed.

Kennedy scored seven of the Bobcats next 13 points in a 13-0 sprint.

His 3-pointer from the top of the arc forced a Carrier Mills timeout and he followed that bucket with a fast break score on an assist from McClung to push the lead to 36-28.

A backdoor lay in by Meridian’s Zach Mitchell pushed the lead to double-digits for the first time in the game at 38-28.

The Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter but came up short.

A Kirkland bomb from 20-feet up top followed by 3-of-4 free throws by 6-foot-4 sophomore Gabe Morgan and Kirkland got the Wildcats to 43-41 Meridian.

Coach Motsinger’s team didn’t score again.

Forced to send the Bobcats to the line late – Carrier Mills watched as the Meridian bunch converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final 2:30.

Amos was 4-of-4 while Kennedy hit 2-of-2.

“This is a game that kind of gets you ready for postseason and the free throws are big,” Mandrell explained. “If you step up and miss those you are in trouble.”

Meridian won this defensive struggle with neither team shooting the ball well.

The Bobcats hit just 20-of-49 from the floor and a very poor 3-of-17 from behind the arc.

But Meridian took good care of the ball as they committed just seven turnovers.

Carrier Mills couldn’t get over the 16-of-52 shooting performance and missed eight 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.

The two titans were even in rebounding at 27-each but CM had too many TO’s (16-turnovers) to win.

Meridian is the number one seed at its own regional while Carrier Mills is the top team rated at the Gallatin County Regional.

“This group plays well together and they move without the ball better. They have good chemistry in that they get along well and a lot of them play a lot of minutes,” added Coach Mandrell. “They just want to keep it up.”

Meridian (53) – Hackney 2 0 1-2 5, Kennedy 3 1 1-2 10, Amos 3 0 5-6 11, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Madison 0 0 0-00, McClung 3 2 2-2 14, Mitchell 2 0 0-0 4, Nesby 4 0 1-2 9.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-10-14, PF-11.
Carrier Mills (41) – Kirkland 3 1 1-3 10, Craig 1 2 0-0 8, Ward 4 0 0-0 8, Jackson 2 0 0-0 4, Harrison 0 3 0-0 9, Crim 0 0 0-0 0, Morgan 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-6, FT-3-5, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

NORRIS CITY-OMAHA-ENFIELD 51, GOREVILLE 46
The Cardiac Cardinals struck again Saturday night.

Trailing Goreville in the first half and looking like a beaten squad – the Cardinals rallied for a big win in the game featuring the second place finishers in the league tourneys.

Coach Doug Miller must have mastered the art of the halftime speech as NCOE again came-from-behind in a big game for the second time in the last two weeks at SIC.

Using an 18-4 third quarter to get back in the contest – the Cardinals showed a lot of fight and will while improving to 16-6 on the season.

Five-foot-nine senior guard Seth Short scored 17-points to lead NCOE back from a 31-15 halftime hole.

Short canned four second half 3-pointers –including three in the third quarter as the Cardinals scored the final 16-points of the frame to get to within 35-33 heading to the fourth.

The Blackcats (16-5) had the game in control in the early going but shot the ball poorly in the second half (2-of-9 in the third quarter) and committed four turnovers in the stanza (18 in the game) to allow the Cards off the mat.

Doug Miller and the Miracles got 13-points from Jordan Weiss – including 7-of-10 fourth quarter free throws to help ice the game.

Matt Kerns added 10-points for the Cardinals – who shot cold early but heated up after intermission.

Opening the contest by hitting just 2-of-8 shots from the field and committing six turnovers – NCOE spotted the Blackcats an early 15-5 lead at the first horn.

Out running the Cardinals in the early going – Goreville scored six points in transition.

Tyler Shadowens, Lee Sopczak and Nick Andros all scored on fast break lay-ups during the run.

Shadowens laid one in while being fouled by Short on a fast break and his made free throw forced an NCOE timeout at 7-2 with 5:03 to go in the opening quarter.

Shadowens added another score and a fast break lay up by Andros closed the stanza with Goreville in command by 10.

Not only were the ‘Cats in control but they were forcing the Cardinals into foul trouble.

Etienne and Weiss each picked up their third fouls in the second quarter.

Martin Powell netted 17-points to lead Goreville and he had seven of the points in the second quarter.

His rebound basket in the paint and a conventional three-point play by 6-foot-3 junior Kaleb Kinder gave the Blackcats a 16-point cushion heading to the lockerroom at the half.

“We were getting good shots in the first two quarters but they weren’t falling,” said Coach Miller. “We moved the ball well. We would get all five guys to touch the ball and then miss a lay up. We just told them in the lockerroom that if ‘we hit a couple of shots here, and a couple of shots there, possession by possession we will get back in it. We just keep preaching that to them.”

But just like their come-from-behind win over Crab Orchard eight days prior to this game – the Cardinals came out firing away in the third quarter.

In the 16-0 run to close the quarter – NCOE struck from everywhere on the floor.

With Etienne now on the bench with four fouls – his teammates picked up the slack by hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field.

Weiss hit a pair of shots to open the scoring flood gates and Short followed by connecting from downtown three straight times.

His final one of the frame – with just :03 left – cut the Blackcats once sizable lead down to two.

The run extended to a whopping 20-0 when Weiss hit 1-of-2 free throws and then Short added another trifecta from the top of the arc to give NCOE its first lead of the contest at 37-35.

Goreville tied the game a couple of times in the fourth quarter and when Sopczak hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:46 left – the game was even at 42-all.

That was the last gasp of the Blackcats’ hope as the Cards buried their opponent by netting 9-of-12 free throws the rest of the way.

Weiss sealed the win with 3-of-4 charities in the last :07.2.

The Cardinals finished just 15-of-44 from the field but managed to come out with a win by hitting 6-of-20 from 3-point land.

In comparison – the Blackcats overall were 16-of-42 but missed all seven of their 3-point tries.

Goreville held a 30-26 rebounding margin and each team committed too many turnovers.

However after having coughed up the ball 11 times in the first half – NCOE settled down and had just four turnovers in the final 16 minutes.

“These kids are going to give me a nervous breakdown,” joked Coach Miller – whose team looks like it is capable of doing some damage in the postseason. “It isn’t our game plan at all (spotting teams huge leads) but like I said – this group of kids never quit. This is a big win for us.”

Goreville (46) – Lyell 0 0 0-0 0, Shadowens 4 0 1-1 9, Webb 0 0 1-2 1, Stout 1 0 0-0 2, Potocki 1 0 4-4 6, Kinder 1 0 2-3 4, Sopczak 1 0 3-4 5, Andros 1 0 0-0 2, Powell 7 0 3-9 17. 2FG-16, 3FG-0, FT-14-23, PF-22.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (51) – Weiss 1 1 8-12 13, Etienne 2 0 1-1 5, Short 1 4 3-4 17, Brown 2 0 2-2 6, Kern 3 1 1-3 10, Sutton 0 0 0-0 0, Knight 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-6, FT-15-22, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Sopczak - Goreville.
Technical Fouls – None.

CRAB ORCHARD 73, CENTURY 64
Crab Orchard’s 6-foot-5 sophomore center Ben Kissing had perhaps the best performance of the entire day at Southeastern Illinois College on Saturday. It was certainly his best showing in his two seasons of varsity play.

Kissing scored 31-points and ripped down a game best 16-rebounds in pacing the Trojans to a nine-point win in a battle of third place finishers in the teams’ respective conference tournaments.

Kissing scored 22-points in the first half in an up and down contest that finished at 47-36 Crab Orchard at intermission.

“These kids showed a lot of guts tonight and we beat a good team,” said Crab Orchard mentor Jon Brown. “They’re quick and talented and I thought the job Drew Johnson did tonight breaking their press was outstanding. He kept his composure and distributed the ball.”

His performance was nearly matched by Century’s Chris Baker as this 6-foot-3 senior guard finished with 24-points which included a highflying two-handed dunk in the first half.

Adam Perry – a 5-foot-11 senior forward for Crab Orchard (21-3) – scored 22 for Coach Jon Brown’s victors.

Perry canned three 3-pointers – including a couple of big ones in the second quarter.

Johnson and Lorence Killen added 10-points each for Crab Orchard as these two guards were instrumental in fighting off the Centurions pressure full-court defense.

Johnson – a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard – helped keep Century from getting many steals and easy baskets.

But the real story of the game was Kissing – who had his way in the paint on both ends of the floor.

“They shot the heck out of the ball tonight and the Kissing kid is really good,” said Century head coach Tyson Bormann. “We knew what he could do and he beat us doing that.”

Century (13-9) started poorly by committing four turnovers in the first 1:06 of the game and trailed 7-0 early.

Breaking the Century pressure – Crab Orchard’s Perry nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner on a pass from Johnson for the early seven-point advantage.

Baker tried to keep his club in the contest by scoring 11 of his points in the first quarter.

He netted back-to-back scores to close the Trojans’ lead to just 19-17 with 2:35 left in the quarter.

Defensively though – the Centurions gave up too many easy baskets in the contest.

Following Baker’s fast break dunk – Crab Orchard took the ball down the floor for a wide-open shot by Killen that found the mark just inside the 3-point line for a 27-20 lead at the first horn.

Kissing had a pair of put-back baskets in the first quarter and added two more in the second quarter as he added 12-points in the stanza number two.

He scored twice in the lane on consecutive Trojan possessions – catching an inbound pass for an easy basket and then using his left hand for a nice move near the basket for a 35-22 Crab Orchard lead with 4:44 left in the second quarter.

Baker got some help in the first half from teammates Jacob Wyatt, Jared Clemons and Ryan Wilson who all scored for Century.

Clemons and Wilson each hit 3-point shots in the stanza with Wilson hitting from the right wing to cut the Trojans lead to just 44-34 with 1:26 remaining.

However Kissing rebounded his own missed shot for a basket to close the half with Crab Orchard up by 11.

Using a 9-3 run in the fourth quarter – Coach Tyson Bormann saw his Century squad close the gap to within 67-62 with 2:47 left.

But Crab Orchard sealed the outcome by hitting 4-of-6 free throws along with a drive to the basket by Johnson to put the game out of reach.

“This was his (Kissing) best game of his career – both ends of the floor,” added Coach Brown. “Making plays on defense and getting on the boards. This was a huge performance.”

Century committed four fourth quarter turnovers – with a two of them coming on offensive fouls – in the loss.

Both teams shot the ball well with the Trojans hitting exactly half of their attempts.

Crab Orchard was 30-of-60 overall and hit 4-of-8 from behind the arc.

Century was 27-of-58 (47 percent) from the floor and 6-of-15 from downtown.

The Trojans held a 32-26 rebounding edge and held the Centurions off the offensive glass for the most part – allowing just seven offensive rebounds and only three in the final three quarters.

“The whole team had to step up because they (Century) kept coming at us,” Brown said. “The got close to us a couple of times and I’m really pleased to get a victory today.”

Century (64) – Baker 10 1 1-2 24, Wright 0 0 2-2 2, Wyatt 7 0 0-0 14, Pullett 0 1 0-0 3, Clemons 2 3 0-0 13, Salley 2 0 0-0 4, Wilson 0 1 0-0 3, Kimmins 0 0 1-2 1, Hight 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-21, 3FG-6, FT-4-6, PF-16.
Crab Orchard (73) – Johnson 2 1 3-6 10, Killen 4 0 2-4 10, Kissing 14 0 3-4 31, Boester 0 0 0-0 0, Perry 6 3 1-2 22, Wece 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-26, 3FG-4, FT-9-16, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Six-foot-three senior Matt Petermichel led Egyptian (12-9) with 13-points while teammates Darmez Nelson and Marcus Marable added a dozen each in the win.

Coach Matt Mandrell’s club broke loose from Gallatin County (12-14) after a 21-18 first half by out-running the Hawks 46-27 in the final 16-minutes in the victory.

Jared Hunt – a 6-foot senior guard – led the Hawks with 20-points in the loss.

Six-foot-nine freshman Andrew Drone added nine points for GC.

Egyptian (67) – Love 0 0 0-0 0, Petermichel 5 1 0-0 13, Terry 0 2 0-0 6, Toots 4 0 0-2 8, Nelson 5 0 2-2 12, R. Woodson 2 0 2-2 6, Price 1 0 2-2 4, K. Woodson 2 0 2-2 6, Marable 3 2 0-0 12. 2FG-22, 3FG-5, FT-8-10, PF-9.
Gallatin County (47) – Hunt 7 2 0-0 20, Lowery 2 0 0-0 4, Hish 30 1 0-0 3, Jones 0 0 2-2 2, Drone 4 0 1-2 9, Cox 2 0 0-0 4, Aud 0 0 0-0 0, Van 0 1 0-0 3, Patton 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-3-4, PF-7.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Three Shawnee players (Tyler Brant, Kyle Griggs and Andrew Livesay) added 12-points apiece.

Shawnee (65) – McMahan 1 0 0-0 2, Brant 2 2 2-2 12, Griggs 4 1 1-2 12, Livesay 3 2 0-0 12, Davis 6 0 9-11 21, G. Smith 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-19, 3FG-5, FT-12-15, PF-13.
Galatia (79) – Watson 10 2 2-5 28, Cullum 6 0 3-4 15, Reed 3 6 5-5 29, McCormick 1 0 0-0 2, Genet 0 0 1-2 1, Moore 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-21, 3FG-8, FT-11-16, PF-12.
Fouled Out – Davis - Shawnee.
Technical Fouls – None.

Five-foot-ten junior Austin German chipped in 10-points for the Cougars.

Cobden (58) – Brumleve 1 0 1-1 3, Lehr 7 0 3-4 17, Gearhart 3 0 0-0 6, Drake 1 3 0-0 11, Aspen 1 0 0-0 2, Sweitzer 4 1 8-8 19.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-12-13, PF-15.
Hardin County (51) – R. Davis 1 3 4-4 15, D. Davis 2 0 1-2 5, Paskon 1 1 0-0 5, german 1 2 2-4 10, Holloman 4 2 2-3 16, McClenahan 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-8, FT-9-13, PF-12.
Fouled Out – Lehr - Cobden.
Technical Fouls – None.

Pope County (5-15) got 21-pointer from Kyle Bernard in the loss. Tevis Sandefur and Dallas Cockrum added 12 and 11 points respectively.

Joppa (77) – Beck 3 0 1-1 7, Miller 4 1 0-0 11, Shelby 4 0 3-7 11, Lewis 2 1 0-0 7, Parker 5 0 6-8 16, Wolfe 2 3 3-6 16, Harris 3 0 3-4 9, C. Godfrey 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-5, FT-16-26, PF-12.
Pope County (49) – Benard 8 1 2-7 21, Butler 0 0 0-0 0, Rison 1 0 0-0 2, Cockrum 5 0 1-2 11, Thompson 0 1 0-0 3, Wise 0 0 0-0 0, Dunlap 0 0 0-0 0, Sandefur 6 0 0-1 12, Broadway 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-20, 3FG-2, FT-3-10, PF-21.
Fouled Out – Butler, Rison - Pope County.
Technical Fouls – None.

Five-foot-ten senior Chris Cohen paced Dongola (2-15) with 17-points.

Dongola (44) – Eads 2 0 0-0 4, Cohen 6 1 2-2 17, Thompson 3 0 0-0 6, Gibson 0 0 0-2 0, Eddleman 4 0 1-3 9, Patterson 0 0 0-0 0, Harris 4 0 0-0 8, Samples 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-3-8, PF-21.
Thompsonville (56) – Sullivan 1 0 0-2 2, B. Orrill 2 0 0-0 4, Gaither 4 0 13-22 21, Pack 2 0 0-0 4, Lindsey 2 4 2-2 18, Householder 1 0 0-0 2, 2 0 1-4 5, McRoy 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-16-30, PF-12.
Fouled Out – Cohen, Gibson - Dongola.
Technical Fouls – Thompson - Dongola.