01-25-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - The Hardin County Cougars are playing their best basketball of the season right now.

The opposite can be said for NCOE.

Although they started out the season with a new coach and new system – the Cougars have been rolling.

When these two teams met in the first semifinal game Friday night at the Greater Egyptian Conference it was clear which team was heading in the right direction and which team needs to regroup.

Using its quickness and athletic ability to its full potential – Hardin County raced out to a 21-3 lead and held off the Fighting Cardinals 59-49 to advance to the tournament's title game set for Saturday night at Southeastern Illinois College.

Forcing NCOE into 32 personal fouls and 19 turnovers by being a step quicker all over the floor – HC improved to 7-11 on the season with the win.

Carrier Mills – a 45-42 winner over Galatia in the other semifinal – will serve as the Cougars' next seeded obstacle.

Having vanquished higher seeds Thompsonville and now NCOE – head coach Robert Bell has his club in the title game in his first season at the helm.

Catlin Vaughn led all scorers with 16 points for Hardin County while teammate Travis Cowsert chipped in 14. Michael Vaughn and Taylor Joiner added 10 points each.

“I told the kids in the locker room don't be satisfied when you go home tonight because if we are and come out and don't play hard we'll get beat by 20,” said Bell referring to Saturday night's title game. “If we don't play hard anyone can beat us.”

But play hard is what Hardin County did on Friday night.

Running what seemed like a lay up drill for most of the contest in breaking down NCOE's full court press – the Cougars head into the championship game as one of the hottest teams in the Deep South in Class 1A.

“In games past we would play people close and when we got to the end we would just quit,” added Bell. “But tonight we were better at handling the pressure of trying to protect a lead. I had four guards in the game that can handle the ball and when they came out to pressure us we kept getting fouled.”

The Cougars went straight for the throat from the opening tap and scored the game's first eight points.

Cowsert scored four early points on a shot in the paint in transition and a pair of free throws after making a steal and taking the ball to the basket while being fouled by NCOE's Jessie Flannigan.

NCOE was 1-of-10 from the floor in the opening frame which included missing its first nine shots. The Cardinals didn't score their first field goal until there was just :12 remaining in quarter number one.

In the interim Hardin County scored 14 points.

The Vaughn's got together on a high-low lob pass that resulted in a basket by Michael and a 14-1 lead with :34 left.

HC opened the second quarter with a 7-0 sprint capped by Catlin Vaughn who 'swooped' in for a fast break score. He followed that lay up with a long 3-pointer from the right corner when he took an assist from Cowsert.

When his 3-pointer found the mark – NCOE was in deep trouble at 21-3 with 4:58 to go before intermission.

“The Vaughn kid (Catlin) is playing really well for them right now and we don't match up with him at all,” said NCOE head coach Doug Miller. “They are so much quicker than we are and they broke our press pretty easy tonight. We let them (Hardin County) run up and down the floor and shoot lay ups and we can't do that the next time we play them.”

NCOE got a 3-pointer from Flannigan and a fast break score from Levi Hart to close out the Cardinals first half offense.

But these Birds limped into the locker room down 25-12 at the break.

“Our big kids are in good condition and can run the floor well,” Bell said. “Tonight we got some easy looks breaking their (NCOE) press.”

Catlin Vaughn continued to find himself open in the third quarter as he hit two more 3-pointers.

The second one from the left corner ripped home with 4:22 left and pushed the lead to 36-20.

A key play in the third quarter involved Flannigan and C. Vaughn.

Vaughn was fouled by Flannigan under the Hardin County basket.

Then NCOE's senior guard lost his cool and slapped the ball off the floor and into the air which got him a technical foul for his trouble with 2:08 remaining in the quarter.

Flannigan went to the bench at that point with foul fouls. He didn't return to the game as Coach Miller decided that he (Flannigan) needed to sit the rest of the contest.

Vaughn hit 3-of-4 free throws in its wake which got the Cougars up 41-24.

“We got kids in foul trouble and our senior and best player gets a technical foul,” said Miller on his reasoning for benching Flannigan. “We are not having any of that. You have to keep your head out there on the floor.”

Despite all of the problems that NCOE endured in this game – they were still in striking range in the final quarter.

Thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Levi Hart – the Cardinals found themselves trailing just 52-45 with 2:37 remaining.

But Hardin County – because of the foul problems by NCOE – spent the entire quarter in the double-bonus.

Getting two foul shots every time that the Cardinals sent them to the line helped the Cougars hold on for the victory.

Hardin County closed out the game by making 13-of-23 free throws in the final quarter which – coupled with five more NCOE turnovers – proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome.

“Our kids have worked hard and they will only get better,” Bell explained. “Usually we can put a couple of quarters together but tonight we played hard and did well the entire game.”

Hardin County shot 43 percent from the field (17-of-40 overall) on the night while holding a 33-28 rebounding edge.

NCOE shot nearly as well at 22-of-52 overall (42 percent) with Zach Halfacre leading the Cardinals with 14 points while Matt Kerns added 10.

However the mistakes outweighed the good and Coach Miller's team will have less than 24-hours to get ready for a date with Galatia in the third place game slated for 7 pm Saturday night.

“We got our shovels out early and started digging,” said a disappointed Miller. “Hardin County is playing good basketball and you can't come out and play terrible like we did tonight and expect to win. We have to figure out how to get out of this hole. Our composure and poise were not good tonight. We are playing below our potential right now.”

Hardin County (59) - Cowsert 2 0 10-15 14, M. Vaughn 4 0 2-5 10, Joiner 2 0 2-5 10, Lowery 0 0 0-0 0, R. Davis 2 0 0-0 4, C. Vaughn 2 3 3-4 16, D. Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Barnard 2 0 1-1 5.
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-22-37, PF-11.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (49) - Flannigan 1 1 0-0 5, Halfacre 7 0 0-0 14, Mitchell 1 0 0-0 2, Hart 1 2 0-0 8, Staley 0 0 0-0 0, Kerns 5 0 0-1 10, Weiss 1 1 1-3 6, Etienne 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 0 0-0 2, Short 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-18, 3FG-4, FT-1-4, PF-32.
Fouled Out - Hart, Kerns, Etienne - NCOE.
Technical Fouls - Flannigan - NCOE.

CARRIER MILLS 45, GALATIA 42
The Wildcats will attempt to win its third consecutive GEC Tournament title on Saturday night after holding off the Bearcats in the final semifinal game Friday night at SIC.

Dallas Breeding scored 13 points and Caleb Motsinger added 12 for CM who improved to 12-6 overall in reaching the title game.

Galatia (10-9) was paced by Robby Engle with 23 points in the loss.

Galatia (42) - Augustyniak 1 0 1-2 3, Engle 3 4 4-4 22, Gurley 4 0 1-2 9, Cullom 2 0 0-0 4, Wallace 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-6-8, PF-13.
Carrier Mills (45) - Motsinger 5 0 2-3 12, Morgan 2 0 1-2 5, Breeding 2 2 3-4 13, Nichols 3 1 0-2 9, Kirkland 1 0 2-2 4, Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Stucker 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-10-15, PF-12.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

THOMPSONVILLE 65, GALLATIN COUNTY 45
The Tigers – the third seed in the tournament – finished seventh after taking care of the Hawks in the Friday night opener.

Jordan Neilson netted 23 points and Jordan Browning added 18 in the win for Thompsonville (11-10) who had nine of its 11 players who got on the floor produce points in the win.

Coach John Robinson's squad broke away from Gallatin County (1-18) with a 24-13 third quarter advantage to lead 50-37 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hawks' Jared Hunt matched Neilson with 23 points of his own but no other GC player scored more than the nine produced by Jeremiah Baker.

Thompsonville (65) - Householder 0 0 1-2 1, Kerley 2 0 0-0 4, Gaither 1 1 0-0 5, Sullivan 1 0 0-0 2, Sickmeyer 2 0 0-0 4, Z. Fisher 0 0 0-0 0, Hoiser 0 0 0-0 0, J. Fisher 0 0 0-0 0, Jo. Neilson 10 1 0-1 23, Browning 7 0 4-6 18, Ja. Neilson 2 0 2-2 6, Williams 2 0 0-1 4.
2FG-27, 3FG-2, FT-7-12, PF-18.
Gallatin County (45) - Shoulders 1 0 0-3 2, Hunt 8 1 4-6 23, Casteel 0 0 0-0 0, Steele 2 0 1-2 5, Westbrook 1 0 1-2 3, Baker 4 0 1-2 9, Barbee 0 0 0-0 0, Charleton 0 0 0-0 0, Drone 1 0 1-2 3, Wood 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-1, FT-8-17, PF-9.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.