03-06-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE

On Tuesday night in the final moments of its 2A Carbondale Supersectional victory over Harrisburg, Breese Central looked to the veteran wearing number 50.

Brandon Book, the 6-foot-5 senior forward and four-year starter, got the ball in his hands two consecutive times while Harrisburg was forced to foul trailing 28-27 with under two minutes to go.

Book “booked” his team's trip to the Final Four by cashing in four-straight free throws to give his team a five-point lead.

Bresse Central's tough defense and Harrisburg’s inability to hit shots at the end allowed Coach Stan Eagleson's team to “book” another trip to Carver Arena with a 37-30 win.

“It was a heck of a ballgame and a lot different than what I expected,” said Breese Central head coach Stan Eagleson. “Not nearly as many points and better defense. What can you say about Justin Becker? Three or four huge plays there when the game was tight. Then “Booker” stepped up and hit the free throws down the stretch.”

Book led all scorers with 13-points in this defensive struggle as Breese Central improved its school-record mark to 32-1 on the season.

In defeat, Harrisburg fought valiantly but fell short by failing to convert free throws in the first half.

The Bulldogs hit just 1-of-6 from the line in the first two quarters and just 3-of-9 for the game.

Coach Randy Smithpeters' young guns were topped by 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Eli Taborn-Scott with 10-points, eight of which came in the first half.

“He (Taborn-Scott) is very good, very athletic,” Coach Eagleson explained. “He is smooth with a nice soft touch. He gets it (the ball) up high when he releases it. That makes him tough to defend.”

This game was so close that it had five lead changes in the first quarter alone, a frame that ended with Central up 10-6.

Taborn-Scott got his club going, scoring four points early on shots over Book.

“We have improved but we just couldn't get over the hump,” added Coach Smithpeters. “Eli (Taborn-Scott) came out and played a heck of a game against a very good big man and really showed what he could do. Of course we wish we would have won but we just didn't get it done.”

The Cougars closed that stanza with a pair of scores by Austin Rickhoff and Jacob Timmerman.

Rickhoff converted a Harrisburg turnover as he took a pass from Justin Becker for a lay in to give Central a 7-6 lead.

Then Timmerman hit his only field goal of the game, a 3-pointer from just left of the top of the circle.

The defenses continued the domination in the second quarter.

Trailing 12-6, Harrisburg rallied to tie the game at 14-all at intermission.

But it was the missed opportunities that Bulldog fans will likely remember as their season closed at 28-6.

Tyler Smithpeters, the coaches son and top scorer on the team averaging over 16-points per contest, hit just 1-of-4 free throws in the second quarter while Taborn-Scott missed a pair of charities.

Smithpeters' 3-point shot as time ran down closed the half with the teams even on the scoreboard.

As it turned out, the story of this contest was the defense played by Becker, who came up with five steals.

His pilfer and fast break score pushed Breese Central to an 18-14 lead early in the second half.

Harrisburg rallied again, on a inside basket by reserve Caleb Goldman on a nice assist by Taborn-Scott and a 3-pointer by junior guard Ryne Roper, which ended the third quarter scoring at 22-apiece.

Book scored six of his points in the final quarter, including those four game clinching free throws.

However it was his defensive play, blocking a shot from Smithpeters than that led to a Becker transition score to begin the fourth quarter.

“Our defense tonight, I haven't looked at the stats, forced some turnovers,” added Coach Eagleson. “We got some run-outs and that was a big difference.”

Book then followed that score with a rebound of a Becker miss for a 26-22 advantage at the 6:21 mark.

Capel Henshaw, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, converted a three-point play for Harrisburg.

Moments later, Book picked up his fourth foul setting an illegal screen.

But Central, with Book staying on the floor, calmly knew what to do.

“I've always sort of believed that (keeping players on the floor) if you put somebody on the bench (late) he has fouled out anyway,” said Coach Eagleson, talking about leaving Book in the game with four fouls in the fourth quarter. “We were just going to ride him as long as we could. I didn't think we could beat them (Harrisburg) without him (on the floor). I thought that if he comes to the bench we are going to lose anyway.”

Harrisburg, with 1:28 remaining, had just two personal fouls as a team.

Down 28-27 with the Cougars playing keep-away, the Bulldogs were forced to foul (to get to the bonus) and it took :15 to commit those five fouls to send Central to the line.

On the fifth foul, Book's teammates knew who to get the ball to.

The all-state selection from last year and “shoe-in” for 2011-12, took a lot of the drama out of the contest with back-to-back conversions.

“You feel pretty good when you see “50” going up there (to the free throw line),” said Coach Eaglson. “These kids have written the best chapter in Breese Central basketball history already at 32-1. It is a great reward for them.”

Henshaw drove the lane and had the ball stripped away by Central.

This turnover turned into a fast break score by Rickhoff who was fouled by Harrisburg's Kashmere Barners.

Even though Rickhoff missed the free throw, Central led 34-27 with :43.7 left.

One final Henshaw miss and 3-of-4 free throws by Rickhoff and Nick Grapperhaus sealed the Cougars win and trip to the state finals.

“One thing we wanted to do was get ahead. We knew that they (Central) likes to be patient and we also knew that they hadn't played from behind a whole lot of times. I thought we had some opportunities to get the lead. The free throws would have helped us get the lead,” added Coach Smithpeters. “Give Breese credit. They get after you and the big guy in the middle is kind of their protector.”

Neither team shot the ball well, with Breese Central hitting just 11-of-44 overall and only 2-of-15 from beyond the 3-point line.

Harrisburg connected on just 12-of-34, 3-of-11 from deep.

The rebounds were even at 28-each but the Bulldogs committed 16-turnovers compared to nine from BC.

Following Book, Rickhoff finished with nine points while Grapperhaus and Becker netted six each.

Besides Taborn-Scott, Harrisburg got eight points from Henshaw.

Book topped both teams with nine rebounds to go with those 13-points. He was also credited with three blocked shots.

He is now one of only five players to have played in four-supersectionals, and only the third for small school basketball, in IHSA history.

The the most recent being Lawrenceville's Marty Simmons (1980-83) and Providence St. Mel's Lowell Hamilton (1982-85).

Coach Smithpeters talked about what this postseason run meant to the people of Harrisburg, who have suffered for a week since the devastating Tornado from a week ago.

“The fans hoped tonight's game would provide a “distraction” to them from all the things going on back in Harrisburg,” explained Coach Smithpeters. “I appreciate the support that the fans have given us through this very dark time. There are a lot of people interested in this game and we were happy we could provide what we did for them. I wish we were still playing.”

Breese Central will now face North Holland Seton Academy, who topped Providence St. Mel, 61-51 to win the Joliet 2A Supersectional.

That game will be Friday night at 8:45 at Carver Arena.

“We don't want to judge this season on how it ended because so many of them end this way,” said Coach Smithpeters. “We had a thousand bright spots this season and we played a lot of good teams. We played well tonight. We would have loved to have won and we had some opportunities but we couldn't get some things to fall for us.”