01/17/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - The Lovejoy Wildcats trailed for most of their opening game at the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic game against Murphysboro.

In fact they trailed 2-0 with no time going off the clock as the game began with a technical foul caused by a pregame dunk by one of the Lovejoy players.

But as things unfolded, one thing stood out in the Wildcats' come-from-behind win over the three-time defending Red Devils.

Coach Kim Haywood has a team that attacks the offensive glass and it proved to be a vital difference in the 53-52 victory.

One double-digit number (18) was a bad figure for Murphysboro head coach Daryl Murphy's club.

Lovejoy grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and its defense forced 18 Red Devil turnovers.

Nearly all of the second chance rebounds were converted into points.

Five was another bad figure for Murphysboro in the final eight minutes.

The Red Devils committed five of the turnovers and missed five of their free throws in the final frame.

These mistakes allowed Lovejoy to erase a 12 point first half deficit to shock the Red Devils.

Senior guard Pierre Lucas led the way with 24 points, 17 of which came in the final two quarters.

Junior forward Jamal Brown also came up big for the Wildcats with 11 points, which included a rebound basket in the fourth quarter to give his team its first lead of the game with 2:25 left.

Senior Shantez Holliday posted eight points and senior Birlwind Reed added five fourth quarter points in the victory rally.

“It was definitely a big team victory for us. Learning how to win in different situations and overcoming different issues in the game made it a big win for us,” said Coach Haywood. “We talk a lot about taking advantage of our size and the nights that we win the rebounding battle we are going to give ourselves a chance to win any game.”

The Red Devils never looked comfortable in any aspect even though they led throughout the contest.

Sophomore guard Cade Brooks scored 14 points for Murphysboro as he hit 6-of-6 free throws while Karmelo Abernathy, a 6-1 junior guard, and sophomore AJ Boese added 13 each.

Murphysboro broke an 8-8 tie in the first quarter with a 9-2 run with Abernathy doing the damage on a steal and fast break score to start the run and a 3-pointer from Boese.

Another basket by Abernathy to begin the second quarter made it 17-10 Red Devils.

The junior guard netted seven of his points in the quarter and a bucket with 3:01 left before the half pushed the advantage to 28-16.

Lucas and Brown got points in the final minutes to close the half down 29-22.

Coach Murphy's team could have buried the Wildcats in the third quarter but the defensive stops that they were getting were wasted because of the Lovejoy second and sometimes third and fourth chances on rebounds.

Coach Haywood's bench was assessed a technical foul late in the third quarter but his club overcame that obstacle as well.

Lucas scored 10 of his points in the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers and a driving lay up that counted after a goal tending call on Boese.

That bucket made it 41-37 heading to the fourth quarter.

Lucas added seven more points in the final minutes and his last of four made 3-pointers found the mark from the left corner to tie the game at 49-49.

Murphy got the lead back briefly when senior Kevin Hale made 1-of-2 free throws.

But the Brown rebound score and a subsequent drive to the goal by Reed put Lovejoy on top 53-50 with 1:40 to go.

“They (Lucas, Holliday, Brown, Reed) hit some big shots for us tonight and it took our seniors to lead us over the hump tonight. They really showed up and hit some big shots at crucial moments,” said Coach Haywood.

A score by Shields narrowed the gap and a Wildcat turnover set up the Red Devils for a final possession.

A jump was called on a loose ball with the possession arrow favoring Murphysboro with just :01.3 remaining.

Abernathy got an inbounds pass in the left corner with a shot at winning the game but his fall away 3-pointer fell well short as Lovejoy had a big win to open the tournament.

Lovejoy hit just 20-of-53 shot attempts but they got so many second chances it allowed them to pick up the win.

They also hit 6-of-14 from the arc.

They also turned the ball over 14 times.

Murphysboro ended up 18-of-39 from the floor however they were pounded on the boards by the Wildcats 32-20.

The Wildcats improved to 10-7 on the season in their fifth tournament of the year while Murphysboro slipped to 12-5

Both teams get right back into action on Wednesday as Lovejoy plays the host Bulldogs at 5:30 pm and Murphysboro tackles Steeleville at 7 pm.

“It (the win) was a testament to the work we put in on the game plan we put in yesterday,” said Coach Haywood. “It actually showed up tonight on both ends. Any given night as long as we're playing the right way, playing hard and competing, we have a chance to win.”

Lovejoy (53) – McCallum 0 1 0-0 3, Holliday 2 0 4-4 8, Reed 1 1 0-0 5, Jeremiah McLorn 0 0 0-1 0, Jeremy McLorn 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 4 0 3-3 11, Lucas 6 4 0-0 24, Monk 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-14, 3FG-6, FT-7-8, PF-14.
Murphysboro (52) – Agnew 2 0 0-2 4, Brooks 4 0 6-6 14, Shields 2 0 2-2 6, Hale 0 0 2-4 2, Boese 3 2 1-2 13, Guthman 0 0 0-0 0, Fager 0 0 0-0 0, Abernathy 4 1 2-2 13.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-13-18, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Lovejoy Bench (2). Indirect Technical Foul (Pregame Dunk).

Red Bud (65) – Hall 4 0 0-0 8, Liefer 1 1 2-2 7, Grohman 4 1 0-0 11, Moll 0 0 1-2 1, Nick Gantner 1 0 0-0 2, Noah Gantner 4 0 2-2 10, Dressel 0 0 0-0 0, Tracel 0 0 0-0 0, Easter 1 0 0-0 2, Lucht 0 0 0-0 0, Sternberg 3 4 6-6 24, Schwartzkopf 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-6, FT-11-12, PF-8.
Trico (33) – Starkey 0 0 0-0 0, Wilks 2 0 0-0 4, JOhnson 0 1 2-2 5, Franklin 0 0 0-0 0, Koehn 0 0 0-0 0, Heins 4 0 1-1 9, Wilson 5 0 1-2 11, Deming 0 0 0-0 0, Koehn 1 0 2-2 4, Jimenez 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-1, FT-6-7, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Jacoby Gross, a 6-0 senior guard and ABV 1A first team All-South pick from last winter, paced the Warriors with 29 points.

Coach Aaron Fiene also had two other double-digit scorers with 13 points from senior Carter Wasson and 11 from senior Evan Buch.

Both senior Evan Reitz and sophomore Canon Ruby scored five points in the victory in Pool B.

Sparta (13-5) was topped by 22 points from senior Brayden Henry and 17 points from senior Ethan Willis.

Junior Zach Bodeker added 11 for the Bulldogs and head coach Jordan Beckley.

Gross hit 8-of-9 free throws and the Warriors were 20-of-26 from the foul line in the win.

Steeleville (67) - Reitz 0 1 2-3 5, Gross 6 3 8-9 29, Knop 1 0 1-2 3, Wasson 5 0 3-5 13, Ruby 0 1 2-2 5, Fiene 0 0 1-1 1, Buch 1 2 3-4 11.
2FG-13, 3FG-7, FT-20-26, PF-16.
Sparta (62) – Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Greer 1 1 0-0 5, Lanton 0 0 0-0 0, Pillers 2 0 0-0 4, Loesing 0 0 0-0 0, Bodeker 1 3 0-0 11, Henry 7 2 2-4 22, Willis 5 1 4-6 17.
2FG-16, 3FG-8, FT-6-10, PF-20.
Fouled Out – Reitz - Steeleville; Henry - Sparta.
Technical Fouls – None.