12-28-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - When Massac County head coach Joe Hosman talks about the Eldorado Holiday Tournament his eyes have a certain sparkle and a broad smile comes across his face.

On Friday his new kids gave this longtime coach another reason to smile.

With Dustin Korte coming off the Patriots pine to spark his team from the outside and David Rogers muscling his way around the Massac County basket – MC took care of business in a 64-59 triumph over Carmi-White County in the first quarterfinal game at the 43rd Annual Eldorado Holiday Tournament.

Korte was listed as number 10 in the program instead of number 22. But on this day he was number one off the bench and his 18 points in reserve sparked Massac County.

The 6-foot-4 Rogers was a force in the paint in the second half – proving to be nearly unstoppable for the Bulldogs.

This MC player “Hammered” Carmi with spin moves as he scored 20 points – 18 in the second half.

With the win Coach Hosman can get ready for another championship round semifinal.

“Dustin (Korte) has been our leading scorer off the bench and what a difference he has made for this team,” said Massac County head coach Joe Hosman. “David (Rogers) is just a force inside that people will have to contend with.”

Carmi came into the game off of an unexpected overtime opener with Galatia but played well for the most part.

However their top scorer – 6-foot-4 senior Travis Jones - was held well below his 27 points per game average. Jones managed just a pair of field goals and 10 total points.

Jones needed 12 points to reach 1,000 for his career at Carmi.

But 6-foot-4 senior Zach Kester took it upon himself to shadow Jones and keep him from getting to that plateau in this contest.

“Zach Kester did a tremendous job for us today. He shut down the Jones kid (Travis). They talked about him (Jones) getting a 1,000-points today and Kester took it as a challenge to keep him from doing that and he did,” Hosman added. “He shut down a very good player. He probably played his best game of the season for us.”

“They did a great job on Travis (Jones) and they chased him all over and made him work for things,” said Carmi-White County head coach Jarrod Newell. “Fortunately for us we are a basketball team and other kids stepped up. They made plays and made shots.”

Even with the defensive effort by Massac County – Carmi had some other kids step to the forefront to make things interesting.

The Bulldogs made a run at the Patriots in the fourth quarter but a dry spell at the end of the game kept the Bulldogs from advancing to the final four.

A 3-pointer from Travis Williams evened the game for the Bulldogs at 46-all just seconds into the final quarter.

However Rogers was in the middle of his second half offensive run.

Rogers scored 10 of his points in the second half on a variety of post moves that kept Carmi at bay.

His finger-roll in the paint gave the Patriots back the lead after the Williams trifecta.

Williams answered back with more points (nine in the quarter, 15 for the game) with a conventional three-point play on a drive to the basket that forced a Massac County timeout with 6:05 remaining at 50-49 MC.

Sophomore guard Jarelle Johnson scored nine points for Massac County and none were more important than his 3-pointer from the left wing at the 5:34 mark.

Carmi made its move a few minutes later when Luke Pyle and Jones scored five consecutive points in a run that gave the Bulldogs a brief lead.

Jones grabbed a rebound and stuck it home while being fouled by Massac's Jamereo Thomas at the 4:16 mark. The subsequent free throw made it 55-54 Bulldogs.

However the two players that were the biggest thorns in the paws of the Bulldogs on this afternoon rose to the occasion again for Coach Hosman's bunch.

Rogers scored again from the inside and Korte connected on his third long range dagger to put Massac up again by four points.

Carmi's Williams answered with another 3-pointer from near the top of the circle to cut the lead to just a single point.

But at this point Carmi turned cold from the field – missing four consecutive shots which allowed the Patriots to hold on to the victory.

Rogers scored again from the lane and Byron Bailey helped seal the deal with a pair of big free throws with 1:04 remaining.

Pyle scored the Bulldogs final points on a back door lay in.

Then Massac got its final basket with Thomas getting loose for a fast break score on a pass from Rogers after Carmi missed another shot.

The Bulldogs misfired on three more 3-pointers in the final seconds as the game ended with the Patriots moving on in the title round.

Massac County (11-2) shot a respectable 27-of-49 from the floor (4-of-10 from 3-point land) in the triumph.

Behind Rogers' 20 and Korte's 18 – Johnson and Kester added nine and eight points respectively.

Carmi-White County (9-2) got a team-high 17 from Pyle while Erik Rice and Jones added 12 and 10.

“Luke (Pyle) plays hard and he has been through a lot of adversity,” added Newell – referring to Pyle losing part of a finger in a freak accident involving a folding table. “He has made the most of his time on the floor.”

The Bulldogs were 20-of-42 as a whole from the field and 17-of-23 from the foul line in the lose.

“I like where we are going as a team and I have confidence that we are capable of doing lots of things,” added Newell. “I'm proud of my kids and I know that they can step up.”

Carmi heads back to action in the fifth place bracket against Meridian at 8:30 am Saturday while Massac will gear up for Fairfield – who shocked Mounds Meridian again with a 44-41 victory on Friday.

The Patriots and Mules will tangle at 1:45 pm Saturday afternoon.

“It could have gone either way I know that Carmi is a good team and well coached,” said Hosman. “They have some shooters and five starters back from last year but I think we're a bit more athletic than they are.”

Massac County (64) - Bailey 1 0 2-2 4, Johnson 3 1 -0-1 9, Thomas 2 0 0-0 4, Kester 4 0 0-0 8, Rogers 9 0 2-2 20, Korte 4 3 1-2 18, Bremer 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-23, 3FG-4, FT-6-9, PF-15.
Carmi-White County (59) - Kittinger 0 0 3-6 3, Jones 2 0 6-6 10, Pyle 6 0 5-8 17, Rice 6 0 0-0 12, Williams 3 2 3-3 15, Steed 1 0 0-0 2
2FG-18, 3FG-2, FT-17-23, PF-12.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

ELDORADO 64, NCOE 56
This game was a near shocker as the Fighting Cardinals nearly pulled off what would have been the second biggest surprise of the day.

Eldorado overcame a poor shooting performance while NCOE couldn't overcome its 22 turnovers in a contest that was close to becoming an upset all the way through.

Coach Greg Goodley's Eagles remained unbeaten by an eyelash with Isaiah Cunningham coming to the rescue.

The 6-foot-4 junior swingman topped all point producers with 22 and was one of the two Eldorado players that didn't struggle offensively.

Dallas Robinson also hit for double-figures with 17.

NCOE (11-2) got a tremendous performance by both Jesse Flannigan and Nicholas Mitchell.

Mitchell tossed in 18 points (14 in the second half) while Flannigan scored 15.

In a game that on paper appeared to be of mismatch variety when the brackets were filled out – Norris City-Omaha-Enfield proved to the crowd of 2,500-plus that they belonged.

The Fighting Cardinals pestered Eldorado on its home floor and - although they only had one lead early in the game – took the tourney hosts to the wire.

Foul trouble plagued the Cardinals as they committed 30 personals with three players fouling out.

The opening quarter fouls allowed the cold shooting Eagles to get a lead.

Seven of the thirteen Eldorado points in the opening frame came from the foul line.

Hitting just 3-of-11 field goals in the first eight minutes – the Eagles were in trouble from the opening tip.

A rebound bucket by Cunningham and a pair of fast break scores by Robinson gave the hosts a 13-6 lead at the first stop.

Eldorado scored a bucket to open the second quarter on a lob pass from Cody Lane to Robinson to make it 15-6.

However the Cards responded with a 9-3 run with Flannigan scoring five of the points on a 3-pointer and a pair of charity tosses.

But Cunningham scored twice more in the quarter and his 15-footer from the right elbow sent the two teams to the lockers at 22-17 Eldorado.

Coach Goodley's team looked like the winner when they made a big second half move on a 9-0 run in the middle of the third quarter.

Five-foot-ten senior reserve Nathan Behrens stepped off the bench and hit a 3-pointer to start the surge.

Cunningham and Robinson added points on a couple of offensive rebounds and Jordan Williams also scored to build a 33-21 lead with 3:44 to go.

Flannigan scored a pair of baskets on jumper from the left wing and then a steal and fast break lay in.

When Levi Hart scored on a transition score – NCOE had cut the margin to just 37-33 heading into the fourth.

Eldorado finally put NCOE away late in the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run sparked by a Lane conventional three-point play and another in close rebound score from Cunningham that forced Coach Miller to call timeout at 55-48 Eagles with 3:11 remaining.

Eldorado made 9-of-14 free throws in the final moments to keep the Cinderella Cardinals out of the championship semifinals.

“We expected to win the ballgame and our whole gameplan was to win – not to lose,” said Miller – whose club nearly shocked the EHT world with a great effort. “If we make some free throws and boxed out a couple of more times we win the ballgame. We missed a lot of lay ups and still played with one of the best teams in the State of Illinois to the wire.”

Eldorado hit just 19-of-46 shots from the floor and were outrebounded by NCOE 29-28.

But a combination of hitting 26-of-38 (compared to 14-of-21 by the Cards) and having 12 fewer turnovers than their opposition – Eldorado survived and moved toward a rematch with Harrisburg.

Eldorado topped the Bulldogs 72-71 back on December 11 at home.

Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (56) - Flannigan 3 2 3-6 15, Halfacre 0 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 9 0 0-0 18, Hart 3 0 2-2 8, Weiss 2 0 2-2 6, Etienne 0 0 5-9 5, Kerns 1 0 2-2 4, Short 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-2, FT-14-21, PF-30.
Eldorado (64) - Robinson 7 0 3-8 17, Lane 2 0 3-4 7, Cunningham 7 0 8-10 22, Parker 1 0 4-4 6, Williams 1 0 6-10 8, Harner 0 0 0-0 0, Behrens 0 1 2-2 5.
2FG-18, 3FG-1, FT-26-38, PF-19.
Fouled Out - Flannigan, Kerns, Mitchell, Hart - NCOE; Parker- Eldorado
Technical Fouls - Harner - Eldorado.

FAIRFIELD 44, MOUNDS MERIDIAN 41
The Mules kicked the Bobcats to the fifth place bracket curb for the second year in a row at the EHT.

Spreading the floor and driving to the basket through a 'swiss-cheese' defense of Meridian – Fairfield controlled the tempo and the contest that was in doubt until the final moments.

Jordan Cessna – Fairfield's 6-foot-3 senior guard – scored 20 points and clearly outplayed the much ballyhooed Isaiah Jones in a match up of premiere southern Illinois guards.

Jones finished with 11 points but the 6-foot-2 sophomore turned the ball over in key situations down the stretch as Meridian (10-3) drops into a game with Carmi-White County on Saturday morning.

Coach Scott McElravy got 10 points – including three 3-pointers - from Alan Atteberry in the win.

Marland Johnson scored 12 points for Coach Jeff Mandrell's Bobcats to lead his club while Jeserick Pilgrim added 10 points..

“Jordan (Cessna) is as fast with the ball as he is without it and he is tough to guard,” said Coach McElravy whose club won the EHT last season but were seeded eighth again this year. “We have some kids that can shoot it and we hit some big shots today.”

HARRISBURG 69, WEST FRANKFORT 40
In the second “Shocker of the Day” the Bulldogs man-handled the Redbirds – a rival that had beaten them on their own home floor, 60-58, on December 14.

The shocking part was the point spread wasn't expected to so big.

Reid Roper and Cain Sheldon each scored 16 points for Coach Randy Smithpeters' club as they routed West Frankfort to improve to 10-2 on the season.

Isaiah Simelton scored a game high 22 in the loss for Coach Kevin Toney's club that limps into the fifth place bracket with a 5-7 mark.

The score got so out of hand that the 30-point continuous clock rule came into effect with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

In other games at the EHT – Century and Anna-Jonesboro each picked up a pair of consolation bracket wins on Friday and will meet in that championship game on Saturday.

CENTURY 86, POPE COUNTY 73
The Centurions bested Pope County in a shootout.

Century got a 26 points from Chris Baker and 20 from Scooter Adams in a high scoring win over the Pirates the morning session.

Coach Tyson Bormann's club held off a Pope County comeback to improve to 7-6 on the season with the win.

Pope County cut a 71-52 deficit to 78-71 with under three minutes to play with Aaron Webb hitting four fourth quarter 3-pointers.

But Century hit nine free throws in the fourth period for the win.

CENTURY 57, CARRIER MILLS 43
The Centurions were led by James Baker with 18 points and Ethan Stringer with 13 in the final game of the evening session triumph.

The Wildcats were eliminated from the tournament in spite of 12 points from Wyatt Kirkland and Caleb Motsinger.

ANNA-JONESBORO 50, GALATIA 44
J.R. Woodward – an impressive sophomore forward – scored 20 points for the Wildcats while he and his teammates hit 18-of-26 free throws in the consolation semifinal win.

A-J also got 10 points from Cody Wheaton in the win.

Galatia's Robbie Engle scored 14 points while Brian Gurley netted 12 in the loss.

ANNA-JONESBORO 73, GALLATIN COUNTY 47
The Wildcats blew out the Hawks with Woodward scoring 23 in the win.
Ten different players scored for A-J in the victory that eliminated Gallatin County from the EHT.

The Hawks were led by 21 points from Jeremiah Baker.

In other consolation games – Carrier Mills beat Hamilton County 55-48 while Galatia topped Hardin County in the late Thursday night contest 78-50.