12/29/2021
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - It took very little time for the Herrin Tigers to take total control of the title game of the 57th annual Eldorado Holiday Tournament on Wednesday night.

Just a few minutes was all they needed.

Running their halfcourt offense with precision, head coach Sayler Shurtz was pleased with the way the game began as the Tigers hit 8-of-12 shots in the first quarter, which included four made 3-pointers as the program won its first ever EHT championship, 53-36 over Massac County.

As the top-seeded team, Herrin came into the event on a three-game losing streak but turned things around with four-consecutive victories in three days.

Tournament MVP Haydon Mayer, a 6-2 senior forward, nailed down two of the early long shots while senior teammate Ryan Chrostoski added a pair of bombs in the first quarter.

By the time Massac figured out what was going on, the Patriots were down double-figures.

Chrostoski ended up with 19-points to lead the now 7-3 Tigers while freshman guard Kyrese Lukens pitched in 12.

Coach Shurtz, who as a prep played in the EHT for Benton, also received nine-points from 6-5 sophomore Jonathan Harrison.

While the offense played well, it was perhaps the defensive effort on the night by Herrin that had the most impact in the outcome.

Coach Joe Hosman's Patriots are normally a club that handles the ball well but the Tigers forced Massac County into 16-turnovers.

Herrin made things pretty miserable for the Patriots as head coach Joe Hosman saw his team struggle on both ends of the floor.

“Our goal (defensively) is to keep it under 40 and we made some adjustments by watching some film today. That's a very good basketball team we beat,” said Coach Shurtz. “We knew we had to focus in on a couple of guys and if we could stop them and make it difficult we could have some success.”

Six-five sophomore forward Jonathan Harrison blocked a pair of early shots and ended up with nine-points for the Tigers as the defensive effort held Massac County (11-4) to just 15-of-35 from the floor.

Will Harmon, one of two Patriots to make the all-tournament squad, led the Pats with 11-points while sophomore guard Isaac Hosman was held to just seven-points in the loss.

Mayer got the ball rolling figuratively in the first quarter, cashing in on his first shot of the game nailing a 3-pointer from the left wing for a quick 3-0 lead just seconds in.

After a Hosman lay in made it 3-2, the Tigers went on their first run with Chrostoski scoring three-straight times with the second one coming off of a steal and fast break bucket.

His first 3-pointer of the quarter made it 12-3 Herrin with 2:56 left.

On consecutive possessions, Mayer and Chrostoski added a 3-pointer each to the resume which forced a Massac County timeout at 18-5.

Hosman added a 3-pointer late in the frame and his driving score in the lane closed the first quarter with the Patriots down 20-10.

The 6-0 sophomore guard would be held scoreless the rest of the way as Herrin took care of business defensively.

Coach Hosman's club got eight-points from Harmon in the second quarter but didn't make much of a dent in the Tigers' advantage.

Chrostoski picked up two additional scores on a drive in the lane and another steal and transition lay up.

Mayer and Harrison each scored in the paint.

The final Chrostoski basket put Herrin up 31-15 with under a minute remaining.

Massac got a Harmon 3-pointer from the right wing at the horn from Harmon as the Patriots got a brief bit of momentum heading into the half down 13.

The momentum didn't last.

Lukens, who didn't score a point in the first half, got busy in the third quarter.

He hit two-straight 3-pointers for Herrin and his steal and fast break lay up pushed the Tigers' spread to 39-25.

The Patriots only once put together back-to-back unanswered scores on Herrin.

A rebound basket by 6-4 junior Brady Cissell and a Harmon 3-pointer got Coach Hosman's club to within 41-30 with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter.

However Chrostoski hit a pair of free throws to close the quarter and the Tigers finished the job in the early going of the fourth.

Harrison scored on consecutive trips, once on a conventional three-point play and again on a nice drive in the lane.

Two free throws each from Chrostoski and Lukens pushed the Herrin lead to 52-32.

Harrison picked up a charging foul at 4:14 left in the half.

It was significant as it was the only personal foul of the second half for Coach Shurtz's team as the Tigers only committed four fouls in the 32-minute dominating win.

Both coaches emptied the benches with 2:28 left.

“We had to play well to beat a very good Massac County team. We beat a good Vienna team and we played today against a really good Carterville team that we got a bit of revenge on. I'm so thankful of the way this guys played and represented the program,” said Coach Shurtz. “Since I've been here this is probably the best shooting team I've had. When you see the ball go into the hole it kind of gets contagious. We told the kids to step up and have confidence in your shot.”

The Patriots hit just 15-of-35 shots from the floor and committed eight-turnovers in each half.

Herrin committed just six turnovers total and nailed down 18-of-32 shots from the floor.

After exacting some revenge on their rival Carterville in the afternoon semifinals (47-37) the Tigers had plenty left in the tank for the title game romp.

After multiple tries Herrin finally got its Eldorado Holiday Tournament championship.

Editor's Note: In the Patriots' 57-49 semifinal win over Hamilton County Coach Joe Hosman reached win number 792 for his career.

That ties him with Collinsville coaching legend Virgil Fletcher on the IHSA all-time wins' list.

Massac County (36) – Harmon 1 3 0-0 11, Smallwood 2 0 0-0 4, Hosman 2 1 0-0 7, Cissell 2 0 1-4 5, Higgerson 1 1 0-0 5, McCuan 0 0 0-0 0, Maurer 0 0 0-0 0, Riley 1 0 0-0 2, Martin 1 0 0-0 2, Lee 0 0 0-0 0, Garnett 0 0 0-0 0, Bremer 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-10, 3FG-5, FT-1-4, PF-15.
Herrin (39) – R. Billingsley 4 2 5-10 19, Cole 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 1 0-2 3, M. Billingsley 0 0 0-0 0, Lukens 2 2 2-4 12, Harrison 3 0 3-3 9, Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Connor 0 0 0-0 0, Mayer 2 2 0-0 10, Estes 0 0 0-0 0, Cox 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-11, 3FG-7, FT-10-19, PF-4.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Hamilton County (59) – Thrane 5 1 3-5 16, York 1 0 4-4 6, G. Lueke 5 0 0-0 10, Harrelson 0 2 0-0 6, Hamson 6 0 4-11 16, Karcher 1 0 0-0 2, C. Lueke 1 0 1-2 3. 2FG-19, 3FG-3, FT-12-22, PF-9.
Carterville (51) – Bittle 4 1 1-3 12, Hartford 0 0 0-0 0, Burkey 0 0 0-2 0, Barton 3 1 1-1 10, Rogman 0 0 0-0 0, Hinton 3 0 0-4 6, Vanderzille 0 0 0-0 0, Stroud 4 1 0-0 11, Lustenberger 3 2 0-0 12.
2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-2-10, PF-22.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Eldorado (43) – Heath 2 2 0-1 10, Bradley 6 0 0-3 12, Owens 1 1 0-1 5, Henshaw 0 0 1-2 1, Cantrell 0 0 0-0 0, Barrett 0 0 0-0 0, Phelps 0 0 0-0 0, Durham 0 0 0-0 0, Ralson 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-5, FT-4-10, PF-9.
Fairfield (28) – Barger 1 0 0-0 2, Taylor 0 2 3-4 9, Rodgers 3 0 1-1 7, Best 0 1 3-4 6, Robbins 2 0 0-0 4, Milner 0 0 0-0 0, Easton 0 0 0-0 0, Mooring 0 0 0-0 0, Harrelson 0 0 0-0 0, Bliss 0 0 0-0 0, Duckworth 0 0 0-0 0, Tucker 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-6, 3FG-3, FT-7-9, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

NCOE (5-6) and head coach Jordan Johnson were paced by juniors Cord Tucker and Joel Hortin with 11-points each.

Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (32) – Roberson 1 0 2-2 4, Tucker 1 3 0-0 11, Long 0 0 1-4 1, Prather 0 0 0-0 0,, Jolly 0 0 0-0 0, Rush 2 0 1-3 5, Hortin 5 0 1-2 11, Shipp 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-9, 3FG-3, FT-5-11, PF-15.
Hardin County (52) –B. Vaughn 3 0 4-7 10, J. Vaughn 9 0 5-5 23, Smith 1 2 0-0 8, Cullum 1 1 0-0 5, Gerdes 1 0 0-0 2, Ditterline 0 1 0-0 3, Beboat 0 0 0-0 0, Austin 0 0 1-2 1, Fricker 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-15, 3FG-4, FT-10-14, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.