01/18/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
METROPOLIS - There isn't too much to say about the Massac County 78-32 first round win over Fort Campbell (KY.) at the 38th annual Metropolis “Superman Classic” on Tuesday night.

The Patriots poured it on early, often and when they wanted.

They jumped out to an early lead over the over-matched Falcons in a continuous clock 'clocking' that sends Coach Joe Hosman and crew into the semifinals on Friday night.

Nearly everyone in a uniform put up numbers in the Massac 'massacre' as this game wasn't even as close as the final score would indicate.

Sophomore guard Will Harmon paced the Pats with 15-points as he knocked down two of his team's eight 3-pointers.

Brody Smallman, a 5-11 junior guard, added a pair of 3-point bombs and ended his night with 14-points.

Ian Higgerson came up big inside for the #2 seeded Massac County, tossing in 11-points to go along with seven-rebounds for the now 14-6 team.

Five-eleven sophomore guard Isaac Hosman also nailed down a pair of 3-point bombs and ended up with 10-points.

Battling illnesses in the past few weeks, things are looking up for the Patriots as they have won three-straight heading for a semifinal matchup with Graves County (KY.) on Friday night.

“We rebounded the ball pretty well tonight. We shared the ball well didn't play down to the competition,” said Coach Hosman. “We knew that pressure bothered them and we got a lot of turnovers off of our pressure. We shot a lot of layups and converted.”

Fort Campbell (KY.), the #7 seed, saw its overall mark slip to 1-10 on the season.

The Falcons got one player in double-digits in the game; junior Aidan Blaszkowski who finished with 11-points.

Senior Elijah Brown netted eight-points for head coach Robbie Townsend's team that will now face Vienna a consolation bracket semifinal on Thursday night.

How bad were things for the Falcons?
At one point midway through the third quarter Ft. Campbell had more turnovers than points.

They ended up with 19-turnovers for the game, with 15 coming in the first half.

Most of the mistakes turned into Massac County points.

Four scores by the Patriots in the first eight minutes came in transition as they turned turnovers and defensive rebounds into clicks on the scoreboard.

They also hit the offensive glass for three put-backs as they dominated from start to finish.

Higgerson scored six of his points in the paint, with two scores on offensive put backs.

A steal and a fast break lay in by Hosman made it 8-0 in the early going while Smallman added a pair of scores in the first quarter, both coming on fast break lay ins.

Harmon closed the book on the first frame taking a pass from Smallman after a steal that beat the first quarter buzzer with Massac County up 18-3.

After dominating play on the inside in the first quarter, the Patriots went outside to finish off the job.

Smallman (2), Harmon and Hosman combined for four 3-pointers in the second quarter as they weren't up against much opposition.

Some other Patriots got in on the scoring action.

Max Bremer, a 6-3 senior forward, hit a pair of shots in the second stanza.

His scores were on consecutive possessions with his second bucket pushing the Massac County lead to 27-7 with 5:49 before halftime.

Six-four junior Brady Cissell also added a basket in the second quarter run.

Higgerson, Harmon and Smallman closed out the half with a score each.

Smallman's final 3-pointer of the night was the final field goal of the first half that ended at 46-16.

Brown (six), Blaszkowski (four) and Dakevious Lewis (three) represented the offense for the Falcons in the second quarter.

Harmon opened the second half on a drive to the basket which was quickly followed by a Hosman 3-pointer from the right corner.

An “And-One” from Higgerson pushed the lead to 54-16 with under a minute gone in the third quarter.

A 9-0 run with Harmon and senior guard Reed McCuan hitting 3-pointers gave Massac a 65-21 lead.

Reserves for Coach Hosman got some extended playing time during the fourth quarter.

While McCuan ended up with eight-points, junior Reid Martin and sophomore Hunter Box scored a basket apiece.

Sophomore Jackson Lee opened the final frame with a 3-pointer as the reserve unit ran out the continuous clock.

The Patriots hit nearly half of their field goal attempts overall (31-of-64) while knocking down 8-of-24.

However the alarming statistic for the night was a complete control of the rebounding chart.

Coach Hosman's Patriots snagged a fantastic 44-rebounds, with 21 coming on the offensive end while allowing just 15 total boards to Fort Campbell.

Massac County, despite running up and down the floor at will, took care of the ball as they committed just seven turnovers.

The Falcons, when they weren't turning it over, shot just 32.5 percent from the floor (13-of-40) and just 2-of-13 from the 3-point line.

If you were going to nitpick the Patriots' performance they were just 8-of-15 from the foul line on the night.

Things will get much tougher on Friday night when they play #3 seeded Graves County.

The Eagles are 8-7 overall but have played some tough teams in the Bluegrass State and pose some problems for the hosts.

Fort Campbell (KY.) (32) – D. Tate 0 0 0-0 0, Castro 0 0 0-0 0, Blaszkowski 4 1 0-0 11, C. Tate 0 1 1-2 4, Garcia 0 0 0-0 0, Woody 2 0 0-0 4, Nunez 0 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0 0-0 2, Westbrook 0 0 0-0 0, Miles 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 3 0 2-3 8, Lewis 1 0 1-1 3. 2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-4-6, PF-12.
Massac County (78) – Harmon 4 2 1-2 15, Smallman 4 2 0-0 14, Hosman 2 2 0-0 10, Cissell 1 0 2-6 4, Higgerson 5 0 1-1 11, Bremer 2 0 1-2 5, McCuan 2 1 1-2 8, Garnett 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 0 0-0 2, Riley 0 0 0-0 0, Lee 0 1 0-0 3, Girot 1 0 2-2 4, Box 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-23, 3FG-8, FT-8-15, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

GRAVES COUNTY (KY.) 71,VIENNA 49
In a battle of teams nicknamed 'Eagles' it was the Kentucky birds that 'ruled the roost' on Tuesday night.

Vienna (49) – Treat 3 0 1-3 7, Green 1 0 1-2 3, Clay 0 0 0-0 0, Blankenship 3 0 8-8 14, Vaughn 2 1 0-0 7, Hill 1 0 0-0 2, Acree 2 1 2-3 9, King 0 1 0-0 3, Constante 1 0 0-0 2, Holhubner 1 0 0-0 2, Nichols 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-12-16, PF-14.
Graves County (KY.) (71) – Thompson 2 6 2-2 24, Flint 3 0 0-0 6, Isaiah 2 0 0-0 4, Grant 4 0 2-4 10, Pigg 4 1 1-1 12, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Keith 1 0 0-0 2, Veucasovic 0 0 2-2 2, Waller 2 0 2-8 6, Carrico 0 0 0-0 0, Gibson 2 0 0-0 4, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Hayden 0 0 0-0 0, Tabbs 0 0 0-0 0, McKee 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-20, 3FG-7, FT-9-16, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.