12/28/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - The fans of the Herrin Tigers on Wednesday night summed up what had happened in the championship game of the 58th annual Eldorado Holiday Tournament late in the fourth quarter.

The crew at the south end of the gym began chanting “Just Like Last Year” as the final moments wound down in the Tigers' 67-49 rout of Ohio Division SIRR rival Massac County.

Herrin removed most of the doubt with an late second quarter surge and a beginning of the second half run that put the Patriots away, similar to what had occurred last December.

Haydon Mayer also repeated his showing this week at the EHT as he led his team with 22 points, 15 of which came in the first half as the Tigers took a 31-20 lead at intermission and took care of business in the second half to improve to 13-0 on the season for head coach Sayler Shurtz.

The 6-2 senior was honored with his second consecutive EHT MVP for the event.

“He (Mayer) has an 'old school' game to him and I'm really proud of the way he rebounded. I told him to challenge yourself on rebounding and do the little things besides scoring and you'll make this team better,” said Coach Shurtz.

He had lots of help, as they have all season.

Five-eleven sophomore Kyrese Lukens added 15 points in the win while 5-9 junior Exavier Williams tossed in 10 important points, which featured eight key points in a third quarter run that help put the championship on ice.

“I'm absolutely grateful (for the championship and MVP) and especially my teammates that have helped get us to this point,” said Mayer. “We have a lot of seniors that have helped us along the way.”

Senior Reese Billingsley also chipped in nine points, all in the second half for the unbeaten Tigers.

“We try to run some things to get our guys with the ball in their hands and our transition offense is so important to us,” said Coach Shurtz. “We haven't been rebounding well but we did tonight and we can put a lot of pressure on their (opponents) defense when we can attack like that.”

Massac County and head coach Joe Hosman saw their overall mark slip to 13-2 overall.

After wins over Gallatin County, Anna-Jonesboro and the host Eagles, the Patriots gave up too much in the second and third quarters as the 3A Tigers put the outcome to rest.

Massac County was led by junior guard Isaac Hosman who netted 18 points in the loss.

Ian Higgerson, a 6-6 senior forward, scored 10 points for MC and junior guard Will Harmon scored nine as there were few bright spots for the Pats.

Seniors Brady Cissell and Brody Smallman, were held to two and four points respectively and both picked up technical fouls and were in personal foul trouble for most of the matchup.

In the early stages of the title game, Massac County played well.

With Higgerson scoring twice in the paint and Hosman added a pair of scores on drives to the basket, the Patriots were hanging close.

But Mayer also hit some key shots and Lukens converted a conventional three-point play as the Tigers led 16-13 at the end of the opening quarter.

A 3-pointer from Hosman from near the top of the circle with 6:27 left in the half was the game's final tie at 16-16.

Mayer nailed his third 3-pointer and Lukens again got to the rim two different times for easy scores.

Mayer canned four consecutive free throws and the third drive by Lukens beat the horn and closed the half at 31-20 Tigers.

“We had some guys make some shots early and Reese Billingsley did a great job today guarding the Treat kid (Vienna) today and Hosman tonight,” added Coach Shurtz. “He didn't shut them down but he helped contain them.”

What little drama left for the title game disappear when Herrin scored the first eight points of the third quarter.

With the Tigers spreading the floor to continue their advantage, Mayer delivered on a pair of cuts to the basket.

Williams stepped up in the stanza with a pair of assists and a drive down the left baseline for a score.

One of the assists went to Billingsley which forced Coach Hosman to burn a timeout at the 6:22 mark with the Patriots in trouble at 39-20.

Higgerson scored twice in the quarter as he was one of the few bright spots on the night.

Hosman also added points on a drive in the lane but Williams nailed down his second trey of the game and drive by Billingsley turned into an “And-One” for a 45-26 lead.

Williams and Mayer added more points and reserve Fox Conner got in on the act with a cut to the basket on an assist from Mayer as Herrin was in charge at 52-36 heading to the fourth quarter.

To his club's credit, Coach Hosman's squad managed to cut into the deficit in the final eight minutes with Cissell scoring his only points and Hosman converting a drive and a free throw after being fouled.

Reserve junior Jackson Lee scored on a rebound put back to trim the Herrin advantage to 62-49 with 1:58 remaining.

That was the last hurrah for the Patriots as Coach Shurtz's club hit 5-of-6 free throws before both coaches emptied their benches in the final minute.

“Harrisburg gave us a wake-up call and that Vienna team is going to win a lot of ballgames,” added Coach Shurtz. “We've had some great battles (with Massac) in the past. We played loose and freely tonight.”

Herrin won nearly every category on the stat sheet.

The Tigers netted 25-of-42 from the floor and a very good 5-of-10 from the 3-point line.

Coach Shurtz crew won the battle of the boards 25-18.

Although they turned it over 10 times, including four in the third quarter, Massac County couldn't capitalize enough to make much of a dent in the outcome.

The Patriots finished 20-of-42 from the field and just 3-of-14 from the arc with eight turnovers in the defeat.

The two teams, Ohio Division conference rivals, will play again on January 3rd at Massac County.

“We want to win our tournaments, we want to win our conference and we want to be playing in a regional championship,” said Coach Shurtz. “We kind of have a target on our back but we want to embrace it and to win another championship here at the EHT with this type of atmosphere builds a lot of confidence.”

Massac County (49) – Harmon 1 1 4-6 9, Smallman 0 1 1-2 4, Hosman 7 1 1-3 18, Cissell 1 0 0-2 2, Higgerson 5 0 0-0 10, Turner 0 0 0-0 0, Garnett 0 0 0-0 0, Box 2 0 0-0 4, Fisher 0 0 0-0 0, Lee 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-6-13, PF-21.
Herrin (67) – R. Billingsley 3 0 3-3 9, Cole 0 0 0-0 0, Christ 0 0 0-0 0, Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon 2 0 0-0 4, Williams 2 2 0-1 10, vM. Billingsley 0 0 0-2 0, Lukens 6 0 3-3 15, Harrison 1 0 0-0 2, Estes 0 0 0-0 0, Connor 2 0 0-0 4, Mayer 4 3 5-6 22, Cox 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-20, 3FG-5, FT-12-17, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Smallman, Cissell - Massac County.
Technical Fouls – Smallman, Cissell - Massac County.

Coach Stephen Dreher saw his club survive 27 personal fouls which allowed Eldorado to live at the foul line for most of the game.

Senior Kaden Vaughn scored 10 points for Vienna while senior Charlie King, an all-tournament pick along with Treat, added six points.
Treat scored 16 of his points in the first two quarters as they built a 31-24 halftime advantage.

Eldorado (7-6) got a game-best 30 points from senior guard Josh Owens, 12 points from senior Parker Price and 11 points from sophomore Jake Phelps.

Coach Josh Bradley and his club played without 6-5 junior Boston Bradley (coaches' son) who is nursing a knee injury.

Eldorado hit a whopping 33-of-43 free throws with Owens going 16-of-23 while Price delivered 10-of-12 from the line.

After trailing early in the contest, Vaughn hit his first of two 3-pointers to give Vienna a 6-5 advantage.

Treat scored the next eight points for his squad, including a steal and fast break lay in, one of four Eldorado first quarter turnovers.

Clay came off the bench and added a couple of late scores, the last one on a rebound and reverse lay in that beat the buzzer for a 20-14 lead after one.

Vienna took its biggest lead of the half thanks to back-to-back scores in the lane by Clay and a drive to the basket by Treat for a 31-21 spread with 2:42 left in the half.

Owens added a free throw and Price scored on a rebound of his own missed shot to close the gap to seven at the break.

Phelps hit his second 3-point bomb in the third quarter and the host Eagles combined for 8-of-10 foul shots to try and stay close.

However King scored all six of his points in the same stanza, including a steal and fast break score.

Clay added another inside basket on an assist from junior Tommy Holhubner as Vienna led 52-43 heading to the fourth quarter.

Treat scored the first three buckets of the final frame for his team and his driving bank shot extended their lead to 58-45.

Despite sending Eldorado to the line more in the fourth quarter (14-of-16 made by the hosts) Vienna scored enough from the line themselves (8-of-11) to maintain their advantage.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well with the host Eagles hitting on just 12-of-41 from the field, 2-of-14 from the arc.

Vienna ended up 27-of-60, 2-of-13 from downtown.

They also made 13-of-19 from the foul line.

Coach Dreher's club survived by hitting enough shots from the field to offset being outscored by 20 at the free throw line.

Vienna heads into the new year with a 12-2 mark after a 3-1 week at the EHT.

Vienna (69) – King 2 0 2-3 6, Holhubner 1 0 0-0 2, Nichols 1 0 0-0 2, Treat 11 0 6-10 28, Vaughn 1 2 2-2 10, Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Constante 1 0 0-0 2, Waters 0 0 0-0 0, Clay 8 0 3-4 19.
2FG-25, 3FG-2, FT-13-19, PF-27.
Eldorado (59) – Price 1 0 10-12 12, Owens 7 0 16-23 30, Phelps 0 2 5-6 11, Woolcott 1 0 0-0 2, Murray 1 0 2-2 4, Weatherly 0 0 0-0 0, Grather 0 0 0-0 0, Rash 0 0 0-0 0, Yother 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10, 3FG-2, FT-33-43, PF-18.
Fouled Out – Holhubner, Nichols - Vienna; Price, Owens - Eldorado.
Technical Fouls – None.

CARTERVILLE 51, CARMI-WHITE COUNTY 49
The Lions built an early double-figure lead and held off the Bulldogs in the end to take home the fifth place honors.

Caden Hawkins, a 6-0 senior guard, stroked home 29 points to lead the Lions.

He nailed down four of his team's seven 3-pointers, all four coming in a 23-10 first quarter blitz.

Teammate 6-5 senior Kade Lustenberger added 10 points while senior Blake Burkey added eight.

Coach Shane Hawkins saw his club close the deal with 5-of-6 fourth quarter free throws to improve to 10-4 for 2022-23.

The Bulldogs (9-4) and head coach Kevin Wolf got double-figures from three different kids.

Sophomore Michel Edwards led CWC with 15 points while senior Bryce Conner, also an all-tournament selection, added 13.

Junior Landon Driscoll ended up with 11 points and senior Tyler Goemaat scored eight.

Carmi-White County (49) – Holloman 1 0 0-0 2, Edwards 2 3 2-2 15, Conner 5 1 0-0 13, Goemaat 4 0 0-0 8, Driscoll 1 3 0-0 11, Dixon 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-7, FT-2-2, PF-14.
Carterville (51) – Bittle 1 0 0-0 2, Burkey 3 0 2-2 8, Hawkins 5 4 7-9 29, Vanderzille 0 0 0-0 0, Lustenberger 0 3 1-2 10, Crain 0 0 0-0 0, Barrington 0 0 0-0 0, Wakey 1 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10, 3FG-7, FT-10-13, PF-6.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

FAIRFIELD 56, HAMILTON COUNTY 46
The Mules, after dropping their opening round game to Anna-Jonesboro, won three consecutive contests to snag the consolation championship from the Foxes.

All-tournament selection senior Eric Rodgers led the way with 24 points as Fairfield used a 17-6 third quarter advantage to pull away.

Coach Scott McElravy's bunch improved to 5-8 on the season.

Junior Layne Tucker tossed home 17 points in the victory while Luke Duckworth added seven.

Sophomore Justice Dagg (five) and junior Landon Harrelson (three) rounded out the scoring as the Mules head into the new year with a three-game winning streak.

Coach Doug Miller's Foxes were led by junior Trenton Pike with 14 points.

Junior Eli Hanson and senior Wyatt Hamson added 10 points each.

The Foxes now sit at 7-7 on the year.

Fairfield (56) – Dagg 2 0 1-2 5, Rodgers 6 2 6-8 24, Harrelson 0 1 0-0 3, Tucker 3 1 8-10 17, Duckworth 3 0 1-1 7, Easton 0 0 0-0 0, Bliss 0 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-16-21, PF-17.
Hamilton County (46) – Hanson 3 0 4-4 10, Pike 4 0 6-8 14, Neal 3 0 2-2 8, Richards 2 0 0-1 4, Hamson 4 0 2-3 10, Mitchell 0 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0 0-0 0, Carson 0 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Zellers 0 0 0-0 0, Kessler 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-0, FT-14-18, PF-20.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.