12-26-2019
BY JACK BULLOCK
VANDALIA – For Macon Meridian head coach Shannon Houser, the third quarter of his team's second game on Thursday at the 48th annual Vandalia Holiday Tournament could have been a really bad omen for his relatively young team.

After leading for most of the first half and holding a 34-27 spread at halftime, the Hawks came out flat in the second half of its second contest of the day.

The opponents, the South Central Cougars, took advantage the Hawks nine turnovers in the third quarter to flip the script to take a 47-41 lead late in the frame.

But this mentor let his team battle through it, not even burning a timeout in the process.

His club rallied, righted the ship and put together a much better fourth quarter.

The Hawks improved their mark in the tournament to 2-0 in Pool A and 12-3 overall on the season with a 65-60 come from behind win.

After dispatching Father McGivney early in the day, and then waiting around for game two, Macon Meridian is now two victories away from the berth in the championship game set for Monday.

“It (letting the kids play through tough times) is something I have to do. I start a senior and four sophomores and some nights the sophomores play like sophomores. We got a in a little bit of foul trouble (Jones, Graham Meisenhelter) but sometimes you just have to let them play through it,” said Coach Houser.

Three Hawks scored exactly 14 points each in the victory.

Six-foot-four forward Drew Hurelbrink had quite a game offensively for Macon Meridian as he hit 4-of-5 field goals and all six of his free throws.

Six-foot sophomore guard Riley Day got to his 14 a different way, nailing down four 3-pointers and hitting his only two-point attempt.

Graham Meisenhelter, a 6-foot sophomore, added four field goals and 6-of-10 from the foul line,

The lone senior in the starting lineup, 6-foot Jacob Jones, added eight points to the victory.

All of those numbers helped off-set the top scorer of the game; 6-foot-3 sophomore Keenin Willshire.

The Cougars got 32 points from Willshire, who nailed down 15-of-23 of his field goal attempts and 2-of-3 from the foul line.

Six-foot-three senior forward Hunter Brandt added 11 points for head coach Blake Doehring as the Cougars fell to 0-1 in Pool A, 3-5 in 2019-20.

Brandt scored on consecutive steals and fast break scores to open the second half for the Cougars as they outgunned Macon Meridian 20-11 in the third quarter and seemingly had the game in hand.

However the Hawks rallied as they got a spark from 5-foot-11 senior guard Tyler Schilz.

He scored on consecutive possessions after South Central turnovers, all with under :30 left in the third quarter.

Schilz received assists from both Shane Smith and Meisenhelter after the two Hawks made steals.

The result of the consecutive scores got Macon Meridian to within 47-45 heading into the final stanza.

Coach Houser's club got the lead back for good with an 11-4 run to open the fourth quarter.

Day closed his scoring night with a 3-point bomb from the right wing while both Grant Meisenhelter, Graham's twin brother, and Jones added points.

Willshire was the story for the Cougars on this night and he nearly did enough late to give his team a victory.

He converted a conventional three-point play and added three other fourth quarter baskets.

His final points of the game came with :52 left on a shot in the paint to cut the deficit to just 61-60.

But that would be the end of the South Central comeback.

The Hawks hit 11-of-15 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Hurelbrink (6-of-6) and Graham Meisenhelter (4-of-7) along with Grant Meisenhelter (1-2) completed the comeback.

Day hit three of his 3-pointers in the first two quarters, with is first one sparking a 10-2 run for an 18-11 lead with :59.6 left in the first.

Coach Houser got a couple of scores by junior forward Christian Scott in the second quarter and yet another 3-pointer from Day as the Hawks had their largest lead at 25-14.

Hurelbrink added four more points in the second quarter but Willshire and Brandt added consecutive baskets to close the half with the Hawks up seven.

Coach Doehring saw his club shoot the ball well enough (24-of-36 from inside the arc, 2-of-9 from the 3-point line) to win the game.

But they didn't get to the foul line as often as the Hawks as they hit just 6-of-9 compared to Macon Meridian, who was 13-of-18.

Coach Houser got a 24-of-43 showing from the floor, 4-of-13 from the arc as they survived the turnovers (15) in the triumph.

The rebounding battle went to the Hawks 19-12.

Meridian will play Shelbyville at 3:30 pm on Friday and they close out Pool A play with a showdown against the host Vandals at 8 pm Saturday night.

South Central will play twice on Friday; first against Shelbyville at 11 am and then later that night against Vandalia at 8 pm.

The Cougars lost to the Vandals, 68-54 on December 10 at Vandalia.

“They (young kids) have had to grow up fast this year and they are finding a way. We found a way tonight to get a win,” said Coach Houser. “We will have to play better tomorrow against Shelbyville.”