01/22/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - Most high school basketball fans in southern Illinois are aware of the exploits on the basketball floor of Murphysboro 5-7 senior guard Calvon Clemons.

In Saturday night's contest against Freeburg in the title game of the 57th annual Sparta “Mid-Winter Classic” the play-maker led all scorers with 22-points.

However a pair of his teammates were 'unsung heroes' in the Red Devils 45-42 win.

Although he only managed just two-points on the night, 6-3 senior forward Alek Abell made some key plays in the second half as Murphysboro rallied for the victory.

Abell came up with a couple of steals in the fourth quarter and two important rebounds.

Six-five junior AJ Walker also played big with nine-points and helped anchor the inside on the defensive end.

“AJ Walker with a big steal and Abel getting rebounds and a big steal. Our defense really stepped up and helped us overcome a lot tonight,” said Coach Daryl Murphy. “We made some bad decisions (against their press) in that little flurry that put on us there. I told the kids at the timeout that if they're coming at us you have to go attack the basket. We have to still score buckets. We did that late on two trips in a row.”

It had been a pretty rough week for Murphysboro up until Saturday at Sparta before the championship matchup.

Murphysboro played the entire week without 5-8 senior guard Tyreek Feggins, who had to sit out the week due to a school disciplinary reason.

According to Coach Murphy, without Feggins in the lineup, the Red Devils didn't have the energy on the floor that they usually have.

That lack of energy was apparent in the first quarter.

“We lost one of our starters, kind of a team leaders, this week. We came in here Wednesday night an it was like a morgue in our lockerroom. But we overcame the Trico game and we played better against Waterloo, who hit five 3's in the fourth quarter against us when we were up. Then last night (against Red Bud) we put everything together,” said Coach Murphy, referring to Feggins. “Tonight we struggled out of the gate but we got rolling. I love the way we battle. Who ever (we have) that gets on the bus, we're winning.”

The Red Devils survived scares from both Trico (46-45) and Waterloo (48-47) in their first two games and were needing to play much better if they were going to 'rake in' the third-consecutive Sparta tournament title in 57th year of the event.

Murphysboro has won five of the last 10 Sparta "Mid-Winter Classic" championships.

After a big win Friday night against Red Bud (60-31) to get to the title game, the Red Devils survived another tough opponent to improve a 20-1 on the season.

Freeburg looked ready to win the title, especially in the first quarter, but some critical second half problems including some missed shots in the final two minutes hurt the Midgets' chances late as Coach Matt Laur and his squad had to settle for second place.

For the record, the Midgets have now dropped three-straight title games to Murphysboro at this tournament.

Freeburg dropped to 15-7 on the season.

Caleb Weber, a junior guard, nailed a trio of 3-point shots in the game and finished with 13-points to lead Freeburg.

Six-three junior Lane Otten added 11-points while senior Brett Holcomb added nine.

The loss snapped their eight-game win streak.

“We executed perfect (on the open looks) and got the shots we wanted. They were down and popped back out. That's sports,” said Coach Laur. “Daryl is a great coach and does such a great job and Clemons is just an unbelievable player. Anytime he got into the paint it was a bucket. We played a little bit of zone and some junk to try and throw them off of their game a bit and try to slow them down.”

Freeburg opened the game with a scoring run that featured 3-point shots from Webber and senior Cade Jenssen.

Jenssen's 3-pointer was his only made basket.

Otten also added to the run with a couple of offensive rebounds off of his own missed shots.

When Weber connected on his trey with 1:43 left, Coach Murphy needed a timeout as his club trailed 10-2.

The two made shots from Murphysboro in the opening frame came from sophomore Karmelo Abernathy and Walker.

Abernathy also picked up an offensive rebound for a score to get the Red Devils on the board and he fed Walker late in the frame with a lob pass in the paint for a score that beat the horn as Freeburg was up 10-4 at the end of the first.

As good teams will do, the Red Devils got their collective acts together in the second quarter.

Hitting 8-of-15 shots before halftime, including consecutive scores by Abernathy and Walker to begin the quarter, and committing just two-turnovers Murphysboro got its first lead with just a few seconds left before intermission.

Trailing 16-11 after the first of two 3-pointers in the quarter by Weber, the Red Devils rally was capped off by three scores on drives to the basket by Clemons and Abernathy again scoring inside.

The third bucket by Clemons came on a steal and fast break lay in that found the mark with just :06 left.

However the Midgets quickly inbounded the ball to Weber who nailed a 3-pointer that beat the buzzer as Freeburg had back the lead at 21-19 at halftime.

The best stretch of play with both teams scoring came in the third quarter.

The stanza featured seven lead changes a tie score.

In this eight minute stretch, the two teams combined to make 9-of-13 shots with the four misfires coming from the arc.

Only one turnover was committed (by Freeburg) in what turned out to be a chess match between two excellent coaches.

Otten added two more inside scores and a pair of free throws in the quarter while Clemons padded his totals with 10 points to help his squad.

Clemons opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the left wing and he added yet another drive down the right side of the lane.

Senior Carmello Davis hit a big 3-pointer in the third that gave the Red Devils back the lead at 27-25 with right at 5:00 left.

A 6-0 run with sophomore Cole Stewart, Holcomb and Otten all scoring was the Freeburg response.

Following a drive by Stewart that resulted in a conventional three-point play chance, the sophomore missed the free throw.

However Holcomb got the rebound and after a quick pass the senior forward got it back for a basket inside.

An inbounds pass in the paint by Freeburg with Otten scoring, pushed the Midgets into a 31-27 lead.

The next run belonged to Murphysboro with Clemons scoring twice before the end of the frame and teammates Abel and Walker delivering points inside.

Clemons drilled home his second 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:20 left.

Getting the ball back with just under a minute left in the quarter, Murphysboro did something most high school basketball teams are unable to do in 2022.

The Red Devils held the ball for a final shot in the quarter, a total of :54 seconds.

It was a successful hold with Clemons finishing the job with a drive down the right side of the lane, scoring with :03 left for a 32-31 lead heading to the final quarter.

Abel's only points of the game opened up a stretch where he made a key steal on the next possession and grabbed a rebound after a Walker drive for a score.

When Clemons added another penetration into the lane on a nice spin move with 4:50 remaining, Murphysboro led 38-31.

Freeburg did get closer but never got back the lead.

Weber scored in transition after a Red Devils' turnover and Holcomb hit two free throws for Freeburg as they managed to get to within three-points twice in the final three minutes.

The comeback attempt in the final minutes didn't result in a championship.

Clemons closed out his night of scoring with two more scores on drives, including a fast break lay in with 1:03 left for a 44-37 advantage.

Two different times in the final minute Freeburg had open looks that would have cut into the Murphysboro lead.

Both Otten and senior Cade Janssen had open looks from beyond the arc and couldn't convert.

Both times Murphysboro came up with key rebounds.

The Red Devils overcame four fourth quarter turnovers, including an over-and-back call with :33.7.

A made free throw by Walker with :04.4 put the game out of reach for Freeburg.

Ironically the Red Devils shot just three free throws in the game, all by Walker (1-of-3) in the final :17.3 of the contest.

Freeburg hit 7-of-9 foul shots in the game, 4-of-5 in the second half.

A Holcomb 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the scoring for the Midgets as the team came up short while Murphysboro celebrated.

Following Clemons and Walker, the Red Devils got seven points from Abernathy and five points from senior guard Carmello Davis.

“He (Clemons) took over in the second half. He was huge for us. He struggled a bit in the first half but he got it going,” said Coach Murphy. “He hit a couple of big 3's for us. He's done that for four years for us now.”

Stuart finished with six-points for the Midgets.

After the slow beginning, Coach Murphy's club ended up 20-of-42 overall, 4-of-12 from the 3-point line.

Other than some pressure induced late turnovers (four in the fourth) the Red Devils had pretty good game handling the ball, committing just six turnovers in the game.

Murphysboro won the rebounding battle 23-16 and forced the Midgets into eight miscues.

Freeburg ended up 15-of-39 from the floor overall and 5-of-13 from the arc.

However those last two missed long-range shots proved costly.

“I'm proud of our guys. We had a good week. We were a bit rusty the first of the week but we got a win over Steeleville, who is a fantastic team. We played well tonight and this is a week that is something we can build on,” said Coach Laur.