02-04-17
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - As the 2016-17 Mount Carmel Boy's High School Basketball season has wore on, head coach Tyler Buss has seen many different ways teams have tried to slow down his state and ABV ranked 2A club.

On Saturday afternoon at the Benton Rich Herrin Shootout, the Golden Aces faced a deliberate foe in Nashville.

And for nearly three and a half quarters, the Aces were in upset alert as the Hornets were in control of the tempo and the contest.

As it turned out, not unlike some of their other games this season, Mount Carmel figured out a way to get a victory.

In the fourth quarter trailing 35-29, Coach Buss' team got three consecutive defensive stops that helped get their offense going.

Getting the ball to their two potential all-stater players was also part of the grand plan.

Or in this case, the Golden Rule.

Six-foot-eight senior Justin Carpenter and 6-foot-8 senior Jackson Marcotte delivered in the clutch, powering the Aces to a 52-44 come-from-behind win in Game 3 of the 13th annual Benton “Rich Herrin” Shootout.

Marcotte led the Aces with 16-points, with 12 of the markers coming in the final quarter of action.

Carpenter tossed in 13 as did 6-foot-2 sophomore Brett Doan.

Marcotte and Carpenter got to the foul line and delivered the win by each hitting 6-of-7.

The team ended up 13-of-17 for the game, 10-of-12 in the final eight minutes.

“Carpenter (and Marcotte) got going there at the end. Our two big boys made big plays,” said Coach Buss. “And we did something that we hadn't done a great job with lately, and that was hit our free throws. There is just something to be said to finding a way to win ballgames. That is certainly what we did today.”

The pair of Aces netted the final 16-points of the game, completing the rally to push the ABV and state-ranked club to 22-3 overall.

Mount Carmel outscored Nashville, 26-15, in the fourth quarter.

Carpenter nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and then Marcotte converted back-to-back conventional three-point plays during a stretch in the final quarter that turned defeat into victory.

Sophomore guard Bret Doan also delivered 13-points for Mount Carmel.

His 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 3:58 remaining triggered the game-winning scoring drive.

Carpenter and Marcotte closed out the game from the line, combining for 7-of-8 made free throws in the final :54.8.

For the Hornets and head coach Brad Weathers, the game plan was working towards an important win until his team committed some final frame mistakes.

Three consecutive empty trips into the offensive end resulted in a loss of momentum and eventually the outcome.

Two turnovers (traveling and a charging foul) proved costly.

“Carpenter hit that big three with Kemp guarding him pretty well. I thought that was a big play. It shows you just how good their big kids are. We fought hard to keep them off of the offensive glass but we couldn't always do it,” said Coach Weathers. “Once they got the ball down low, we aren't big and strong enough. Kemp battled down there but they have two big kids.”

Nashville was led by Ryan Brink, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, with 14-points while 6-foot-6 senior Brogan Kemp added 13.

Nashville rallied from and early deficit only to see the Aces turn the tables late.

Mount Carmel led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter as five different players inked the book.

Junior guard Brayden Stipp and and sophomore forward Austin Rager each scored in the frame.

Rager hit his only points of the game, a 3-pointer, that got the Aces on the board first.

Stipp stepped up with a pair of first half buckets, one in each quarter, to finish with four-points.

Nashville outscored the Aces 14-7 in the second quarter to take a 20-19 halftime lead.

Bryson Bultman (five-points) and Brink (3-pointer) each delivered in the second stanza and Kemp closed the half with a score in the paint.

Bultman finished off a drive to the basket with a free throw for a three-point play in the period.

Senior forward Langdon Briles also added a pair of scores in the quarter as he finished the game with seven-points.

The Aces overcame some foul trouble in the first half and muddled through to get the victory.

“We have (what I think are) three of the best players in southern Illinois and two of them are sitting next to me in the first half (because of foul trouble),” said Coach Buss. “We kind of gassed ourselves with the same five guys on the floor for all eight minutes of the second quarter. It took us out of some of our pace stuff and our pressure defense.”

The third quarter played into the hands of the Hornets.

After taking back the lead with a Doan 3-pointer from the left wing, the Aces saw Nashville begin to grind away each offensive possession.

Coach Weathers' club had three different possessions in the quarter in which they worked patiently for a good shot.

The first one took over two minutes off of the clock with the end result being a conventional three-point play by Kemp while being fouled by Stipp.

The converted free throw came at the 4:20 mark to give the Hornets a 23-22 advantage.

With the game tied at 24-all with 3:20 remaining, Nashville again held the ball which resulted in a back cut to the basket by Brink for a bucket for a 26-24 lead with 1:43 left.

After two free throws by Marcotte evened the score at 26, Nashville held it again for a final shot in the quarter.

Senior guard Hayden Heggemeier delivered a 3-pointer from the right wing with :04 remaining for a 29-26 lead heading to the fourth.

Following a Doan conventional three-point play evened things at 29-all, Nashville appeared headed to a win with six-consecutive points.

Brink scored on a fast break and Briles added a basket in the paint.

Brink added two free throws for Nashville's biggest lead at 35-29.

“The way this game was played today four (point deficit) felt like 12. We just told them (the kids) with a time out with five minutes left (down 33-29) that it is just two buckets. We are just down two buckets and we have to get stops,” said Coach Buss. “When we got stops we didn't get transition points but we threw the ball ahead and got some pace going like we wanted in the fourth quarter. We got into an attack mode a bit more.”

At this point, the Aces made their best move.

Mount Carmel scored seven-straight points with Marcotte, Carpenter and Doan scoring.

Doan's 3-pointer closed the run with the Aces getting back the lead.

Kemp got to the line again to give the Hornets back the lead for a final time at 37-36.

Then Carpenter stuck a dagger into Nashville with a long 3-point bomb that started a 13-2 run that finished the Hornets.

Mount Carmel was 17-of-37 overall from the floor, but hit half of its 3-point attempts (5-of-10) in a game that wasn't the sort of contest that Coach Buss likes to see.

The Aces held an 18-13 rebounding edge and committed nine-turnovers, with only three coming in the final 16-minutes.

“Give our guys credit. In the fourth quarter we made enough plays to get out of here with a win,” said Coach Buss. “There is something to be said about teams that find ways to win. We have won games a lot of different ways this year. This was a great win against a great team, Nashville.”

For Nashville the shooting percentage was better (53 percent) hitting 16-of-30 while also coughing up nine-turnovers.

In the final 4:58 of the contest, Mount Carmel outscored Nashville 16-7.

Nashville fell to 15-11 overall.

“We did what we needed to do, I'm really proud of the heart and effort that we put in out there. We had it going our way. Give them (Mount Carmel) credit. They made a couple of big plays and we didn't get it done late,” said Coach Weathers. “And that was the difference.”

CARMI-WHITE COUNTY 63, ANNA-JONESBORO 54
The Bulldogs were another team on Saturday at the event that took control of a game from the foul line.

Head coach Kevin Wolff saw the Bulldogs hit 18-of-24 free throws in a contest in which A-J went only 2-of-5. The foul differential was 20-4 in favor of CWC as the Dawgs cruised to the win and a 16-7 overall mark on the season.

Junior Travis Black, a 6-foot-2 forward, topped all scorers with 27-points for CWC while teammates Jake Simon (14) and Matt Rice (10) helped out in the scoring.

Anna-Jonesboro (8-16) got 17-points from Jake Parr and 10-points from Jacob Zimmerman in the loss for head coach Mike Chamness.

HARRISBURG 63, GOREVILLE 60
Coach Randy Smithpeters saw his Bulldogs sprint out to an early double-digit lead as Harrisburg survived a Blackcats rally for the win in Game Four.

Six-foot-two junior guards Carson Burtis and Isaiah Saulsberry scored 22 and 21-points respectively to lead Harrisburg (10-11) to the win.

Six-foot-three junior Dalton Lambert added nine-points as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 22-9 first quarter lead on Goreville.

Harrisburg was 21-of-27 from the free throw line, 16-of-19 in the final eight minutes.

Coach Todd Tripp's Blackcats got 18-points from 5-foot-11 junior guard Peyton Massey and 11-points from Brant Glidewell in the loss for Goreeville (15-8).

MARSHALL COUNTY (KY.) 57, EDWARDS COUNTY 51
Nine-different Marshall County Marshals scored in the club's win over Edwards County on Saturday in a homecoming of sorts for head coach Gus Gillespie.

Gillespie is a southern Illinois native (Lawrenceville) and former head coach at Robinson and assistant at Mt. Vernon.

His Marshall's also took an early lead and made it stand as the Kentucky team improved to 17-8 on the season.

Six-foot-one junior Dylan Walters led the balanced attack with 12-points while 6-foot-6 junior forward Matthew French and 6-foot-4 junior Aaron Reed added 11-each as the Marshals took a 30-19 halftime lead.

Coach Russ Gerlach's Lions (18-5) were led by 6-foot-6 senior Nathaniel Schmittler with 15-points while 6-foot-5 sophomore Justin Wallace chipped in 11.

TEUTOPOLIS 61, CENTRALIA 45
In perhaps the best game of the event, the Wooden Shoes topped 3A perennial powerhouse Centralia by getting 19-points from 6-foot-3 senior forward Mitch Hardiek and 15-points from 6-foot-1 senior guard Brant Bueker in the win.

Coach Jason Hanson's team improved to 22-3 on the year with the triumph as the also got seven-points each from three other players; Lee Hardiek, Lucas Deters and Lane Belleville in the victory.

Centralia saw its mark slip to 18-7 on the season.

Dawson Berry (16) and Jordan Maines (12) paced the Orphans in scoring.

T-Town outscored Centralia, 32-20 in the second half to secure the outcome.

Both teams hit well from the foul line, with the Shoes hitting 14-of-17 while the Orphans connected on 9-of-11.

BENTON 82, MATTOON 62
The host Rangers romped to an easy win in the final of the boy's games played at the event behind 31-points from Austin Wills, 19-points from Gehrig Wynn and 12-points from Derek Oxford in the victory.

Coach Ron Winemiller saw his team improve to a spectacular 23-1 on the season.

The Rangers led 40-30 at halftime and added to the spread by finishing off the Green Wave in the fourth quarter.

Benton hit 16-of-20 free throws in the victory, including 10-of-10 in the fourth quarter.

Mattoon got 17-points from Dalton Stephens in the loss while Drake Jeffries added 16.

Justin Donaldson added 10-points in the loss.