02-07-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
BENTON - On Saturday at the Benton “Rich Herrin” Shootout, ABV number one 2A team and state-ranked Nashville got a real scare in their contest against Harrisburg.

But as it turned out, it was only a slight-fright.

Despite trailing at the half, the Hornets managed to shake loose from the quick and pesky Bulldogs in the final two quarters to post a win.

While the Bulldogs were doing their offensive damage from the outside in the first two quarters, Nashville got their act together in the second half by going to their strength.

Getting the ball inside to Hunter Cooper and Ryan Newman, Nashville pulled away from the mistake-prone Bulldogs, 67-52 in the marquee matchup of the 11th annual shootout.

Cooper, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, led the charge with 19-points while Newman netted 18 in the victory for Coach Brad Weathers' 24-2 squad.

The Hornets, who gave up eight 3-point baskets by Harrisburg in the first half, had a much better defensive final two quarters than the first two.

Nashville forced Harrisburg into 20-turnovers and a 18-of-49 success rate from the field.

Despite a second quarter lapse in defense that let Harrisburg take a brief lead, the Hornets stayed in control and eventually put away Coach Randy Smithpeters' club that saw their mark slip to 17-8 on the season.

Bahari Amaya, Harrisburg's top-gun, scored 13-points in the first half but was held to just two-points in the final 16-minutes.

The 6-foot-4 senior forward hit three of the eight 3-pointers in the first half for the Bulldogs who led 30-26 at the break.

Harrisburg also got 15-points from freshman Isaiah Saulsberry in the loss.

“We knew we were going to have a lot of trouble trying to score inside so we really didn't attack it that way,” said Coach Smithpeters. “We tried to put shooters out around the perimeter and spread the floor. And really I think we were successful as we could be doing it. When the shots fell it created a major problem for them. Our pressure, I thought, bothered them (Nashville) some, too. But our lack of size was such an advantage for them it baled them out of a lot with their ability to score around the basket.”

The Hornets survived this game in which they also were a bit careless with the ball.

Coach Weathers' group committed 15-turnovers but they shot the ball so well that they more than made up for their faults.

Nashville hit 70.8 from the floor (24-of-34) which helped them overcome the mistakes.

The fact that they hit 18-of-24 from the foul line (75 percent) didn't hurt the cause.

The Hornets appeared to be on an easy track to victory against a Bulldog club that had lost big on the road the night before at Massac County and was struggling early.

Nashville, behind early scores from Cooper and senior guard and leader Daniel Thorson (nine points total) jumped out to an 18-8 lead at the first break.

After spotting the Bulldogs a quick Amaya trey and a 3-0 lead, Nashville responded with nine straight points.

Cooper had four of the points on drives to the basket and Thorson, along with teammate Dylan Mueller, netted field goals as they took a 9-3 lead.

Thorson picked up a couple of assists in the quarter and he found Cooper later in the frame for a lay in.

This 6-foot-1 senior guard made a steal in the final seconds in the stanza and his drive down the court produced a falling-down, off-balanced shot that banked home as Nashville led by ten.

Newman, who only had a made free throw in the first quarter, hit his first shot of the second period to push the lead to 20-8.

At this point, Harrisburg stopped turning the ball over (they had nine turnovers in the first eight minutes) and found the range from beyond the arc while their defense forced Nashville into a rash of mistakes.

The Bulldogs offensive run was a thing of beauty if you are a fan of the 3-point shot.

Harrisburg went on a long-range fueled 19-0 blitz with five trifectas in the run.

Amaya hit two of the 3-pointers and he also added a runner in the lane for a score.

Saulsberry and teammate Ben Fowler, a 5-foot-11 junior, each added to the outside onslaught.

During this scoring parade, the Hornets committed five turnovers and when Amaya closed the sprint with his second 3-pointer in the surge at 3:00 left before the half, suddenly Nashville went from complete control of the game to being down 27-20.

Fowler added another 3-pointer on an assist from Amaya to finish the Bulldogs second quarter point total at 22.

Free throws by Newman and Thorson got the Hornets to within 30-26 at the break.

The Hornets made the adjustments they needed to make at the half and took back control in the third quarter.

Newman (twice) and Cooper hit shots in the opening two minutes to give the Hornets back the lead briefly.

Cooper's bucket on an assist from Mueller put Nashville back on top 32-30.

“We were getting frustrated (in the first half) and even as hot as they were (Harrisburg) and were getting open looks, the one Amaya hit in the first half we had a kid in his face and he still made it,” said Coach Weathers. “But we did a better job of covering the middle in the second half and kept them from kicking it back out to shooters. We were upset and we talked at halftime about playing through this. I thought we came out more composed in the second half and our defense stepped up. This was a good ballgame for us.”

Harrisburg got a conventional three-point play from freshman guard Blake Drue and a drive from Amaya on a Drue assist for a 35-32 spread at the 4:25 mark.

It was all Hornets the rest of the quarter, and the remainder of the night.

Twelve consecutive points, including Nashville's only made 3-pointer of the game, gave Coach Weathers' team some space.

Cooper converted a three-point play while being fouled by Harrisburg senior Carson Batts and later added another basket on a drive down the baseline.

Six-foot-four senior reserve Troy Pedtke nailed the 3-point attempt from the right wing and another drive to the goal by Thorson followed by Cooper's bucket pushed Nashville to a 44-35 lead at the end of three.

Harrisburg made a couple of scoring moves in the final quarter but they couldn't sustain any of the runs to get within striking distance.

Mainly due to six more turnovers.

A 3-pointer from Fowler, his final points of an 11-point effort, banked home from the right wing to close the deficit to just 54-47 with 2:49 remaining.

Nashville got some key contributions from its bench and sophomore guard Hayden Heggemeier was one of the bright spots offensively.

The 5-foot-11 guard added seven fourth quarter points, including a fast break lay in to go with 5-of-6 free throws as the Hornets were in the process of running out the clock.

Five of his points (the transition basket and 3-of-4 free throws) came in succession to begin a 9-0 game-closing-drama-ending run.

Mueller added two more baskets and his steal and fast break lay in with 1:10 left closed the book on this victory.

The Hornets, who have taken on a brutal schedule this season, are now in line to be the top seed in the Carlyle 2A regional and they also have a one-game lead over Pinckneyville in the SIRR Mississippi Division.

Nashville will take on Carterville on the road and will host those Panthers on consecutive nights next weekend.

The Harrisburg schedule upcoming isn't a walk on the beach either as the Bulldogs return to Rich Herrin Gym next Friday for a game against the Rangers.

The following night they host Murphysboro, the SIRR Ohio Division leader.

“I was really happy with our effort, especially coming off of a tough conference loss on the road last night. I thought our group showed a lot of character tonight,” said Coach Smithpeters. “But with their 3-2 zone and their length, it was something that we can't really prepare for and practice against. We tried to split (defenders) and throw it over the top against them and we couldn't do that.”

Nashville (67) – Heggemeier 1 0 5-6 7, Bultman 1 0 2-2 4, Thorson 3 0 3-4 9, Radtke 0 1 0-0 3, Mueller 3 0 1-2 7, Cooper 8 0 3-3 19, Newman 7 0 4-7 11.
2FG-23, 3FG-1, FT-18-24, PF-9.
Harrisburg (52) – Drue 1 0 1-1 3, Amaya 3 3 0-0 15, Houston 0 1 2-3 5, Bartok 0 0 1-3 1, Batts 1 0 0-1 2, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Fowler 1 3 0-0 11, Salusberry 1 4 1-2 15, Gould 0 0 0-0 0, Ferrell 0 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0 0-0 0, Barnard 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-7, 3FG-11, FT-5-10, PF-23.
Fouled Out – Batts - Harrisburg.
Technical Fouls – None.

Junior Devin Brown led the Dawgs with 18-points in the loss.

Anna-Jonesboro (58) – Fuller 6 0 2-3 14, Prater 0 2 0-0 6, Parr 3 1 6-6 15, Stark 0 0 0-0 0, Prather 0 0 0-0 0, Earnhart 1 0 0-2 2, Garver 0 0 0-0 0, Harvell 0 1 1-4 4, Nimmo 0 0 0-0 0, Dewitt 1 3 2-4 13, Smith 2 0 0-0 4, Marks 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-7, FT-11-19, PF-13.
Mt. Carmel (75) – Jamison 0 0 0-0 0, Laws 7 0 1-1 15, Murk 0 3 0-0 9, Wright 0 0 1-1 1, Carpenter 7 0 0-0 14, Peach 0 0 0-0 0, Deisher 2 1 1-1 8, Spear 0 0 0-0 0, Margelin 5 0 0-0 10, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Rue 0 0 0-0 0, Marcotte 7 0 3-4 17, Peterson 0 0 1-1 1.
2FG-28, 3FG-4, FT-7-8, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Gallatin County (46) – Ramsey 6 2 6-9 24, H. Oldham 1 0 0-2 2, Scates 3 0 2-2 8, Clark 1 1 0-0 5, T. Oldham 2 0 1-2 5, DeVous 0 0 0-0 0, Watts 1 0 0-0 2, Walters 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-9-15, PF-14.
Hamilton County (48) – Vaughan 0 0 0-0 0, Scattone 3 0 4-4 10, Craddock 1 0 0-0 2, Braden 0 1 3-4 6, Kelly 2 1 0-0 7, Cravens 4 0 2-3 10, Lueke 0 0 3-4 3, Dial 1 2 2-3 10.
2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-14-18, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Vaughan - Hamilton County.
Technical Fouls – None.