12/02/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
NEW ATHENS - The New Athens Yellow Jackets had a really good beginning on Friday night in their homecoming game against Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division rival Valmeyer.

The ending was even better.

Coach Conrad Widdersheim had his kids ready and they led from the opening tap all the way to the final buzzer in a convincing 80-55 victory.

The triumph puts the Yellow Jackets at 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the league standings.

NA attacked the Valmeyer zone defense with a barrage of outside shots and closed the night with a fourth quarter run where they converted 9-of-11 field goals.

Sophomore Isaiah Lintker nailed five of the teams' nine 3-pointers and he finished with a game-best 26 points.

Senior Andrew Wynn tallied 18 points while senior forward Gannon Birkner ended up with 17.

Ethan Range made it four Yellow Jackets with double-digit scoring as he added 11 points.

“There are a lot of words to describe that game but like I told the boys; it's a conference win, we scored 80 points, beat a rival in Valmeyer who always gets up for this game and it was our homecoming game,” said Coach Widdersheim. “I hope the boys are excited about that and we can build on it.”

Valmeyer and head coach John Wuelling played tough throughout the game and made a third quarter run to make things interesting.

However they ended up not shooting the ball well on the night as they saw the won-loss record slip to 0-4 on the season, 0-1 in the Kaskaskia.

Senior guard Harrison Miller topped the Pirates with 23 points as he also hit two of the Valmeyer six 3-pointers.

New Athens got the opening tip as Wynn scored just seconds into the game.

He added a rebound basket on the next possession and then got an assist on a score by senior Owen Tolson.

Range found the range on a 3-pointer during the first quarter run while Birkner added six points during the 25-9 first eight minutes.

Valmeyer hit just 4-of-11 shots in the opening frame while committing six turnovers as they fell behind.

With Lintker hitting a couple of shots to open the second quarter, including a 3-point bomb from the left wing, New Athens led 30-9.

Valmeyer got points from Miller on a pair of outside shots and a drive in the lane for a basket during a brief run.

However Wynn added a late bucket to close the half at 38-21 Yellow Jackets' advantage.

The Pirates made one big scoring move in the third quarter which was fueled by their defense.

Valmeyer forced six third quarter turnovers by NA, including four straight which turned into points for the visitors.

Trailing 42-22 with 4:42 left, the Pirates scored the next 13 points.

Senior guard Mason Eschmann was second in scoring for Valmeyer with 12 points on the night.

He scored nine of the points during the third quarter.

Eschmann nailed a 3-point bomb from the left corner and connected on 6-of-6 free throws.

His final two tosses closed the scoring sprint at the 1:26 mark as Valmeyer trailed just 42-35.

That, however, was the end of the run and the end of the Pirates' chances to pull off a road win.

New Athens responded with a 9-2 run to close the frame.

Birkner scored inside on a nice drive in between two 3-point baskets; one each by Wynn and Lintker.

A free throw by Wynn made it 51-37 heading to the fourth.

“I will say our boys are doing a good job about not completely losing their composure and being able to weather the storm. There are some things we have to work on,” said Coach Widdersheim. “Valmeyer is going to shoot a lot of 3's and they just happened to catch fire there in the third quarter. But we found a way to push through.”

The hosts put the game on ice in the final minutes.

Range (2), Lintker (2) and Wynn (1) combined for five made 3's in the final minutes.

A rebound bucket by Wynn pushed the lead to its pinnacle at 80-52 before the reserves finished the final minute.

Valmeyer had some bright spots with Miller and Eschmann each hitting for double-figures and as a team the Pirates combined for a 17-of-19 performance from the free throw line.

Sophomore Aiden Crossin and freshman Luke Blackwell added five points each.

But the club was just 16-of-53 from the floor, and just 6-of-27 from the arc.

On the other side, New Athens hit 30-of-55 overall, 9-of-25 from the 3-point line.

Neither team took care of the ball and NA had issues from the charity stripe.

The two clubs totaled 32 turnovers, 16 each.

Coach Widdersheim's club ended up just 11-of-25 from the foul line, with Birkner being the bright spot hitting 5-of-6.

“They (Valmeyer) packed the zone in on us and kept Gannon (Birkner) from getting the ball but we got shooters out there with Lintker and Range who got going in the late run. I was impressed about how Andrew Wynn came back,” said Coach Widdersheim. “We're going to need productivity out of him this year and I was glad to see him attacking when we made our run. Someone who can attack and finish around the rim.”

The Yellow Jackets next three games will be supreme tests.

Waterloo Gibault at home on December 6 is next up with a road game at defending conference champ and state final four team Steeleville on December 9.

Trico will come to NA on December 13.

Valmeyer will be at Sparta on December 6, Marissa/Coulterville at home on December 9 and then a trip to Valley Park December 12.

The Yellow Jackets boy's basketball program hasn't won a Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division championship since they finished a three-year title run in 2014-15.

Following a season opening 52-50 loss to eventual tournament champion Wayne City at the 48th annual Christopher “Turkey” Tournament, New Athens has wins over Zeigler-Royalton, Norris City-Omaha-Enfield, Glen Carbon Father McGivney and Valmeyer.

They are off to a great start winning the opening league game for both teams.

“We are pretty happy where we are at. There are some things we have to work on but this is a great start for us and I'm excited to continue to build on,” said Coach Widdersheim.

Valmeyer (55) – E. Miller 1 0 0-0 2, Oggero 1 0 0-0 2, Crossin 0 1 2-2 5, Rau 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Roy 0 1 0-0 3, Blackwell 2 0 1-1 5, H. Miller 6 2 5-6 23, Voelker 0 0 0-0 0, Hoerr 0 0 0-0 0, Frierdich 0 0 2-2 2, Snyder 0 0 1-2 1, Eschmann 0 2 6-6 12. 2FG-10, 3FG-6, FT-17-19, PF-20.
New Athens (80) – Lintker 4 5 3-9 26, Mazariego 1 0 0-0 2, Wynn 6 1 3-8 18, Gallagher 0 0 0-0 0, Middendorf 0 0 0-0 0, Dutkanyeh 0 0 0-0 0, Schatte 0 0 0-0 0, Alfeldt 1 0 0-0 2, Tolson 2 0 0-0 4, Shemonia 0 0 0-0 0, Range 1 3 0-2 11, Birkner 6 0 5-6 17. 2FG-21, 3FG-9, FT-11-25, PF-21.
Fouled Out – Crossin, Roy - Valmeyer.
Technical Fouls – None.