03-11-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA - In a defensive game where every possession counted, it was unbeaten Seneca that came up big in its battle with Pinckneyville Saturday afternoon in the Class A state semifinals.

Shooting an amazing 12-of-17 from the field and 20-of-22 from the foul line, the top-ranked Fighting Irish held off second-ranked Pinckneyville 44-38 in the second semifinal game Saturday afternoon.

Seneca senior Robert Rexroade proved to be too much for the smaller Panthers to handle as Pinckneyville saw it’s 28-game win streak come to a halt.

The 6-foot-8 Rexroade hit 7-of-8 attempts from the field with most coming in the paint over the shorter Panthers.

“We were able to get Robert (Rexroade) involved early today but Pinckneyville made it tough late in the game on him,” said Seneca head coach Doug Evans. And we relied on our defense all season to get stops and when our guys step to the line we expect them to make it. Our free throw shooting was big for us in the end.”

The Panthers couldn’t get over the hump in the second half, failing to put together any runs to get the lead.

“The free throw line was huge tonight and they did a good job of getting the lead,” said Pinckneyville coach Dick Corn. “We didn’t get off to a good start in the third quarter and they did. So we had to play catch up against them and that was a tall challenge.”

The Panthers were just 15-of-37 in the game from the field and being forced to shoot from deep, they were just 6-of-18 from behind the arc.

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we are capable of shooting but I’m going to have to give them (Seneca) some credit. They do guard you their size was a definite factor in the ballgame,” added Corn.

Trailing for nearly the entire game and watching Seneca shoot about as well as a high school basketball team can, the Panthers never threw in the towel.

Pinckneyville managed only a pair of leads, both in the first quarter.

Skyler Graskewicz, a Pinckneyville long-range sharp shooter, connected on a pair of deep 3-point shots in the opening minutes.

Both shots coming from the same spot in the left corner, the 5-foot-10 junior drained both of his early attempts to give Pinckneyville a 6-4 lead with 5:01 remaining.

Seneca then responded with its first run.

Rexroade scored twice in the opening frame and he and his teammates set the early tone of the game with intent of getting the ball inside.

His second bucket on a lob pass on an inbounds play made it 12-8 Irish.

Zach Hawkins, who had an outstanding tournament, scored on a baseline shot to close the quarter’s scoring at 12-8.

The Panthers managed a pair of ties with Seneca in the second quarter.

Kyle Cassity, Pinckneyville’s ‘do-everything’ 6-foot-4 guard, scored consecutive baskets.

He canned a 3-pointer on an inbound pass from the right corner to knot the game at 14 and followed up a Seneca score with a back door cut on an assist from Graskewicz.

However every Panther run had an Irish jig.

Meaning every time Pinckneyville made a move, Seneca countered.

Rexroade connected on consecutive possessions, giving back Seneca the lead for good.

His score in the lane gave the Irish a 20-16 spread with 2:44 to go before halftime.

Graskewicz hit another 3-pointer before intermission on a dish from Austin Winter as the Panthers continued to hang tough.

But Garrett Callahan, the Seneca first team all-state choice, proved his worth in this pivotal game.

He matched Rexroade for high honors with 15-points and his conventional three-point play while being fouled by Thad Hawkins pushed the lead back to four.

Pinckneyville appeared in good shape heading into the break as the passing that had taken care of them all season long was paying off.

Zach Hawkins found Austin Winter on a score with 1:43 to go.

But as would turn out to be the case for the entire game, there were no answers for Rexroade.

His sixth basket of the first half, on 6-of-6 shooting, closed the half at 25-21.

With all the chips on their side of the table and the dealer tossing the cards they needed, Seneca controlled the second half doing as they pleased.

Using size and quickness advantages, Coach Evans’ club spread the Panthers thin and got the lead up to a comfort zone.

Callahan and Rexroade each provided points in the first 1:18 of the third quarter, pushing their lead to 30-21.

“It was a hard fought game and Pinckneyville hit some big shots against us today,” said Seneca head coach Doug Evans.

Pinckneyville made its best run of the night to start the final quarter. Showing the desperation of the moment, the young Panthers responded.

Ryan Rushing, Zach Hawkins and Graskewicz all scored in a 7-2 run.

Graskewicz nailed yet another 3-pointer to close the spurt to cut the margin to 36-33 with 3:23 left.

Pinckneyville didn’t get any closer in falling for just the second time this season.

Seneca put the game away with 11-of-12 free throws in the final stanza.

“Twenty out of twenty-two is pretty good free throw shooting,” added Corn, who with a win against Maroa-Forsyth could add a third place trophy to the Pinckneyville trophy case, its fourth such award in the school’s history. “We got three or four pretty good looks around the basket in the fourth quarter and just didn’t get a shot to fall for us.”

The shots coach Corn referred to were part of a dry spell that kept the Panthers from taking advantage of Seneca turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Freshman starter and coaches son Seth Evans and Marty Hetelle closed out the game by hitting four straight free throws in the final :13.4 seconds to send the Irish into the title game.

The Panthers were led by Graskewicz with 12-points who hit 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc, his only attempts of the night.

He was the only Pinckneyville player in double-figures.

“He (Graskewicz) has been struggling and kind of lost his confidence and it is good to see him get going today,” Corn explained. “When he sets his feet gets his shot he can shoot it with anyone.”

Seneca outrebounded the Panthers 19-8 with so few shots missed Pinckneyville had few chances.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Pinckneyville	10	11	05	12	-	38
Seneca	12	13	09	10	-	44

Pinckneyvile (38) - L. Winter 0 0 0-0 0, A. Winter 3 0 1-2 7, Z. Hawkins 4 0 0-0 8, Cassity 1 1 1-2 6, Graskewicz 0 4 0-0 12, T. Hawkins 0 1 0-0 3, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Woodside 0 0 0-0 0, Rushing 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-11, 3FG-6, FT-2-4, PF-19.
Seneca (44) - Gr. Callahan 1 0 1-2 3, Ga. Callahan 2 0 11-11 15, Rexroade 7 0 1-1 15, Hetelle 0 0 2-2 2, Evans 2 0 5-6 9, Hobbs 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Spicer 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-0, FT-20-22, PF-10.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

MAROA-FORSYTH 58, PINCKNEYVILLE 49
In the third place game, the Trojans Austin Peebles scored a game-best 35 points to lead his club to the win over the Panthers.

This honorable mention all-state pick hit 77 percent of his attempts (14-of-18) from the floor as M-F finished its fine season at 31-2.

Pinckneyville dropped its second game of the day to end up 32-3 despite Austin Winters’ 16 points. Zach Hawkins chipped in 13 points and yanked down eight rebounds.

SENECA 47, CHILLECOTHE ILLINOIS VALLEY CENTRAL 44
Seneca became the first undefeated Class A state champion since Teutopolis turned the trick back in 1986 with the victory Saturday night.

Taking the lead for the final time late in the fourth quarter, coach Doug Evans saw his club win the title becoming the first non-Chicago area small school winner since Pleasant Plains in 2002.

The Irish (35-0) nearly handed the Grey Ghosts a chance at overtime in the final moments.

A 3-pointer from IVC’s Chris Shindley with :07 remaining cut the lead down to three.

Seneca threw the ball away on its inbound pass giving the Ghosts possession.

However a second Shindley attempt miss off of the backboard as time expired.

Counting last season’s third place win over Liberty, the Fighting Irish have a 36-game winning streak.

Being less than 20 miles from the Carver Arena, Illinois Valley Central was making its first trip to the Elite Eight in boy’s basketball and only second state appearance ever.

The Grey Ghosts (27-6) of the Mid-Illini Conference of predominately Class AA schools avenged an early season loss in the quarterfinals with a win over Chicago North Lawndale and held off Maroa-Forsyth in the semifinals.