01-15-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
STEELEVILLE - Steeleville senior Adam Eggemeyer is having a great year.

And so far it seems like the bigger the game, the more impact he has on its outcome.

With Randolph County rival Red Bud in the house Saturday night, Eggemeyer exploded for 32-points in leading his Warriors to a 'come from behind' 71-67 overtime win at home in front of a standing room only crowd.

Steeleville, with the victory Saturday night, took a huge step toward securing a cushy seeding in the upcoming Class A state tournament.

In a contest between two of the top Class A teams in Southwestern Illinois, coach Matt Laur saw his club improve to 16-4 on the season while picking up a big bargaining chip for this first year mentor when he heads into the regional seeding meeting.

"They (Red Bud) are a great team and we are a great team and I knew it was going to be a battle tonight," said Laur, whose club now sits with a legitimate chance of securing one of the top three seeds in the sectional complex while playing at either New Athens or Pinckneyville. "It was an intense ballgame from the opening tip and we hung in there all night. They got ahead of us in the third quarter but we came back because we never gave up. I am so proud of my guys. This was a heck of a basketball game and a great win."

Red Bud (15-3) got a team high 21-points from Bryant Porter, its 5-foot-10 junior point guard.

However eleven of those points came from the foul line as for the most part Steeleville did a good job in defending him.

Although the game turned into a classic, especially in the final quarter, from the opening tap it was the Warriors that appeared ready to play as they opened up a quick lead.

Eight-straight points from Steeleville, including 'back-to-back' baskets from 6-foot-4 senior Travis Schaber, produced an early advantage in this crucial game for both programs.

Schaber ended up with six points in the quarter all on mid-range jump shots.

When his third shot of the period fell through, the Warriors were on top 10-4 with 1:22 to go in the first stanza.

However Porter got going early for the Musketeers. He notched six points as well in the opening frame and his 'coast-to-coast' fast break lay in the buzzer got the game to the first horn at 10-6 Steeleville.

Red Bud got behind early thanks to five first quarter turnovers against the Warriors pressure.

"The problem we had with their press was the same problem that we have had all year in that we don't seem to want to go into the middle when trying to beat the press," said Red Bud coach Phil Taylor, who is also in his first year of coaching the Musketeers. "We have worked on it and talked about it but we don't seem to be able to execute it."

Red Bud got the game even at 13 with just over two minutes gone in the second quarter on the strength of five Nick Grohman points on a 3-pointer and a 15-footer from the right elbow followed by a Tyler Mueth baseline drive and score.

However by this time, Eggemeyer was beginning to warm up offensively.

As he has done all season, the 6-foot-3 senior started raining down 3-pointers.

In fact three of them in the second quarter, which included a pair from the right corner on two separate transition opportunities, finished off a 7-0 run to give Steeleville a 20-13 lead which forced a Red Bud stoppage of play at 3:35 of the second quarter.

With Eggemeyer gone to the bench after picking up his second personal foul with 2:44 remaining before intermission, the Musketeers scored seven straight points to take the lead heading into the break.

A Porter 3-pointer, a pair of free throws Mueth and a pull up 10-footer by Nick Hentis on the right baseline finished the first half scoring and gave Red Bud a lift heading into the locker room with a 25-23 lead.

Red Bud ended the first half with big run and continued its hot streak during a productive third quarter as the Musketeers reached their biggest advantage of the night.

Four different players scored in the frame for Coach Taylor as his club took advantage of Eggemeyer's absence.

After picking up his third foul by going over a Red Bud players' back on a lob attempt, Eggemeyer went to the bench with exactly 6:00 to go.

Matt Shields delivered a pair of baskets in the run, while teammate Chris Stenzel connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing to push the RB margin to 32-26 at the 4:15 mark.

A three point play by Tiemann on a drive to the basket and made free throw cut into the lead with just :19.7 left.

However Zach Ingles scored on an in bounds pass while being fouled by Schaber. His subsequent made free throw got the score to 37-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

But when the final eight minutes of regulation began, a fresh-legged Eggemeyer stepped back onto the court and made up for his brief bench sabbatical.

After another basket by Ingles opened up a 37-31 Red Bud lead, Eggemeyer scored seven straight points.

A mid-range jumper, a drive to the basket and an Eggemeyer trademark 'trifecta' from the right wing on a pass from Tiemann cut the Musketeer lead to 39-38 with 5:42 to go.

Grohman gave Red Bud a boost with his third 3-pointer of the game to make it once again a four-point lead.

Later in the quarter the Warriors looked primed to take over the game when mental mistake nearly cost Red Bud.

Grohman fouled Eggemeyer while the Steeleville forward was attempting a 3-point shot with 3:24 to go.

Eggemeyer stepped to the line and made all three attempts to make it 46-44 Steeleville.

Mueth scored Red Bud's final five points in regulation on a pair of baskets in the paint while being fouled.

On his first attempt, he was successful at the line giving his club back the lead at 48-47.

But his second time, he missed the free throw after being fouled by Josh Jausel.

Mueth would soon head to the bench with his fifth foul, which was a key play in the game.

That foul sent Dustin Wathen to the line with a chance to give his team the lead. However the 6-foot-7 senior missed the first attempt.

When he converted the second charity toss, the game was even at 50 with :26.1 remaining.

The Musketeers had a chance to win the game in regulation as Porter got the ball and worked for a final shot while being guarded by Tiemann.

But his 15-foot shot from the left side rimmed out just before the buzzer as the two teams ended regulation tied at 50-apiece.

"I thought it was going in when it left his hands," added Taylor. "I have talked to Bryant about being more of a complete player by being able to do more things on the court but also not trying to do too much. I think he had a good all-around game tonight."

Red Bud, who had the game in hand, had some difficulty in the second half with the Steeleville pressure, which allowed the Warriors to get back into the game.

"We throw our press there sometimes because we don't want them (Red Bud) to just come down and get into their offense. We got a few steals but mostly we just wanted to make them work for what they got," Laur added. "Tyler Tiemann played great for us tonight guarding (Bryant) Porter. He was on empty from the third quarter on but he has a lot of heart and he always guards the other teams' best player."

While the fourth quarter was a exciting eight minutes, the four minute extra session became a foul line parade for both Red Bud and Steeleville as the two weary combatants continued to send each other to the line.

The benefactor for RB was Porter who made 7-of-8 during a 2:06 stretch.

However while Porter was productive from the line, Steeleville was getting opportunities while taking advantage of Mueth's absence.

Tiemann did Porter two better by hitting 9-of-10 from the stripe.

By the time Jausel connected on 1-of-2 free throws with :24.5 seconds to go, the Warriors had sealed the victory over a clearly spent Red Bud squad.

A 3-pointer from Porter just before the final buzzer made the final score more respectable.

Eggemeyer led all scorers with his 32-points while teammate Tiemann added 19, including 12-of-13 from the free throw line.

Schaber added 11 for Coach Laur's club as they head into the Sparta Mid-Winter Classic next week.

The Warriors were just 19-of-51 from the field (37 percent) but they outrebounded Red Bud 30-19 and made 12-more free throws than the Musketeers.

"The thing that is amazing about him (Eggemeyer) tonight is that I had no idea how many points he had. I thought maybe he had 20 or 22, I didn't think he had 32," added Laur. "I don't know what else I can say about the guy. He is a great kid and great citizen on top of that. He is a great athlete, and great player and he has the best attitude of any player in the state of Illinois."

Red Bud was paced by Porter with 21-points, making 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line during a foul plagued game that saw Grohman (11 pts.) and Mueth (9 pts.) foul out. RB was 23-of-53 (44 percent) for the game from the field.

"This was a tough game for us tonight. They are always tough to beat here and tonight they hit the shots they needed to at important times," finalized Taylor. "It will be nice to get home and play three straight games there."

Red Bud, who hasn't played a game at home since December 17th, heads back to their own digs for their next three contests against Chester, Valmeyer and New Athens in the next two weeks before yet another pivotal game against the host Panthers at the annual Pinckneyville Super-Fan Shootout on January 29th.

Steeleville on the horizon has another big game as they head to Nashville to tackle the Hornets in the top game of the Nashville Sports Boosters Shootout February 5th.

Red Bud (67) - Stenzel 1 0 1-1 3, Mueth 3 0 3-4 9, Porter 2 2 11-12 21, Grohman 1 3 0-0 11, Shields 4 0 0-0 8, Ingles 3 0 1-1 9, Hentis 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-17, 3FG-6, FT-15-17, PF-23.
Steelville (50) - Tiemann 2 1 12-13 19, Eggemeyer 4 5 9-9 32, Schaber 5 0 1-2 11, Jausel 0 0 2-4 2, Wathen 2 0 3-8 7.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-27-36, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Grohman, Mueth-Red Bud.
Technical Fouls - None.