01/28/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
CASEY - For the Olney Richland Tigers basketball team heading into the title game of the 51st annual Little Illini Conference Tournament championship game on Friday night, it was a solemn occasion.

Earlier in the day the grandmother of one of the key players and a friend to the community, and the program, passed away.

Although there were struggles the squad put together a performance that was more than enough to produce a 57-39 win and the program's third LIC tournament championship and first since 2019.

Head coach Rob Flanagan's club also plays with the burden of having a target on its back.

His Tigers are still undefeated after the victory and are now 22-0 on the season.

They now own three tournament championships in 2021-22 (Lawrence County Capital Classic, Pinckneyville 'Duster Thomas Classic') and now they're the champs of the LIC.

Six-five senior Chase Travis put together quite a night for himself, scoring 16-points and hauling down 11-rebounds.

It was his grandmother who passed away and he found a way, along with his teammates, to add this championship to the Richland County resume.

“Chase Travis lost his grandma late last night, early this morning, and there has been a lot of emotion. We tried to handle it the best we could,” said Coach Flanagan. “Chase does a lot for us, and tonight it was on the glass and defensively. His grandma followed our program and these kids since they were in little league and a super lady. I know she was watching down on us tonight.”

Coach Flanagan got double-figures in scoring from three other Tigers.

Ian Winkler, a 5-10 sophomore guard came off the pine and sparked his team with 14-points, including a couple of big second half 3-pointers.

Seven of those points came in the fourth quarter as the Tigers put the game out of reach.

Drew Blank, a 6-2 senior, added 15 points with three of the Richland County six made 3-pointers.

Zacheriah Wease added 10-points on five baskets, three of which helped close out the deal.

Newton, who came into the finals after edging Marshall in the semifinals, saw their overall mark slip to 14-7 for head coach Troy Bierman.

The Eagles placed a pair of players in the scorebook with double-digits.

Senior Ben Meinhart led the way with 12-points while senior Evan Schafer added 10.

Meinhart, a 5-9 guard, grabbed a team-best four rebounds and hit the only two 3-pointers on the night for Newton.

The Eagles hit just 2-of-10 from the arc and 15-of-40 overall.

“That's been our MO this year, we hit dry spells were we don't score. When teams take away Ben and Evan we have to have other kids step up and hit some shots,” said Coach Bierman. “I'm proud of our guys' effort and we are ready to bounce back against T-Town on Tuesday.”

Meanwhile Richland County hit 65.7 percent of its overall field goal attempts (23-of-35) with 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.

When you can hit 57.1 percent from the arc, it will likely be a good night.

Rebounding also went to the Tigers, 26-15.

If there was a problem that helped keep Newton in the game for as long as it did it would have been turnovers.

Richland County survived 17 of them, including five in the fourth quarter.

However the shooting success and a defensive scheme of zone trapping pressure, forced Newton into 13 turnovers of its own.

With Travis scoring on a nice back door cut to open the scoring while later adding a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Richland County jumped out to a 7-2 advantage.

Wease added two baskets and a bucket by Winkler in the lane on a drive and short jumper beat the horn for a 13-5 Tigers lead.

Newton was just 2-of-9 early and committed three turnovers as they fell behind in the first frame.

There were two tie scores in the game with the first one coming in the second quarter.

Newton got off to the best start of the two teams, going on a 10-2 run to even things at 15.

Meinhart nailed down a 3-point bomb and 1-of-2 from the line while teammates senior Leo Webber added four points in the quarter and a bucket in the run.

A bucket by senior Mason Schafer on a fast break followed by a drive in the lane by Evan Schafer evened things at 15-15 with 3:30 left until halftime.

However Coach Flanagan's squad responded by closing out the quarter with a run of their own with Travis adding a drive for a score and two free throws.

Sophomore reserve Colby Redmon scored on a short jumper and sophomore Peyton Phillips netted a drive in the paint for a 23-17 halftime lead for the Tigers.

The third quarter produced the final tie of the game and the last hurrah for the Eagles.

Six-consecutive points from Meinhart on a conventional three-point play, off of a Richland County turnover, and a 3-pointer from the right wing tied things up at 23-23 early in the second half.

The Tigers responded by Blank making his own run, hitting three consecutive shots with one of them being a trey.

It was in the middle of an 11-0 run.

Blank added a late quarter basket as the Tigers were eight minutes from the title up 39-30.

“We hit them with a flourish in the second half and Drew Blank had a great second half,” said Coach Flanagan. “We had him out front and extended our half-court trap that we worked on.”

Winkler delivered his dagger in the fourth quarter, hitting a 3-point shot from the right wing and then driving the baseline, making a nice head fake, and then knocking down a 12-footer for a 44-30 lead just :31 into the final quarter.

Newton would get no closer that 12-points the remainder of the game.

“They are a very good team. There is a reason why they're 22-0. It's nice to have a kid like Travis who is 6-5 and athletic and can go get everything,” said Coach Bierman, who played at Newton as a 1999 graduate. “It's something that we don't have. We'll have to do a better job in keeping them off of the glass and do some adjustments against that trap.”

Coach Flanagan's Tigers closed the deal from the foul line, connecting on 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:51

A back door cut by Wease ended the scoring as both team's used reserves to 'mop up'.

“We always talk about playing 'tip to horn' and I thought we did that tonight,” said Coach Flanagan. “I was really proud of the effort.”

The two teams will meet again next month at Newton but both teams are back into action next week.

The Tigers play at Charleston and host Lawrenceville before traveling to Benton on Saturday morning to play 2A Herrin at 10:30 am.

Newton will host Teutopolis on Tuesday and then travel to Marshall Friday.

The Eagles defeated the Wooden Shoes 58-55 on December 29 at the Effingham/Teutopolis 'Christmas Classic'.

The Eagles will also head to Benton on Saturday to take on the host Rangers at 4:30 pm.

“I think Troy (Bierman) is a great coach and he has done a great job with his team. You go into T-Town and win you're doing something right,” said Coach Flanagan. “Newton is going to keep coming at you, they are that way in every sport. They are right up the road from us and the kids know each other. We have a lot of respect for that (Newton) program.”

In the third place game Robinson outlasted Marshall, 63-61 in overtime as Coach Mack Thompson got 23-points from 6-5 junior Cooper Lull in the win.

Casey-Westfield took home the fifth place honors with a 63-55 win over Mount Carmel senior guard Bryson Chrysler netting 19-points for Coach Brannan.

The Aces and head coach Tyler Buss got 16-points from Gavin Smith in the loss.

Newton (39) – Mulvey 0 0 0-0 0, Tharp 0 0 0-0 0, Meinhart 2 2 0-2 12, Nichols 1 0 0-0 2, M. Schafer 3 0 0-0 6, E. Schafer 4 0 2-3 10, Wolf 1 0 3-5 5, Weber 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-3-7, PF-16.
Richland County (57) – Brown 0 0 2-2 2, Blank 5 3 0-0 13, Wease 5 0 0-0 10, Kocher 0 0 0-0 0, Travis 5 1 3-7 16, Redman 1 0 0-0 2, Rudolphi 0 0 0-0 0, Winkler 3 2 2-2 14, Hallam 0 0 0-0 0, Keller 0 0 0-0 0, Weiler 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-4, FT-7-11, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Marshall (61) – Livvix 0 0 0-0 0, Swan 2 0 2-4 6, Wallace 0 1 2-2 5, Boatman 0 7 0-0 21, Brown 2 3 2-4 17, Medsker 1 1 5-7 10, Ross 1 1 5-7 10, Ross 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-6, 3FG-12, FT-11-17, PF-22.
Robinson (63) – Lull 4 3 6-10 23, Pinkston 0 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 1 0-0 3, Loll 2 0 0-2 4, King 2 0 5-7 9, Jackson 6 0 3-6 15, Wernz 3 0 3-5 9, Gilmore 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-17-30, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Livvix - Marshall.
Technical Fouls – None.

Mount Carmel (55) – Sisson 6 0 1-2 13, Allen 1 0 2-6 4, Broster 0 0 0-0 0, Beesley 0 0 0-0 0, Kennard 2 1 6-6 13, Smith 6 1 1-1 16, Gillhan 1 0 0-1 2, Daugherty 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 3 0 1-2 7. 2FG-19, 3FG-2, FT-11-18, PF-16.
Casey-Westfield (63) – Overbeck 2 3 0-0 13, Parcel 2 1 0-0 7, C hrysler 4 2 5-5 19, Gilbert 4 0 0-0 8, Livingston 0 0 0-0 0, Cochonour 0 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0 0-0 0, Clements 6 0 4-6 16. 2FG-18, 3FG-6, FT-9-11, PF-17.
Fouled Out – Allen - Mount Carmel.
Technical Fouls – None.