03-11-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE – The Sesser-Valier Red Devils have been on an offensive hot streak since the state tournament began, and with the exception of a few minutes in the fourth quarter, they have stayed on fire.

Coach Shane Garner’s club jumped out to a big lead through three quarters and survived some comeback anxiety by Dieterich to advance to Peoria for the second time in four seasons with a 57-48 win in the 1A Carbondale Supersectional Tuesday night at SIU Arena.

The Red Devils improved to 24-10 on the season with the victory, despite nearly coughing up all of a 16-point lead they had going into to the fourth quarter.

“This is something special. The kids believed all along what we are trying to do here,” said Coach Garner. “We knew that they (Dieterich) was going to go on a run. They live or die by the three and we knew that they could put up points quick. We knew we just had to weather it and make our free throws down the stretch.”

For the Movin’ Maroons, the shooting woes that they experience in the first half dug too deep of a deficit as their magical season came to a close at 23-9.

Coach Jeff Staser’s squad won its first ever sectional title and were on the verge of a trip to Peoria but they ran into a team that made the plays when they counted.

Sesser-Valier got a strong effort from four of its top guns with 6-foot-1 senior Tyler Baxter pacing the charge with 16-points.

Nick Marlo, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, netted 14-points for Sesser-Valier while hitting 9-of-11 free throws.

Luke Thompson, a 6-foot junior, came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers for nine points for S-V.

Jordan Gunter also added eight points for the Red Devils.

Even though the Red Devils struggled in the fourth quarter, they had enough in the tank to keep Dieterich from getting a lead after the first quarter.

The career of Tanner Traub at Dieterich came to a halt as the 5-foot-10 senior guard and leader ended his prep run with a game-high 18-points.

Alex Bohnhoff and Nick Feldhake each added eight points for Dieterich, but it proved to not be nearly enough as Coach Staser’s squadron committed nine-turnovers and were just 14-of-45 from the field.

“The kids are going to look back and they are going to say ‘we could have done this or we could have done that’ but tonight we missed some shots that we wish we could have had back,” said Coach Staser. “It just happens (missed shots) we did that in the first half against St. Anthony but we recovered and were fine in the second half. But tonight we just never seemed to be able to get there.”

Sesser-Valier’s first big run of the contest occurred at the end of the opening stanza.

A 9-2 burst, highlighted by a steal and fast break lay in by Marlo and a pair of drives by Baxter gave the Red Devils a 20-11 first quarter lead at the end of one.

“We got out to an early lead and it helps because we can play ‘free’ and focus on the defensive end,” added Coach Garner. “And I thought we did a good job in the first half playing with a lead. We had that lull in the fourth quarter but we survived.”

The Movin’ Maroons had multiple chances to dig into the S-V advantage but missed too many shots from the floor and the foul line.

Coach Staser’s bunch hit just 2-of-12 shots in the third quarter and missed four free throws as they trailed 31-19 at intermission.

Dieterich tried to get back into contention in the third quarter with Lance Niemerg scoring on a drive to the basket and Feldhake taking a pass from teammate Bohnhoff for a back door score to make it 33-26 with 3:29 left.

Sesser-Valier dialed up long distance on its next three possessions to take back control.

Baxter, Jake Vanwey and Thompson all hit from beyond the arc and when Thompson found the mark from the right corner with 1:58 left, Dieterich called timeout at 42-26.

Coach Garner saw his club score twice more in the final seconds of the third quarter with Marlo hitting a mid-range shot and another trey by Thompson that beat the buzzer make it 47-31 heading home.

“They hit four in a row I think at one point (3-pointers) and then they took away the 3-pointer from us,” said Coach Staser. “We ran some things, some double screens and double staggers but we got looks but they (Sesser-Valier) made adjustments.”

But in all sports it is sometimes difficult to slam the door shut and the Red Devils nearly let Dieterich off the mat.

The Maroons went on a 14-2 run to get back to within four points.

In this run, Traub and Bohnhoff each scored from long range with Traub nailing a pair of 3-point bombs.

When the senior guard and leader hit a pair of free throws with 2:22 left, the Maroons were back in contention at 49-45.

Dieterich then reverted back to the mistakes that got them into the mess in the first place.

The Maroons were just 13-of-21 from the foul line and missed the front ends of two 1-and-1 opportunities after getting to within four.

They also added three more turnovers to the total.

While this was going on, Sesser-Valier paraded to the foul line and converted 5-of-6 to close the book on another trip to Carver Arena.

A window-dressing 3-pointer by Feldhake ended the season with a nine-point loss for Dieterich.

Despite the Red Devils not making a field goal in the fourth quarter (0-of-6) and three more turnovers, Coach Garner’s club survived and advanced.

The Red Devils will face Heyworth on Friday at Peoria. Heyworth beat Champaign St. Thomas More, 72-62 to win the 1A Normal ISU Supersectional.

It was a bad night all around for the Effingham County reps T-Town and Dieterich as both fell on Tuesday night out of the state tournament.

“I love the kids and they fought back from 16-points down to cut it to four,” added Coach Staser. “I think if we get a stop or two late we might have gotten there, but our guy were gassed I’m sure. This was a special season.”