02-11-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - In a contest in which Sesser-Valier wanted to attack Waltonville's zone defense – the Red Devils found a player who was in a zone of his own.

Six-foot-one senior guard Dustin Hicks lit up the Spartans by nailing seven 3-pointers from all around the arc in a 74-51 triumph on Friday night in a contest between two long standing rivals.

Hicks finished with 27-points as his Red Devils improved to 16-8 on the season with the victory.

Coach Chip Basso's club shook loose from Waltonville with a second quarter offensive push to get the victory and added a 9-0 run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

Waltonville saw its mark slip to 7-15 on the season despite 27-points from sophomore guard Trey Witges.

“Thank goodness he (Hicks) was on tonight and when he is hitting things are going to roll well for us,” said Coach Basso. “We have to get a little more production out of some of the other kids. It is an emotional-rivalry type game and we expected a battle.”

The Red Devils held a commanding 32-23 rebounding edge and forced the Spartans into 16-turnovers (ten in the second half) for the win.

Hicks got his team rolling early with four of his trifecta's coming in the opening quarter.

His fourth such successful score netted from the right corner on an assist from Alan DelBene put S-V up 16-11 with 1:22 left in the first frame.

Witges – a 6-foot-1 guard who kept his team close for a short period of time – score five points in the first eight minutes and his drive to the basket closed the first quarter at 16-14 Sesser-Valier.

By the time that Waltonville started locating Hicks on the outside in the second quarter – the Red Devils had shifted the offensive strategy to the inside with 6-foot-3 junior Drew Dorris getting into the scoring routine.

Dorris finished the night with 16-points – which included a pair of scores in the final 2:19 of the half.

He took a lob pass from teammate Curtis Edwards for a basket for a nine-point lead.

Following a Waltonville turnover – Edwards got a score of his own on a in-bounds pass to make it 34-24 with :20 remaining.

The Spartans struggled a bit from the foul line as they missed some key free throws in the first half.

Witges hit 1-of-2 in the final seconds of the second quarter as Waltonville trailed 34-25 at intermission.

Whatever hope the Spartans had of making a run at S-V vanished late in the third quarter.

Hicks and Witcher combined for ten early points in the beginning of the second half for Coach Basso's team.

Witcher pulled up for a 3-pointer and then scored on a driving bank shot that forced a Waltonville timeout at 44-32 with 4:40 remaining.

The final nail in the hardcourt coffin came with that 9-0 scoring blitz – triggered by another Hicks 3-point bomb.

By the time Sesser-Valier's Justin Kulich – a 6-foot-5 sophomore center – drove the lane for a basket with 1:29 left – the Devils led 55-34.

The Spartans ran out of steam in the early going of the fourth quarter and could do little to keep S-V from getting the ball to the basket.

“We need a few more legs out there (speaking of being short handed because of two players missing) and they (S-V) were able to rotate players in and we couldn't,” said Coach Harper. “I'm very proud of the kids. They gave it all that they had and I told them that we needed to come out here and match them mentally and match them physically. We did that but we just got tired out there.”

The Red Devils added a pair of Dorris inside baskets and by the time that reserve Dylan Rock grabbed one of S-V's 11-offensive rebounds for a follow up score – the Red Devils led 72-49 as each coach shipped in the remainder of the benches.

After Witges' 27-points – no other Spartan player reached the double-digit plateau with sophomore Jordan Hale adding seven points for the next highest scorer for head coach Chad Harper's club.

Behind Hicks and Dorris – S-V got seven markers from Witcher and six points from Kulich.

“If you have somebody inside that can score then you can also kick the ball outside for shots and I thought we did a nice job recognizing the double-team and getting the ball to the shooters outside,” added Coach Basso.

The Devils hit 29-of-61 shots overall and were a scorching 9-of-14 from downtown.

Coach Basso's squad committed just 10-turnovers while holding a Waltonville to just nine offensive rebounds (just three after the first quarter) in the win.

Waltonville connected on just 19-of-50 shots overall with just 3-of-8 from 3-point land.

Sesser-Valier steps back on the court Saturday night in hosting Black Diamond Conference East Division team Eldorado in the annual BDC Shootout while Waltonville will play host to Edwards County.

“We have to show a better effort for four quarters especially with the post season coming around the corner,” added Coach Basso. “I did think that we played better in the second half. We made some adjustments. This time of year a win is a win.”

Waltonville (51) – Laird 0 0 0-0 0, Askew 1 1 0-0 5, Buza 0 0 0-0 0, Beppler 0 0 0-0 0, Witges 10 0 7-12 27, Hale 1 1 2-2 7, McCoy 2 1 1-2 8, Rapp 2 0 0-0 4, Whisenant 0 0 0-0 0, Ellison 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-10-16, PF-12.
Sesser-Valier (74) – Stanley 1 0 1-2 3, Lingle 0 0 0-0 0, Hicks 2 7 2-2 27, DelBene 0 0 0-0 0, Jenkins 1 1 0-0 5, Ellison 0 0 0-0 0, Kulich 3 0 0-0 6, Witcher 2 1 0-0 7, Vercellino 2 0 0-0 4, Edwards 1 0 0-4 2, Rock 1 0 0-0 2, Dorris 6 0 4-4 16, Spann 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-28, 3FG-1, FT-17-26, PF-10.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.