12-26-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER – Sesser-Valier's Preston Launius came ready to play on Tuesday night in the Sesser-Valier Red Devils tournament opener against long-time rival Waltonville.

The 6-foot-2 senior forward netted a game-high 22-points, 18 of which came in the second half of the Devils' demolition of the Spartans, 61-33 in Game 8 of a long day at the 37th annual Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

Coach Shane Garner saw once again that his team has many options in the scoring department and that his club also can get after teams on defense.

All of those things happened from the beginning to the end of their contest as they improved to 6-4 on the season while advancing to the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

S-V forced five early turnovers and never trailed in the win.

Although they struggled some on the offensive end themselves, mainly from long range, these Devils never allowed the Spartans any sort of offensive run as the dropped Waltonville to 2-7 on the season and into the consolation bracket.

“He (Launius) had a great game tonight. He finished well at the rim. He really came to play,” said Coach Garner. “I think his girlfriend is from Waltonville so I think he was ready to go tonight. It was a great night for a senior, playing in his last tournament here. He stepped up tonight.”

Besides Launius the Red Devils also got some good production from 6-foot senior forward Peyton Rock, a forward who plays much bigger than his height.

Rock added 10-points to the totals while junior guard Tyler Winchester tossed home nine.

In fact nine different Devils scored in a game in which they never trailed.

Waltonville was led in scoring by Jaylon Malone, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, who scored 15-points.

Unfortunately for Coach Anthony Lowery there wasn't anyone else in double-digits in scoring as the Spartans will now play Thompsonville in the consolation quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Seniors Gage Berkemeier and Cody Sheldon each scored six-points in the loss.

Waltonville started out poorly and things never really got better.

Out of their first five possessions of the contest, they didn't get a shot off until the 5:09 mark when sophomore guard Reagan Newell scored while being fouled by Launius.

His converted free throw cut the S-V lead to just 4-3 despite four turnovers before that.

The problem for the Spartans the rest of the quarter was that they added two more turnovers while Sesser-Valier finally warmed up.

The Red Devils scored 11 consecutive points.

Six-foot-two senior guard Joshua Gunter scored seven-points in the game, all of which came in the opening quarter.

He scored on a fast break and then nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Senior guard Lukas Gunter made a steal in the open court and scored his only two points of the night on a fast break that forced a timeout by Waltonville at 15-3 with 1:48 left in the frame.

Waltonville got a pair of scores from Berkemeier to make it just an eight-point deficit at the first horn.

Waltonville made its best run of the game, a carryover from the first quarter that got them close.

Malone scored six-points for the Spartans on a pair of free throws and two drives to the basket to cut the lead to just 17-13.

As they did earlier in the game, the Red Devils responded.

Twelve consecutive points by Launius, Rock and Winchester “gunned” the Devils back up to a double-figure lead.

Launius drove the lane for a score and Winchester canned a long range shot from the left wing.

Then Rock hit the offensive glass for a pair of baskets in consecutive trips.

His second rebound bucket pushed the lead to 29-13.

A free throw by Jacob Tucker and a Sheldon drive down the baseline closed the half for the Spartans as they went to the break down 13.

“We wanted to apply some pressure tonight and we did that. We wanted to make Malone and the rest of their team work tonight and wear them out,” said Coach Garner. “There are some things we could have done better but that is part of the first game of the tournament. We will clean some stuff up and be ready to go after the Appleknockers tomorrow. We're in a good mindset and we moved to the right (winner's bracket).”

Malone hit the first shot of the second half, also on a baseline drive.

However at this point, Launius and Rock and stepped forward.

The two combined for a 10-2 run, with Launius scoring on two mid-range shots and a fast break conversion.

Rock scored in the paint and grabbed a rebound for a stick back for a 39-20 lead.

After a 3-pointer from Malone, the only long range shot made by the Spartans all night, Launius and senior Addison Page each scored for a 43-23 lead with 2:38 left.

Winchester then scored on back-to-back chances just seconds apart; on a rebound and then off of a Waltonville turnover.

Launius closed his 10-point quarter with yet another move to the basket for a score and a 49-27 spread.

“I think the biggest thing about (playing Sesser-Valier) is that they can go eight, nine or ten deep and they can apply that pressure, it wears down a team,” said Coach Lowery. “With our inexperience, it is tough on us. But it is also good for us going forward. This (up tempo) is the kind of basketball we want to play. We could have given up tonight but we weathered the storm. They didn't give up but they are just inexperienced.”

As if that wasn't enough, Launius added eight more points, all in a row for Sesser-Valier.

Three of the buckets came on drives to the basket and his fourth score came on a fast break after a steal by reserve junior Eli Gunter.

This basket made it 57-29, the largest lead of the night.

“Hats off to our guys, especially Peyton and Preston. They came out in a box-and-one on Tyler (Winchester) and anytime you can get a good quality win without the point production with your leading scorer you will take it. The other guys stepped up and did what we needed tonight,” said Coach Garner.

Both coaches emptied the benches in the final minutes.

The numbers stacked up to an impressive win by the hosts, as they held Waltonville to just 13-of-36 shooting overall (36.1 percent) and just 1-of-8 from the arc.

Sesser-Valier, in sharp contrast, was 28-of-55 (50.9 percent) which would have been considerably better had they stayed away from the arc.

The Red Devils were just 3-of-16 from downtown.

Of their 12-turnovers, Coach Garner's squad committed just four after halftime.

S-V held a 30-18 rebounding edge while allowing Waltonville only four total offensive rebounds.But the story of the night was Launius, as he hit eleven 2-point field goals.

Sesser-Valier will tangle with Cobden on Wednesday night.

The fifth-seeded Appleknockers edged Thompsonville, 67-58, in Game 7 of the day.

The game is set for 8 pm.

Waltonville will play Thompsonville at 6:30 pm.

“I thought in the second half we had a lot of guys watching the ball bounce off of the rim instead of going and getting it,” said Coach Lowery. “I told the kids, tired isn't an excuse. We gave up too many offensive rebounds.”

McKay topped all scorers with 31-points, including four 3-pointers, as Woodlawn jumped out to a 28-11 first quarter lead.

Junior guard Jackson Bennett scored 12-points while sophomore Race Rynski added 11-points for the 7-3 Cardinals.

Eight different Woodlawn players scored points for Coach Brian Gamber.

Zeigler-Royalton (0-7) was led by 6-foot-5 freshman Gannon Dollins with 10-points while sophomore Dalton Humphrey and senior Cole Sanders added nine and eight-points respectively for Coach Matt Morgan's Tornadoes.

Senior Bradley Young netted 20 for Coach Eric Stallman.

Christopher improved to 7-2 on the season as they set up a second round game with Black Diamond West Division rival Chester on Wednesday in the championship quarter finals.

Galatia was topped in scoring by Austin Stevens, a 6-foot senior guard, who poured in 22-points for the 4-8 Bearcats.

Six-foot-three senior Will Pulliam added 10-points for Coach Rod Wallace's club.

Coach Rhett Barke saw his team make 7-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter to improve to 9-6 overall as they advanced to play host Sesser-Valier on Wednesday night.

Four of the Appleknockers hit for double-figures in the win as senior Clayton Eck led the way with 18-points.

John Russell added 14-points for Cobden while sophomore Joe Brumleve and freshman Noah Franklin added 13 and 12.

Six-foot-five junior Reed Raubach topped the Tigers with 19-points with junior Tyson Kessler added 10.

Coach Pete Gordon got nine-points each from freshman Grady Furlow and sophomore Corbin Fitch.

STEELEVILLE 75, CENTURY 43
The Warriors jumped out to a 41-21 lead at halftime and cruised to an easy opening round win over the Centurions.

Coach Aaron Fiene saw his club have eight different players score in the rout, led by junior guard Owen Gross with 20-points.

Six-foot-six senior Nic Ebers added 14-points while teammate, also a 6-foot-6 senior, Noah Valleroy tossed home 10.

Century got 16-points from senior Colin Ryan and 12 from senior Marcus Davis.

The Centurions (5-5) hit 15-of-16 free throws in the game, but they only managed 14 field goals compared to Steeleville's 32, which included four 3-pointers from the Warriors with Mulholland hitting two and Ebers and junior Bradley Mevert adding one each in the win.

Coach Todd Tripp's club was nearly "tripped up" by Marissa-Coulterville but they hit 7-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter to make it through to the quarterfinals.

Braden Webber, Goreville's top scorer for the season, led the way in the afternoon win with 27-points.

He hit a pair of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for the 7-2 'Cats.

Senior Tanner Dunn added 12-points in the victory.

Marissa-Coulterville (4-5) was led by junior Cameron Bowlby with 23-points and sophomore Logan Jones with 13.

Senior guard Brandon Riggins added nine-points for Coach Scott Wine's club, who trailed 38-27 at halftime.

However the Meteors rallied with a 16-6 third quarter to get within striking distance heading into the fourth quarter.

CHESTER 60, NEW ATHENS 48
In another mascot battle, the Chester version of the Yellow Jackets prevailed in the tournament opener behind 16-points from Keith Kiner III and 13-points each from twin brothers Josh and Jake Haberberger as Chester improved to 8-3 on the season for head coach Brad Norman.

New Athens (4-5) got 23-points from 6-foot-6 senior Jaxon Heintz and nine-points from Landon Deutschman.

Senior forward Luca Gualdoni tossed in 12-points for Coach Scott Burzynski's 4-7 team.

Odin fell to 5-4 on the season with the loss.

The Eagles were paced by sophomore Lucas Shaffer and senior Caleb Jourdan who each scored 17-points for Coach Tyler Mitchell's squad.