02-22-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
STEELEVILLE – Surviving to play another day.

The Sesser-Valier Red Devils did just that on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Steeleville Class 1A Regional.

Coach Chip Basso's bunch struggled offensively in the first half and defensively they had issues guarding the host Warriors, especially from the perimeter.

All signs pointed to an early state tournament exit for the top-seeded club for the first three and a half quarters.

But showing much character down the stretch and getting some clutch free throws from an unlikely candidate, S-V moved into the title game on Friday night with a 39-33 triumph over Steeleville.

The Red Devils forced Steeleville into six fourth quarter turnovers while 6-foot-2 senior center Drew Dorris made the most important four free throws of his career Sesser-Valier improved to 20-9 on the season.

“I didn't think our effort was that great but at the end of the game you sneak out of here with a win,” added Coach Basso. “I think that if you don't come out and play four quarters of basketball you can get beat. We have some seniors who have played a lot of basketball and I think they grasped that in the fourth quarter.”

The Warriors got a game-high 21-points from senior guard Jacob Combs in the loss, which closed the book on the 9-19 campaign.

Tim Witcher, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, came up big in the third quarter to rally the Devils.

Witcher scored half of his 16-points in the frame, getting S-V finally on track.

With neither team shooting the ball well, mainly because of defensive prowess by both clubs, it was the Red Devils who took advantage in the late going to continue its state tournament dream.

In the final quarter, Sesser-Valier came up with two huge offensive rebounds on missed free throws.

Dorris grabbed on of those rebounds after Kyle Stanley missed both end of a two-shot opportunity with :34.6 left.

After being able to run some time off the clock, Dorris was fouled and the senior calmly swished a pair of charities to push the lead up to 37-33 with just :10.4 left.

Combs, who had made four 3-pointers in the third quarter, missed his final long range shot of his career with Dorris again grabbing the board and getting fouled.

Dorris ended the drama by making two more freebies to close out the victory.

Coach Gerald Mumbower saw his Warriors play hard the whole way but came up just short as their season ended.

“We came down and committed three turnovers in a row there in the fourth quarter and we missed some easy shots, shots we wanted to take,” said Coach Mumbower. “We just couldn't get them to go. We had a couple of defensive lapses there in the second half. In the first half our defense was stellar. In the second half they spread us put a little better.”

Combs ignited a Steeleville rally in the third quarter, after the Warriors spotted S-V a 12-2 run to open the second half.

Trailing 18-12 with 3:25 left, Combs scored 11-consecutive points.

This senior guard nailed three trifectas in succession and added a fast break lay in for a score as Steeleville outscored Sesser-Valier 11-2 to get back the lead 23-20.

Combs closed his scoring burst with yet another long range bomb from the left wing right in front of the Steeleville bench as his club was smelling an upset at 26-22 heading into the final countdown.

However the Red Devils showed why they were voted the top-seed in this regional with a big fourth quarter to put out the win.

Although they failed to make a big offensive run, the Red Devils shut down the Warriors in the fourth quarter, forcing the hosts into a 1-of-7 shooting quarter.

The lone basket by Steeleville in the final eight minutes was a banked 3-pointer by junior guard Jon Polley with 1:08 left.

This shot cut the Sesser-Valier lead down to just 35-33.

The Warriors failed to score again as their season came to a halt.

In the first half, Coach Basso's club failed to get anything going offensively, scoring just six points in 16-minutes, trailing 10-6 at the break.

Nevertheless, the Red Devils were down just four points after perhaps their worst half of basketball in the 2011-12 season.

“What we talked about at halftime is that the upside, as bad as we played we were only down 10-6. We tried to pull some positives out of that first half,” said Coach Basso. “We came into halftime and tried to draw up a few things to get us some better looks at the basket. We got Witcher to catch it in a better position to attack the basket. One of the things we talked about at halftime is that sometimes you have to make your own breaks.”

Steeleville can point to its 6-of-24 effort from behind the 3-point line and 14-turnovers in a major factor in its season coming to an end.

After Combs' 21-points, 6-foot-5 junior forward Darin Winkelman added eight points.

The Red Devils were 13-of-32 overall from the floor and hit 12-of-18 free throws.

S-V held a 23-18 rebounding edge and won despite 17-turnovers.

“it was a real defensive struggle tonight. I thought Sesser's defense was really strong in the first half, too,” added Coach Mumbower. “The kids that scored tonight were making tough shots.”

Kyle Stanley, a 6-foot senior guard who missed all five of his free throw attempts, more than made up for that issue with a back-breaking 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:40 remaining in the contest.

Stanley finished with seven points and his trey came after Steeleville had committed a turnover on a possession in which the Warriors could have tied the game.

Despite missing five free throws in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils will play again Friday night against the winner of the New Athens/Waltonville matchup on Thursday.

“You have to get rebounds and you have to hit free throws and we did at the end tonight,” finalized Coach Basso. “We did the little things right at the end to advance to a regional championship. I hope we play a little better Friday.”

Steeleville (33) – Uchtman 0 0 0-0 0, Wesbecher 0 0 0-0 0, Polley 0 1 0-0 3, Combs 3 4 3-5 21, R. Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, J. Wilson 0 0 1-2 1, Winkelman 2 1 1-2 8.
2FG-5, 3FG-6, FT-5-9, PF-17.
Sesser-Valier (39) – Stanley 2 1 0-5 7, Llingle 1 0 0-0 2, Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0, Kulich 3 0 0-0 6, Witcher 4 0 8-9 16, Vercellino 1 0 0-0 2, Dorris 1 0 4-4 6, Marlo 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-1, FT-12-18, PF-11.
Fouled Out – R. Wilson, Steeleville.
Technical Fouls – None.