12-16-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
ST. ELMO - The South Central Cougars love the hardware and on Saturday night they added some to their already bulging trophy case.

Like a moth to the flame, Coach Gary Shirley’s program has always been drawn to those shinny plaques and trophies. Especially the ones with the ‘1’ on them.

South Central came up big when the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament championship was on the line.

In the title game against Altamont - despite a poor shooting night and a bevy of uncharacteristic miscues – the Cougars turned up the pressure and the Indians succumbed in a 34-32 defensive donnybrook.

Hitting just three shots in the first 16 minutes (3-of-24, 0-of-8 in the first quarter) the Cougars found a way to win.

Being stingy on the other end of the floor South Central stayed close to Altamont. And when the offense caught up, the Cougars completed the rally.

Scoring 13 un-answered points at the end of the first half and into the third quarter and then coming up with another scoring spurt in the final eight minutes, Coach Gary Shirley’s team did just enough to pick up its fourth St. Elmo crown and the first since leaving the event following the 1996 championship season.

Altamont had the misfortune of not being able to connect from the open outside shots that South Central made available for most of the game.

Missing all 12 of their 3-point shot attempts, the Indians were unable to pull the Cougars out of their defensive bunker.

Collapsing on Altamont 6-foot-5 senior center Eric Heiden, South Central dared and double-dared the Indians to shoot from behind the arc.

“We were getting good perimeter looks at the basket but we didn’t stick those in like we should,” said Altamont head coach Doug Hill. “If we just stick one of those then that is the difference in the ballgame. We didn’t get a ton of looks, but we had two or three good looks that we should’ve knocked down.”

Heiden and the Indians got off to a good start but it could have been greater.

The first five points of the game were from Heiden. A mid-range jumper, a free throw and a nice spin move from the left blocks made it 5-0.

The next possession by South Central resulted in the Cougars’ fourth turnover and forced a timeout by Coach Shirley at 5:11.

Heiden scored his sixth and seventh points on another 15 footer and the quarter ended at 7-2.

Isaac Grapperhaus’ two free throws at the 3:12 mark were the only SC points in the frame.

South Central connected on a couple of shots in the early going in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 9-7 when Wade Crain connected on a 3-pointer.

But Altamont scored the game’s next seven points.

Craig Anderson hit on a move underneath the basket and Heiden got a nice assist from Ethan Wolff on a shot in the lane. Heiden finished his productive scoring first half with another score from the left elbow and 1-of-2 free throws by Curt Heiden made it 16-7 Indians – Altamont’s largest spread.

It was at this point that South Central could have perhaps folded but the Cougars got tough.

A couple of free throws by Devin Hall - after forcing Wolff into his second personal foul - cut into the lead.

Then a drive to the basket by Jayme Michel closed the half on a strong note for South Central and it was just 16-11 at intermission.

“I told them at halftime that this is a tail of two halves,” said South Central head coach Gary Shirley. “Let’s go out and force the issue and see what happens. We got the lead and hung on.”

Altamont had many other chances in the first half to put this game in the win column but eight first half turnovers – six in the second stanza – allowed South Central to keep the Indians trail fresh and readable.

Things fell apart in a 3:20 stretch to open the third quarter for Coach Hill’s team.

Grapperhaus scored his only bucket of the game on an offensive rebound with less than a minute gone.

Then a pair of fast break scores by Wade Crain gave South Central its first lead at 17-16. Each of those buckets came after Altamont turnovers.

Will Crain nailed a 3-pointer and suddenly the 13-0 run was completed and South Central led 20-17.

The defensive effort on Heiden in the second half is well worth mentioning. Heiden’s final basket of the game came on a short jumper with 1:56 remaining in the third quarter.

As part of a 7-2 run, Altamont managed to even the game at 24 heading to the final quarter. Wolff converted a conventional three-point play and Anderson stuck back a rebound that tied the score.

South Central took command with a 8-2 sprint to begin the fourth quarter and Altamont could get no closer than that final two point margin.

Nick Simmons and Tanner Bushue each hit shots in the run.

Altamont had chances in the final frame but they were just 3-of-14 from the field.

A tip in and subsequent timeout by Anderson with :01 left got the game to the final score.

South Central got the ball inbounds and the celebration commenced.

“We’re kind of young and we’re not executing on offense like we should and our decisions aren’t very good sometimes but I tell the kids let’s go out and do the things we need to do to win and if we don’t do those things let’s win anyway,” added Coach Shirley.

South Central didn’t win pretty on this night but the 6-1 Cougars will take it.

They play North Clay on the road Tuesday night before heading into the Vandalia Holiday Tournament as a very dangerous 8th seed.

Coach Shirley’s Cougars shot 12-of-34 on the night (35 percent) while outrebounding their opponents 34-28 in the second game against Altamont in the last ten days. South Central topped the Indians 56-39 back on December 8.

Wade Crain led South Central with 11 points followed by Grapperhaus with six.

“Isaac (Grapperhaus) had a terrible shooting tournament but the thing I was pleased about was that he did some things like rebounding and hit some free throws,” added Shirley. “He did a good job guarding Heiden in the second half and we got him some help.”

Eric Heiden’s 13 points led the Indians while Anderson added nine.

Altamont shot just 13-of-51 overall, which included those 12 bricks from behind the arc.

“If we had hit some of those outside shots then maybe it draws them (South Central) out a bit more and maybe that opens things up for our post players,” added Hill. “They (South Central) made a couple of key shots down the stretch that we didn’t. (Will) Crain hit a couple of big shots and we had some good looks, too. Theirs went in and ours didn’t.”

After a game with Cowden-Herrick next Tuesday, the Indians will also take part of the Vandalia event after Christmas.

Being in the same pool as South Central, Altamont will get another crack at the Cougars in Session #4 at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, December 27.

“We can win that game but we just didn’t, we fell a basket short.” said Hill. “One bounce of the ball here or there and we are up here celebrating.”

	1	2	3	4	-	F
South Central	02	09	13	10	-	34
Altamont	07	09	08	08	-	32

South Central (34) – Michel 1 0 0-3 2, Hall 0 0 2-2 2, Bushue 1 0 0-0 2, Wa. Crain 3 1 2-2 11, Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Wi. Crain 1 1 0-4 5, Simmons 2 0 0-0 4, Grapperhaus 1 0 4-4 6.
2FG-10, 3FG-2, FT-8-15, PF-13.
Altamon (32) – Duckwitz 0 0 0-2 0, C. Heiden 0 0 1-2 1, McCarron 2 0 0-0 4, Hammer 0 0 0-0 0, J. Heiden 0 0 0-0 0, Wolff 1 0 3-3 5, Anderson 4 0 1-2 9, E. Heiden 6 0 1-2 13.
2FG-13, 3FG-0, FT-6-11, PF-16.
Fouled Out – McCarron, Altamont.
Technical Fouls – None.

ST. ELMO 70, BEECHER CITY 58
The host Eagles survived an improbable fourth quarter rally by BC that was far from comical to St. Elmo and head coach Greg Feezel.

Leading 57-43 heading to the final quarter, St. Elmo nearly collapsed by allowing Beecher City to go on a 12-0 sprint.

St. Elmo scored on a fast break lay in by Richard Waterman that made the score 59-46 and then went belly up for 4:03 with ten empty offensive trips.

Led by Deano Tull’s 29 points - including a pair of 3-pointers in that run – Beecher City got to within 59-58 with 2:37 remaining.

But St. Elmo awoke from its near nightmare and finished off the then spent Eagles with 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line to pick up third place honors.

Being longer and quicker St. Elmo used its size advantage to clobber Beecher City on the boards – 37-20 to secure its win.

Logan Mahon topped St. Elmo (7-3) with 25 points and he got help from Wade Nevergall (14 points) and David Cameron (11 points) in scoring.

After Tull’s 29, Trenton Rexroad was the only other Beecher City player with double-figures with 11.

Coach Grant Beals’ BC club didn’t quit but saw their overall mark slip to 4-6.

In a stark contrast from the championship game that followed this contest; Beecher City and St. Elmo both shot the ball pretty well.

BC was 20-of-43 (47 percent) overall and hit 8-of-13 deep balls while St. Elmo finished 24-of-57 (42 percent).

St. Elmo took the lead for good in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Shad Hill that broke an 18-all tie.

A conventional three-point play by Wade Nevergall while being fouled by Tull gave St. Elmo its first double-digit lead at 34-24 with under a minute to go before the break.

Six consecutive points by St. Elmo in transition by Nevergall (4) and David Cameron (2) seemed to take the starch out of Beecher City and when Mahon scored on a fast break with 1:10 to go St. Elmo had its largest margin at 53-35.

The small but feisty and talented Tull hit a long trifecta just before the end of the quarter and combined with the beginning of the fourth quarter, BC ran off on an 18-2 run.

St. Elmo endured the Beecher City comeback in spite of six fourth quarter turnovers.

BC will next take on Clay City at home next Tuesday while St. Elmo is off until a January 2 game at home against South Central. SC handed the Eagles a 53-48 loss in the tournament semifinals.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
St. Elmo	13	21	23	13	-	70
Beecher City	13	13	17	15	-	58

St. Elmo (70) – Mahon 7 1 8-10 25, Booher 2 0 5-10 9, Nevergall 6 0 2-3 14, Cameron 3 1 2-2 11, Hill 0 1 0-0 3, Waterman 2 0 2-2 6, Hendrickson 1 0 0-0 2, Haslett 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-19-27, PF-20.
Beecher City (58) – Tull 4 6 3-5 29, McKay 3 0 2-6 8, Laue 2 0 0-2 4, Rexroad 3 1 2-2 11, Kline 0 0 1-2 1, Mason 0 1 0-0 3, Harder 0 0 2-2 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-16-25, PF-18.
Fouled Out – Laue, Beecher City; Hill, St. Elmo.
Technical Fouls – None.

COWDEN-HERRICK 47, MULBERRY GROVE 43
To quote Yogi Berra, the consolation championship game was ‘déjà vu all over again.’

Last season Cowden-Herrick rallied for a 47-43 win over the Aces in the third place contest.

This season in the consolation title game the same scenario took place with the scores being identical.

Coach Terry Pruemer’s Hornets made a comeback with a 15-5 advantage in the fourth quarter in picking up their second straight win after an opening night 63-60 loss to South Central.

Tyler Sarver and Nathan Boehm shared scoring honors with 10 points each as eight different C-H players dented the scorebook.

Mulberry Grove lost for the second time this week (7-2) after entering the event unbeaten.

Reuben Betts topped these Flying Aces with 14 points while Dustin Lindahl added 11 points. Lindahl eerily scored 11 points in last season’s consolation title tilt.

Aaron and Jason Kendall along with Jacob Jolliff added six points apiece.

Cowden-Herrick improved to 3-4 on the season and will take on Altamont in a National Trail Conference game on Tuesday while Mulberry Grove doesn’t play again until January 2 at home against Egyptian Illini Conference foe Odin.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Cowden-Herrick	13	16	03	15	-	47
Mulberry Grove	11	14	13	05	-	43

Cowden-Herrick (47) – T. Boehm 1 0 0-0 2, Reynolds 1 1 3-4 8, Wheeler 1 1 0-0 5, Sarver 5 0 0-0 10, Prater 0 0 0-0 0, Turner 2 1 0-0 7, Robertson 1 0 1-3 3, N. Boehm 5 0 0-0 10, Meek 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-4-7, PF-10.
Mulberry Grove (43) – A. Kindall 0 2 0-2 6, Lindahl 5 0 1-1 11, Betts 5 1 1-2 14, Jolliff 3 0 0-0 6, Rickman 0 0 0-0 0, J. Kindall 0 2 0-0 6, Coats 0 0 0-0 0, Clanton 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-2-7, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.