02/22/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
BLUFORD - The Sesser-Valier Red Devils have had a rough year under first season head coach Tommy Holder.

A combination of injuries and setbacks made for a 'not so pretty' won-loss record heading into the postseason.

But as things turned out, the Red Devils are now playing their best basketball of the season at the proper time.

Colt Packer, one of the players who spent time injured this season, stepped up in a huge way on Wednesday night.

The 6-2 junior poured in a game-best 25 points as Sesser-Valier advanced to the title game on Friday night with a 57-49 victory.

Coach Holder's club will now play host Webber Township in the regional championship game.

The Trojans edged rival Waltonville, 59-57 in the second semifinal on Wednesday.

With a win on Friday night the Red Devils would bring home their 15th regional title in boy's hoops.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the triumph was the defensive effort that S-V displayed in forcing Steeleville into a horrid shooting night.

“There is no question, we are peaking at the right time,” said Coach Holder. “This is part of a span of games where we've been as healthy as we can be. There wasn't a time during the season for a five-game stretch like we are on now that we have had everyone available. I'm proud of our guys. We came out and played energetic from the start. We talked about the defense leading the charge and I felt like they played good defense. We did a good job on our rotations.”

Coach Aaron Fiene's club, playing without injured leading scorer senior Jacoby Gross, collectively hit just 18-of-46 field goal attempts, including just 13-of-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

A brief rally came up short for the Warriors, who ended their season at 18-14.

Senior Carter Wasson led Steeleville with 18 points while junior forward Evan Buch added 17.

Coach Holder got nine points from sophomore Brandon Menser and eight markers from senior guard Gabe Gunter.

Sesser-Valier held on late despite some foul shooting issues in the fourth quarter as they made just enough (8-of-16) shots from the line in the final 5:41 for the win.

S-V was hot from the beginning and ended up 20-of-37 (54 percent) overall, with most of the shots occurring on cuts to the basket against the Steeleville defense.

Packer netted eight of his points early, which included a 3-pointer and a conventional three-point play as the Red Devils led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Wasson scored five points and Buch four points in the first quarter but the Warriors were struggling finding the range (4-of-13) in the opening minutes.

Sesser-Valier got their lead up to double-digits in the second quarter.

A 3-pointer from Steeleville sophomore Noah Fiene and a basket on an offensive rebound by teammate sophomore Cannon Ruby, the Warriors were down just five at 20-15 with 3:13 remaining in the half.

The Red Devils then closed the second quarter with a 10-0 run.

Freshman Kyan Short nailed down a big 3-point shot to start the run.

Brandon Menser also hit from long distance and baskets by Packer and freshman Tony Kistner pushed the lead to 30-15 at intermission.

Steeleville was just 7-of-23 from the floor in the first 16 minutes to go with seven turnovers.

Gunter scored four of his points in the early part of the third quarter as Sesser-Valier took its largest lead.

A back door cut to the basket off of an assist from Packer was followed by a steal and fast break score for a 34-17 advantage.

Then Steeleville responded with its best run of the contest.

Buch scored on a mid-range shot and a pair of free throws that was followed by a Wasson drive for a basket and consecutive rebound scores from Ruby and Buch.

The second put-back made it 34-27.

But the Red Devils continued to break down the Steeleville defense, scoring twice more inside to close out the quarter up 39-29.

Three straight scores from Packer to begin the final quarter gave the Red Devils the cushion they needed to survive a Steeleville late rally.

Wasson closed out his prep career with three 3-pointers in the final minutes.

However the Red Devils managed to complete the seeding upset with 7-of-10 from the line in the final 1:19.

Friday night's title tilt is a rematch of a December 20th regular season game won by the Red Devils, 55-47 at Webber Township.

“Even though out all of the adversity we have had, the 'ups and downs' during the season we talked about playing our best basketball (February and March) and trying to make a good run,” said Coach Holder. “We will bring our best effort on Friday night.”

WEBBER TOWNSHIP 59, WALTONVILLE 57
The host Trojans survived a scare to win their semifinal game behind 20 points from 6-8 senior Hunter Danberry and 12 points from senior guard Weston Hails as they improved to 21-11 on the season with the victory.

Coach Brad Beaty's club is a win away from another regional title, the first since 2018.

Webber Township also got double-digits in scoring from senior Elijah Marlow and his 6-2 freshman brother Nathaniel Marlow as the pair netted 10 points each to go with seven points from junior Josh Lewis.

Webber won all three match-ups with the Spartans this season, all by single-digits.

Coach Anthony Lowery and his mostly young squad finished their campaign at 13-20.

Waltonville was led by 6-4 freshman Gage Peterson while junior Makabe Devor added 15.

Freshman Kyle Cooper tossed home 14 points for the Spartans and junior Aiden Kretz scored five points.

“The game was an absolute battle. That is exactly the type of game I've wanted this young group to be in every night and that's what we got down the stretch. My guys work so hard to get better each and every day and it showed tonight,” said Coach Lowery. “To have a good look at a shot at the buzzer for the win against a team like that is all you can ask for. I was extremely proud of how our guys competed and handled themselves all year long and I can't wait to get to work with these guys as soon as possible.”

Webber held on for the win despite hitting just 2-of-6 free throws in the final quarter.

The Trojans have won 9-of-11 games heading into Friday night's regional championship contest.

“I thought we settled in on their 'diamond and one' zone three minutes into the second quarter and we were able to get some good ball movement off high ball screens, We were able to find Danberry,” said Coach Beaty. “We carried that through the third quarter. I told our guys starting the fourth quarter and with us up by nine that they (Waltonville) still had a run in them. I thought our guys let up and they're a good young team that wasn't ready for their season to end and took advantage of it. When it was tied 48-all our seniors got their composure back and we were able to answer every time they scored. This time of the year the name of the game is find a way to win and advance and we were able to do that.”

Sesser-Valier (57) – Gunter 4 0 0-0 8, Hoffard 2 0 2-2 6, Short 0 1 0-2 3, Packer 6 1 10-15 25, Kistner 1 0 0-0 2, Br. Menser 3 1 0-0 9, Bl. Menser 1 0 2-3 4.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-14-22, PF-11.
Steeleville (49) – Reitz 0 1 0-0 3, Tr. Ingles 0 0 0-0 0, Knop 0 0 0-0 0, Ty. Ingles 0 0 0-0 0, Wasson 4 3 1-1 18, Ruby 3 0 2-2 8, Fiene 0 1 0-0 3, Buch 5 1 4-8 17, Witthoft 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-6, FT-7-11, PF-21.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Steeleville Adminstrative (Scorebook Error).

Waltonville (57) – Cooper 5 0 4-6 14, Kretz 1 1 0-0 5, Devor 6 0 3-5 15, Peterson 8 2 1-1 23, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-8-12, PF-16.
Webber Township (59) – Danberry 8 0 4-5 20, W. Hails 3 2 0-2 12, E. Marlow 1 2 2-2 10, N. Marlow 1 2 2-2 10, Reed 0 0 0-3 0, Lewis 2 1 0-0 7, K. Hails 2 1 0-0 7.
2FG-15, 3FG-7, FT-8-14, PF-16.
Fouled Out – W. Hails - Webber Township.
Technical Fouls – E. Marlow - Webber Township.