12-03-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAMPBELL HILL – In the title game of the 11th Annual Pioneer Invitational Tournament, the outcome had seemingly been decided.

The Egyptian Pharaohs had the game comfortably in hand after scoring the first nine points in the fourth quarter to take an apparent tourney championship victory leading 55-41 advantage with 6:08 remaining.

Coach Shane Hawkins' Trico crew were destined to finish second in its own event.

However a combination of ill advised shots by Egyptian and some clutch shooting by Trico erased that lead and when the Pioneers' George Kuhlman grabbed a deflected pass and banked home a shot with :14 seconds remaining, Trico took the lead back 60-59.

Egyptian, after a timeout, had one last shot to get the win but Darmez Nelson's 3-point attempt from the left wing was on target but just short as the buzzer sounded and the Pioneers celebrated.

In the one-point win, Trico had rallied by scoring the game's final 12-points in the last 2:38 of the contest.

In that scoring run, Trico forced the Pharaohs into four missed shots from the floor and three turnovers.

“When you play a good team like them (Egpytian) they are not going to change the way that they play,” said Coach Hawkins. “Up 20 or down 20, they are going to play the same. So we always feel that when we play a team like that we have a chance because they are going to play at the same speed. They are going to shoot the ball relatively quick so if you can do the job defensively there are going to be enough possessions in the game that if we can capitalize we have a chance. Tonight we capitalized.”

Head coach Matt Mandrell's club tasted defeat for the first time in eight games (7-1) after winning the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament the week before and being victorious in the four previous games of the PIT.

Egyptian put three players in double-figures in scoring with Nelson leading the way with 18.

Devantea Price added 16-points while Justin Prewitt popped home 15.

Trico was led by four double-digit scorers, topped by 15-points from Daron Meyerhoff.

Dylan Witthoft, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, added 13 to the totals while Chase Heins and Blaine LePere brought 11 and 10-points to the table.

Trico's big scoring sprint at the end of the contest came from a variety of options.

Heins and Meyerhoff each scored on drives to the basket in the run which was followed by a pair of 3-pointers from Meyerhoff and LePere (a bank shot from the left wing).

Those buckets cut the Egyptian lead down to just 59-58 which set up Kuhlman's score.

Following yet another Egyptian turnover, Trico was trying to get the ball inside to Heins but the ball was deflected to Kuhlman who was standing just to the right of the basket about five feet away from the goal.

His short bank shot found the mark and marked the finish of the frantic rally.

Nelson took an inbound pass and dribbled towards the left wing. His shot looked good all the way but fell short.

“Playing here is tough and we knew that they (Trico) were going to come out after us and be aggressive and if they are allowed to do it (play physical) then it is hard to battle that,” said Coach Mandrell “We had chances to get it back (the momentum) and we had a steal that ricocheted the other way for them. They hit shots. I guess we should be happy that we could build a lead on them on their own floor but it is a loss where things didn't go our way at the end.”

Egyptian used its quickness to its advantage for most of the game and the Pharaohs survived an onslaught of 3-pointers from the Pioneers until the end.

Trico was 9-of-19 from behind the arc and found holes in the Egyptian zone defense in the first quarter to hit four treys to lead 18-12.

Witthoft hit two of his four 3-pointers of the game in those first eight minutes and he beat the buzzer with his second shot for the Trico four-point advantage.

Egyptian rallied in the second quarter to take the lead at the half by outscoring Trico 20-10 in the frame.

A 12-1 run which featured a pair of Prewitt scores in the lane on nice assists by Nelson and Marcus Marable gave Egyptian the lead at halftime.

Price drove the lane for a nice lay in to give the Pharaohs a 32-25 lead.

But Witthoff dialed long distance one more time to cut the Trico deficit to just four points at the half.

Following a back door cut to the basket by Trevor Compton which gave Trico a 36-34 lead in the third quarter, Egyptian made a huge move to take command of the contest.

Coach Mandrell's club scored 12 of the games' next 16 points with Prewitt scoring six of those points.

His shot from the left wing with just under a minute left in the period gave the Pharaohs a 46-41 spread heading into the fourth quarter.

Keyontae Woodson, Nelson, Price and Prewitt scored to open the final countdown.

Prewitt converted a three-point play on a fast break and Price closed the run by taking a cross court lob pass from Marable for a easy score and a 55-41 lead.

But the Pioneers rallied and finished the Pharaohs in what will be Egyptian's last game in the PIT before leaving to play in the new Goreville event next season.

“I told Dylan (Witthoff) when we were down 11 when we were shooting free throws that we have a chance,” added Coach Hawkins. “We made enough plays, got enough rebounds and made some shots.”

A look at the stat sheet shows a very even game, indicative of a one-point finish.

Trico hit exactly half of its shots, connecting on 24-of-48 overall while Egyptian hit 28-of-49.

In a game where both teams shot well, there weren't a lot of rebound chances.

Trico edged the Pharaohs 18-17 on the glass.

Ironically neither team got to the foul line often, with each club finishing 3-of-7 from the stripe.

Trico turned the ball over 18 times to the Pharaohs' 12.

But at the end it was the Pioneers that made the plays and Egyptian got to witness the Pioneers hoist the championship trophy.

“They are good, they are really good. They are quick and if there is a better guard combination (Nelson, Price) in the South I would like to see it,” said Coach Hawkins. “They make jumpers, they get it to the rim, they play hard. Price and Nelson, I said this last year, they were young but you could tell they had a chance of being really, really good. Together they are special.”

Egyptian (59) – Nelson 9 0 0-2 18, Price 8 0 0-0 16, Salzman 0 0 0-0 0, Prewitt 6 0 3-3 15, K. Woodson 2 0 0-0 4, Marable 3 0 0-2 6.
2FG-28, 3FG-0, FT-3-7, PF-12.
Trico (60) – Witthoff 0 4 1-2 13, Bunselmeyer 0 0 0-0 0, Meyerhoff 3 3 0-1 15, LePere 2 2 0-0 10, Kuhlman 2 0 1-2 5, Heins 5 0 1-2 11, Compton 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-15, 3FG-9, FT-3-7, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Sparta (1-4) was topped by Aaron Rushing with 10-points.

Steeleville rolled out to a 37-19 halftime lead and coasted home.

Steeleville (63) – Uchtman 1 1 0-0 5, Asbury 0 1 0-0 3, Wesbecher 2 0 0-0 4, Polley 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 1-2 1, Combs 9 0 1-3 19, R. Wilson 1 0 2-2 4, J. Wilson 2 0 1-1 5, Winkleman 5 1 6-7 19, Kumke 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-20, 3FG-4, FT-11-15, PF-18.
Sparta (45) – Oliver 3 0 0-0 6, Austin 0 0 3-6 3, Robert 0 0 0-1 0, dodson 3 0 1-2 7, Morrison 1 0 1-2 3, Rushing 4 0 2-3 10, Garrett 2 0 5-6 9, Jackson 3 0 1-2 7.
2FG-16, 3FG-0, FT-13-22, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Sparta Bench.

RED BUD 48, SHAWNEE 35
The Musketeers finished the event and opened their season with a 3-2 mark this week with the win over the Redskins.

Coach Dave Gillingham's club had 10 different players score to lead the ballanced attack.

Garrett Sager was tops on the list with nine points while Jacob Kueker and Alex Phegley each added eight.

Coach LaDonna Bachman's Shawnee team (0-5) was paced by eight points each from Andrew Livesay and Gage Shelton.

Shawnee (35) – Livesay 4 0 0-0 8, Treese 2 0 2-2 6, McMahan 2 0 0-0 4, Ellet 0 0 0-0 0, G. Pind 0 0 0-2 0, Shelton 4 0 0-0 8, Sissom 2 0 0-0 2, Ballance 0 0 0-0 0, Crane 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan 0 0 0-0 0, B. Pind 1 1 0-0 5. 2FG-15, 3FG-1, FT-2-4, PF-15.
Red Bud (48) – Grohman 0 0 0-0 0, Schweider 0 0 2-4 2, Greer 3 0 1-1 7, Mehring 1 0 0-0 2, Godier 1 0 1-1 3, Salger 2 1 2-4 9, Snyder 0 1 0-0 3, Kueker 4 0 0-0 8, Phegley 3 0 2-3 8, Wilson 2 0 0-0 4, Posth 0 0 2-2 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-10-15, PF-7.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.