03/03/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE -

After dealing with an emotional four overtime win over Altamont last Friday night, Coach Justin Bozarth might have been a bit concerned about his kids having a let down after its three-plus hour trip South to Carbondale.

It turned out that he, and everyone else wearing Black and Gold, had nothing to worry about.

The Warriors jumped out to a 15-2 lead over the Bobcats and were never really threatened in a commanding 74-53 win to advance to the program's first ever final four.

The last time Tuscola won a super-sectional was 1989.

This time the Warriors left zero doubt with a 'gate-to-wire' win behind balanced scoring from four double-digit scorers as they advanced.

Six-three sophomore Parker James scored 25 points for the Warriors and sophomore guard Kam Sweetnam added 14.

Six-three junior Jordan Quinn, who helped carry the Warriors to their 72-68 win over Altamont last Friday, added 12 points and 6-5 senior Chris Boyd scored 11.

“I'm just so proud of the kids. We're headed to state. They just played their guts out,” said Coach Bozarth. “It's an unbelievable feeling. The work that everyone has put in to get us to this point, to go where no one in our school's history has gone, it's a testament to the guys in the locker room.”

For head coach David Davis and his Bobcats, their postseason run came to a close with the loss on the same floor that Coach Davis played on eight years prior for Mounds Meridian in 2015.

The outstanding prep career of Roderic Gatewood, Jr., a 5-9 senior scoring machine, also ended on Tuesday night.

Gatewood, Jr. netted 26 points for the Bobcats and classmate Tristen Mackins added 15.

Mounds Meridian were never really in the game after a tough beginning and the club bowed out at 24-13 after adding the program's fifth sectional title to the ledger on Friday night.

“We couldn't knock them (shots) down tonight. We were wishing that our shots would start falling,” said Coach Davis. “I told the kids that 'we got to do what we do' and that was our game plan. We fought back but it wasn't enough, we couldn't get over the hump. It was a great year.”

The Warriors scored just :14 into the game on a set play and never looked back, sprinting out to a double-digit lead that never got lower than nine-points during the victory.

James took the lob pass for an easy score and the sophomore nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing on the next possession.

Tuscola got 10 consecutive points after a Mackins bucket to, which included a conventional three-point play from Quinn for a 15-2 advantage with :52.8 left.

Mackins tried to keep the Bobcats in the game, adding a three-point play himself.

However a inside score from Boyd gave Tuscola a 17-5 spread at the end of the opening quarter.

“It was nice to look up at the scoreboard and see that we were up 17-5 and that we didn't have to claw back into the game,” said Coach Bozarth. “We have so much balance. We have six guys who can lead us in scoring on any given night.”

Coach Davis' club was just 2-of-11 from the field and coughed up four turnovers as they trailed by double-digits.

Sweetnam scored seven of his points in the second quarter, scoring in transition on an assist from James and he closed the half with a 3-point bomb from the right corner as the Warriors led 34-18 at the break.

Tuscola pushed its advantage to 48-27 on a 9-1 run with buckets by Boyd and Sweetnam, including the sophomore guard's second long distance score.

To the credit of the Bobcats, they made some scoring runs of their own.

Gatewood, Jr. scored 11 of his points in the third quarter, adding two more 3-pointers and a drive for a score to cut the Tuscola lead to just 50-38 with just under a minute left.

Meridian made its final push to get back in the game to open the fourth quarter.

Mackins hit a pair of 3-pointers and senior Josh Everage scored his only two points of the game on a rebound score.

The second Mackins bomb from the right wing cut the deficit to just 56-47 with 5:30 left.

That was the end of the rally as Sweetnam answered with a back-breaking 3-pointer from the right corner in front of the Tuscola bench.

That started a 10-2 run that closed the book on the victory as the Warriors improved to 30-6 on the season.

With Meridian gambling on defense, the Warriors shot a lot of shots in the paint during the game.

“One of the things we say is that we attack 'pressure with pressure'. Meridian likes to come out and trap and we wanted to attack,” said Coach Bozarth. “We just kept attacking. We weren't going to just try and run the clock out. We wanted to attack and shoot lay ups.”

Five-nine junior Josiah Hortin added eight points for Tuscola, including a score on a drive during the run.

James scored on a back-door cut for an “And-One” and he added another score in transition as the lead ballooned to 66-49.

Both James and Hortin scored buckets while Quinn and James hit 4-of-4 free throws to close out the scoring before each coach emptied their respective benches.

While Meridian struggled offensively (20-of-53 from the floor) the Warriors were significantly better shooting the ball.

Gatewood, Jr. finished his career as the all-time scoring leader at Meridian with 2,245 points.

“He (Gatewood, Jr.) is always the first one to the gym and the last one out. He takes no days off in practice and he's a great leader,” said Coach Davis.

Coach Bozarth saw his kids nail down 31-of-48 shots and 8-of-12 free throws in the dominant triumph.

Another contributor for the Warriors was senior Colton Musgrave, who hit both of his field goal attempts for four points.

Tuscola will now face last season's 1A third place finisher Scales Mound at 11:45 am on Thursday.

The Hornets outlasted Chicago Marshall, 60-56, to win the 1A DeKalb Super-Sectional.

“We're here now because of last year's group pushed the platform and the program to a height that has taken forever to get to,” said Coach Bozarth. “They're part of the reason that we are here where we are.”

Mounds Meridian (53) - Ranson 1 0 0-0 2, Mackins 3 3 0-0 15, Everage 1 0 0-2 2, Kaufman 0 0 1-2 1, Gatewood, Jr. 7 3 3-5 26, Easley 1 0 2-2 4, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Glover 0 1 0-0 3, Bone 0 0 0-0 0, Vaughn 0 0 0-0 0, Gilbert 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-13, 3FG-7, FT-6-11, PF-12.
Tuscola (74) – Sweetnam 4 2 0-0 14, Hortin 4 0 0-0 8, James 8 2 3-5 25, Quinn 4 0 4-5 12, Boyd 5 0 1-2 11, Musgrave 2 0 0-0 4, Barrett 0 0 0-0 0, Kurtz 0 0 0-0 0, Spillman 0 0 0-0 0, Woodard 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-27, 3FG-4, FT-8-12, PF-10.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.