12-29-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - There is an old saying about keeping an opponent at "arms length."

The Vienna Eagles did just that in a 52-42 title game win over the host Red Devils at the 27th Annual Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

In this case the arm was a long one.

Six-foot-eleven senior center Brett Thompson scored just six points on the night but he defended the basket with seven blocked shots and recognized S-V double teams enough times to find open teammates for easy looks at the basket.

Thompson's presence in the paint also forced Sesser-Valier into a poor shooting night.

In their previous three games in the tournament head coach Danny Kirk's team made enough shots to beat rivals Cobden, Waltonville and Trico.

However they Devils hit just 14-of-52 attempt overall (27 percent) in a loss that drops the squad to 11-2 on the year.

When the dust settled – the Eagles had their second consecutive SVHT title and head coach Rick Metcalf's seventh crown as the former Red Devils' mentor and his Vienna club celebrated victory number ten on the season.

Chris Nichols – listed in the program as a 5-foot-6 senior guard – stepped up with a huge game with 23 points to lead all scorers.

“Nichols killed us tonight. We made the decision to make someone else besides Thompson beat us and Nichols did and that is the way it goes,” added Kirk. “I wouldn't change anything if we did it again. I would rather they (Vienna) shoot it out there than to shoot two footers.”

Another of the heroes on the club – a 6-foot-2 junior named Corey Belsher - took advantage of the overplay on Thompson by adding 13 points.

Derek Trovillion – who scored 22 points in last year's title game win over Sparta – scored eight points and helped nail down the win with 5-of-6 free throws (3-of-4 in the fourth quarter) and a key 3-pointer as Vienna (10-3) opened the game on an 11-2 run.

“We have four guys averaging double-figures and we knew tonight that the double (team) was coming,” said Metcalf – who got his 400th victory Friday in a 61-51 semifinal win over Marissa-Coulterville. “Belsher got some good looks at the basket late in the game, some wide-open looks. We called Nichols' number a whole lot more than we normally do in the first half.

In an emotional championship game with Coach Metcalf facing his former team – his Eagles never let the contest get out of hand.

The lead for Vienna reached double-digits for the first time early in quarter number two with a 3-pointer by Nichols - hitting his first of three long range bombs.

Hit shot from the top of the arc pushed the lead to 18-8 at the 6:08 mark.

Belsher shined on the defensive end for the Eagles as well as Thompson.

His steal and fast break lay in forced a S-V timeout at 23-11 with 4:12 remaining in the half.

Sesser-Valier battled through their hard luck shooting night.

Todd Carpenter – the Devils' 6-foot-6 senior center – scored 11 points and put down a shot on a drive to the basket to answer the Belsher score.

Dane Eubanks – a 6-foot sophomore guard – scored on a rebound to cut the deficit to eight but Nichols took a pass from Belsher for a bucket and another ten point lead just seconds later.

“Nichols played the same way as he did in the Meridian game (a 53-52 Eagles win back on December 14 at Meridian). He was spectacular,” added Metcalf. “His floor game was excellent and that is what you need out of a point guard.”

A big third quarter run by Vienna took a lot out of the Sesser team and crowd.

The 9-0 spurt with Thompson scoring in the paint and a pair of scores by Nichols gave the Eagles a 32-18 lead.

Nichols hit another shot from behind the arc in the run as Thompson got the assist to make the scoreboard read 32-18 with 5:46 remaining.

The Red Devils best run of the night came at the end of the third quarter and the early part of the final frame.

Carpenter, Eubanks and Kyle Crocker all scored points in a 12-1 run that sparked the interest of those in attendance and made the folks wearing Orange and Blue a bit apprehensive.

Eubanks hit a pair of 3-pointers in the charge. When his second one from the left wing dropped through the net – S-V trailed just 39-32 with a lot of time remaining (7:03).

But as they had all through the game – the Eagles took back the momentum every time Sesser made a move.

“This is kind of funny but all of our kids play chess and when you have the best piece on the board good things happen,” Metcalf added. “Our best piece on the board is Thompson and when they double teamed him the other pieces stepped up. Tonight it was Nichols and Belsher. When Brett was double-teamed he found the open guys.”

Nichols hit his third and final 3-pointer of the game just :13 after the Eubanks trifecta.

Thompson followed up with a short bank shot in the lane and the lead was back to double-digits.

Sesser-Valier got within eight points one more time as Justin Matyi – another one of the Sesser-Valier young starters – grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to make it 47-39.

At this point – Vienna polished off its title game foe by hitting five free throws in the final 1:08.

The Eagles – in stark contrast to S-V – hit 18-of-32 shots from the floor overall (56 percent) and 4-of-5 shots from behind the 3-point line.

Coach Kirk's crew was led by Eubanks with 14 points and Carpenter chipped in 11.

Sesser-Valier outrebounded Vienna 26-17 but many of those boards (12) were of offensive variety as this team had a “Devil of a time” putting the ball in the basket.

A 4-of-17 effort from behind the arc didn't “cut it” against Vienna.

“We just didn't make baskets. Somebody told me that we were 24 percent from the field (actually 27),” said Sesser-Valier head coach Danny Kirk – whose team was seeded sixth in its own tournament but finished in the runner up spot. “We had open looks and good shot selection. We just didn't make them and that happens sometimes in basketball.”

Vienna takes home its second championship in as many years – which gave Metcalf an indication of how the second half of the season could be.

“This tournament is special and the competition was excellent,” Metcalf finalized. “Hopefully this will prepare us for down the road.”

The young Red Devils have a good run to build on as they head back to work next week in the Black Diamond Conference.

“I told the kids that they have no reason to hang their heads. We were seeded sixth and beat a couple of teams (Waltonville, Trico) that we weren't supposed to beat so they (the kids) should be pleased with their effort,”added Kirk. “We had an outstanding effort this week but I think we got wore down a little bit. We got tired in the second half tonight. I thought we played good defense overall and we made a lot of progress. We are headed in the right direction.”

Sesser-Valier (42) - D. Eubanks 3 2 2-4 14, tinsley 0 0 0-0 0, Crocker 1 0 2-2 4, Gibson 0 0 2-2 2, Carpenter 5 0 1-4 11, Matyi 2 0 4-6 8, T. Eubanks 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-11-18, PF-15.
Vienna (52) - Nichols 6 3 2-4 23, Trovillion 0 1 5-6 8, Belsher 5 0 3-4 13, Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Thompson 2 0 2-6 6, Stram 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-12-20, PF-16.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

CAMPBELL HILL TRICO 65, MARISSA-COULTERVILLE 55
Trico's Casey Bollman picked a good time to get hot from long range.

This 6-foot-2 senior guard connected on five 3-pointers in the second half to lead the Pioneers to the win over M-C in the third place game.

Scoring 23 points – including a 6-of-6 performance from the foul line – Bollman led his team to their 11th win.

“He is a streaky shooter and he (Bollman) has been kind of inconsistent,” said Trico head coach Shane Hawkins. “But today he caught everything in rhythm. They (Marissa-Coulterville) gave us the perimeter shot today and he stepped up and hit some big shots for us.”

Marissa-Coulterville (8-4) was led by Cale Wine with 17 points. Teammate Craig Place finished with 14 and Jordan Wagner added 13 in the loss.

“I scouted them (Trico) twice and in both of those games he (Bollman) couldn't throw it in the ocean and one of those was last night against Sesser,” said M-C head coach Andy Johnson – talking about his strategy of leaving Bollman open. “I told my son that if he shoots that poorly today we will win the game. But he shot “lights out” today.

Bollman helped break open a tight game in the third quarter with three of his long range shots finding the mark.

His 3-pointer from the top of the arc on an assist from teammate Allen Brandon broke the last tie of the game with 3:58 left to give Trico a 36-33 lead.

The Meteors managed to stay in the contest on the strength of Cale Wine's eight fourth quarter points.

His 3-pointer with 3:14 to go cut the Pioneers lead to just 53-47.

But Bollman from the foul line and eight points in the quarter from 6-foot-2 senior Cole Rieckenberg were too much for M-C to overcome.

Coach Hawkins' club hit 9-of-10 fourth quarter free throws and 13-of-15 for the game in taking home third place honors in the school's return trip to the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

“This is a good move for us to get back to this tournament and the kids got to play in front of a packed house with a lot of enthusiasm here last night,” added Hawkins. “Our expectations were to play four games and play on Saturday. We were wanting to play in that 7 pm game and we wanted to win this tournament. It was a good tournament for us because we want to be in a situation in February and March when we can play in a big game again.”

SPARTA 60, GOREVILLE 50
In the fifth place game – the Bulldogs received a 19 point effort from Caleb Barnett as they took home a trophy for the third straight season with the win.

Dartanus White and Shane Peck added 10 points each for head coach Greg Bass in the victory.

Goreville (6-7) was paced by Tyler Sopczak with 14 points.

WOODLAWN 62, CHESTER 58
For the second time in the 2007-08 season – the Cardinals bested those Yellow Jackets to win a consolation championship.

Woodlawn beat Chester to win the consy title at the Marissa-Coulterville Post-Thanksgiving Tournament and then did it again at the SVHT.

Sophomore Casey Hammond scored 14 points for the Cardinals (7-4) while head coach Shane Witzel saw two other players – Jase Green (12) and Kyle Boldt (10) hit for double-figures in the triumph.

Chester (5-8) was topped by a game-high 29 points from 6-foot senior guard Chris Kern.