12/18/2021
BY JACK BULLOCK
ST. ELMO - Three weeks ago the Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg Hatchets led host Cerro Gordo/Bement by 15-points in the first half of the title game of the Broncos' Turkey Tournament only to see the hosts rally for a 65-60 win.

On Saturday night, even though Coach Bob Lockart's club struggled offensively for a half, the Hatchets weren't about to let their second title game opportunity end with defeat.

The Hatchets broke a 12-12 halftime tie with 9-2 run to get the lead and closed out the third quarter and began the fourth with a 9-0 move to give themselves to cushion they needed.

Taking advantage of the host St. Elmo/Brownstown Eagles defensive lapses in the second half, WSS pulled away late by hitting enough free throws in a 39-25 'grind it out' championship game victory.

WSS nailed down 7-of-11 free throws in the final 3:49 to ice the tournament championship, their first in the 61-year history of this event.

Looking confused in the first half as SEB threw different zone looks at his club, Coach Lockart's team made the adjustments and found open shots in the the final two quarters to improve their overall mark to 9-2 in 2021-22.

“I felt like their defense (SEB) and the box-and-one they used. We just got really stagnant. We stood around. In the second half we moved a little bit more and that's what you got to do,” said Coach Lockart. “You have to get action and get ball movement and we did a little bit better job of it in the second half.”

Samuel Vonderheide, the Hatchets' 6-3 senior forward and varsity veteran, scored 10-points and grabbed 13-rebounds on the night and was later named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

However equally as important scoring-wise was 5-8 sophomore Talon Bridges.

While most of the defensive effort from the Eagles was aimed at stopping both Vonderheide and 6-2 juniors Austin (nine-points) and Jordan Wittenberg (two-points), Bridges hit a four key field goals, one in each quarter.

He also added a couple of free throws in the fourth quarter as the Hatchets (figuratively) 'cut down the nets'.

St. Elmo/Brownstown head coach Greg Feezel was frustrated as his club failed on some key defensive possessions, giving up points on some inbound plays by WSS.

After playing a strong defensive first half, the Eagles fell behind in the third quarter and never recovered as SEB now stand at 8-4 overall.

St. Elmo/Brownstown had just four players score points, with no one reaching double-figures.

Coach Feezel got eight-points each from 5-11 senior guard Brady Maxey and 6-1 junior forward Caleb Campbell.

Campbell led the Eagles with six-rebounds.

Sophomore guard Adam Atwood (five-points) and senior guard Gavyn Smith (four-points) rounded out the low scoring total for the hosts.

“I thought we played pretty well defensively but when you look at our four losses, each one of them we're shooting in the 30's (percentage) or the 20's. We can defend you but we didn't get enough done tonight offensively,” said Coach Feezel.

The Eagles took an early lead and used some 'trickery' defensively in the halfcourt that frustrated Coach Lockart's team early on.

However while St. Elmo/Brownstown got the stops they needed, they weren't getting much done offensively.

Mainly because in the early going WSS matched the Eagles defensively in the low scoring first half.

Campbell scored four of his points on a pair of free throws and a lob pass inside and in the first quarter.

His basket inside gave the Eagles their largest lead at 8-4 with at 1:03 remaining in the first quarter.

WSS got early points from both Bridges and Vonderheide and a last second shot from the left corner from A. Wittenberg closed things at 8-6.

Strong defense forced missed shots and mistakes in the second quarter.

WSS got back even with the Eagles with a drive in the lane by Bridges and an inside score on the blocks by Vonderheide.

That basket was at the 4:15 mark of the second quarter.

Neither team managed another point the rest of the half.

While they had accomplished their mission of keeping the Hatchets under wraps, Coach Feezel's club couldn't get anything going on offense.

Following an early score from Maxey to open the second half, WSS made its move.

Again Vonderheide got inside position and scored while being fouled by Maxey.

Although he didn't convert the three-point play the game was back even and a momentum shift was in the works.

Two key players for the Hatchets stepped up with points in the third quarter the helped give the team the title.

Senior Landon Miller knocked down a 3-pointer to give WSS the lead for good, on an inbounds pass that found the 6-1 forward wide open from the right corner.

It was one of the defensive breakdowns that Coach Feezel talked about after the loss.

Austin Wittenberg converted a fast break on the next St. Elmo/Brownstown possession after a Vonderheide blocked shot.

Vonderheide added another rebound bucket and then the second 3-pointer for the Hatchets closed the third quarter.

Five-eleven junior guard Carter Chaney found himself open on the right wing on yet another inbounds play and his 20-footer gave WSS a 28-19 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“I thought we played pretty good defense, BUT. What a lot of people are not going to see (reading about it) is we gave up two 3's and two other two-point buckets on 'out-of-bounds' plays and it killed us,” said Coach Feezel. “These are ten points that in a varsity high school basketball game should not be scored. It's about like missing a lay up. It shouldn't happen. We did that four different times tonight.”

Vonderheide and Bridges finished off the 9-0 run as the Hatchets were in charge at 32-19 just seconds into the final frame.

The Eagles would get no closer than nine-points the rest of the way as they ended up just 3-of-10 in the fourth quarter with their final points coming on a rebound basket by Maxey with 4:47 left.

Spreading the floor in the final minutes, WSS forced the Eagles to foul.

In 'dice game lingo 'seven-come-eleven' from the foul line turned into 'snake-eyes' for the hosts.

Austin Wittenberg dribbled out the final seconds after a Jordan Wittenberg sealed the victory with a steal.

“We have struggled and in our two losses that (free throw shooting) has been our 'Achilles heel' but I'm starting to see some progression in that aspect. We're spending more time shooting them in practice now. If we can continue to improve offensively and step to the line and hit those shots we'll be competitive,” said Coach Lockart.

The last time the Hatchets won a regular season tournament (according to assistant coach and S-S AD Steve Smith) was the Cerro Gordo Thanksgiving tournament the first year of the co-op agreement six-years ago.

The 'Tale of the Tape' read like the defensive struggle it was.

The Hatchets ended up 14-of-35 overall and just 2-of-10 from the 3-point arc.

As mentioned earlier both of those made 3-pointers (Chaney and Miller) in the third quarter turned out to be 'game-changers'.

St. Elmo/Brownstown ended up 11-of-32 overall and the Eagles missed all four of their attempts from beyond 19'9” in the game.

“Defense has been our strong suit, especially with the second half of ballgames this season and I tell kids before every game (question) 'who are we?' We are a defense and rebounding team and the kids have done that so far this year,” said Coach Lockart. “At halftime we talked about that again. Not every game is going to be a 'run up and down the floor and score' game. We just had enough (offensive) spurts in the second half.”

Behind Vonderheide's double-double the Hatchets won the glass battle 24-19 and both teams took care of the ball in spite of the strong defensive efforts as WSS (six) and SEB (eight) combined for just 14-turnovers.

Coach Lockart's club doesn't have much time to celebrate as they have a home game coming up on Tuesday night against Okaw Valley.

The Timberwolves are currently 6-1 for head coach Brooks Inman.

St. Elmo/Brownstown will host Central A&M on Tuesday and then take a break from games through the Christmas holiday time off from school.

Coach Feezel's crew won't play again until January 4th when they take to the road to face Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville.

“I feel like our guards have the ability to handle (pressure) but our halfcourt execution has got to get better,” said Coach Lockart. “If we're going to make improvement we need to do it on the offensive end.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Two of the longest running holiday tournaments in southern and south central Illinois are always played the same week and are two of the ABV favorites.

The 61st annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament and the 67th annual Wayne City Holiday Tournament are steeped in tradition and now they finally have a championship bond.

Although several teams have competed in both tournaments over the years only one school/entity has won both tournament championships.

With their win on Saturday night Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg became the first team to accomplish that feat.

Stewardson-Strasburg played in and won the 5th annual Wayne City Holiday Tournament, beating Thompsonville in the championship game back in December of 1958.

Two years later (1960) St. Elmo began its holiday tournament and both events are still going strong.

St. Elmo/Brownstown (25) – Pasley 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 0 0-2 4, Maxey 4 0 0-1 8, Stine 0 0 0-0 0, Campbell 3 0 2-2 8, Atwood 2 0 1-2 5. 2FG-11, 3FG-0, FT-3-7, PF-16.
Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg (39) – Bridges 4 0 2-4 10, A. Wittenberg 2 0 5-6 9, Vonderheide 5 0 0-2 10, Miller 0 1 2-2 5, J. Wittenberg 1 0 0-0 2, Chaney 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-12, 3FG-2, FT-9-14, PF-10.
Fouled Out – Maxey - St. Elmo/Brownstown.
Technical Fouls – None.

Cumberland (30) – Weber 0 0 0-0 0, M. McElravy 0 0 0-0 0, Memechan 2 1 0-0 7, E. McElravy 1 0 0-0 2, Magee 3 0 0-0 6, Peters 0 0 0-0 0, Boldt 1 1 2-4 7, Hendrix 4 0 0-2 8. 2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-2-6, PF-15.
South Central (50) – Hails 1 0 202 4, Hiestand 1 0 2-2 4, Watwood 0 1 0-0 3, Dodson 4 2 6-7 20, Dunn 0 0 0-0 0, Johannes 4 0 2-3 10, Buonaura 0 0 2-2 2, Magnus 0 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0 0-0 2, Hester 0 0 0-0 0, Willshire 1 1 0-0 5, Jenne 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-14-16, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Patoka/Odin (58) – Friend 3 0 0-4 6, Simmons 1 0 0-0 2, C. Haines 1 0 0-0 2, Belcher 5 1 1-2 14, Meier 0 0 2-2 2, Landreth 3 5 3-4 24, Hamburg 2 0 4-5 8. 2FG-15, 3FG-6, FT-10-17, PF-15.
Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City (46) – Bain 0 0 0-0 0, W. Robertson 6 0 3-4 15, J. Robertson 6 1 0-2 15, Buzzard 0 0 0-0 0, Lorton 0 0 0-0 0, Persinger 1 0 1-2 3, Radloff 6 0 1-4 13. 2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-5-12, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Persinger - CH/BC.
Technical Fouls – None.

Mulberry Grove (26) – Johnson 0 0 4-9 4, Wilson 1 0 5-6 7, Steiner 1 0 0-0 2, Epperson 1 0 0-4 2, Goodin 1 0 2-4 4, Scoggins 1 1 0-3 5, Sugg 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-6, 3FG-1, FT-11-26, PF-18.
Ramsey (65) – Ritter 2 0 0-1 4, Austin 3 0 2-2 8, Moreland 0 0 0-0 0, B. Hayes 0 1 3-4 6, Williams 2 0 0-2 4, Reiss 7 0 2-3 16, H. Hayes 0 0 0-0 0, Seaton 3 1 6-8 15, Wright 0 0 2-3 2, Hortenstine 3 1 1-3 10, Finley 0 0 0-0 0, Behoff 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-16-26, PF-18.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.