12-30-02
CHRISTOPHER VS. CENTURY
@ SESSER-VALIER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Playing without injured sophomore guard Ray Nelson, Century looked susceptible to a possible upset when they stepped on the floor at Sesser-Valier Monday night in the championship game against Christopher.

The Bearcats had toppled higher seeds Trico and Carterville on the way to the title game and looked to reel in the top-seed.

But whatever apprehension coach Andy Palmer may have had before the Centurions contest against Christopher went away quickly when Josh Tabb started his own personal championship crusade.

Carrying his team on his back, the 6-3 sophomore dominated the title game with 26 points and 18 rebounds as the Centurions won the school's first holiday tournament championship, 60-47 in front of a packed house at Sesser.

"Josh really stepped up his game tonight," said Palmer, whose team is now 13-0 on the season. "But the whole team stepped up, too. Without Ray (Nelson) in the lineup, we needed everyone to play well for us to win."

Nelson missed the game after injuring his foot in Saturday's semifinal win over Sesser-Valier.

"We iced it yesterday and today and we will have it checked out tomorrow." added Palmer.

Tabb gave everyone a quick glimpse of what he had in store for Christopher early in the first quarter.

With the game tied at 2-apiece, he scored the next six points.

He hit on a jumper just inside the foul line on his first trip.

The next time Century had the ball, he put up a shot that missed but he quickly got into position to tip it back in for a 6-2 lead.

Then after deflecting a pass, he got a return pass from teammate Colin Crain for a two-handed slam-dunk and it was 8-2 Century with 3:38 left in the quarter.

Making big scoring runs had been the trademark of Century this season and its second one came at the beginning of the second frame.

With Tabb taking a breather on the bench, the Centurions quickly popped in six points in less than two minutes.

Point guard Rephael Soloman hit Maxwell on a lob pass and his made lay in got the run going.

Maxwell hit a shot from the left corner and followed that with a tip pass in the lane to Kindle, who laid the ball in for a 17-8 advantage.

After returning to the court on a dead-ball situation, Tabb stepped back and drained a 17-foot shot just left of the circle.

Christopher came up empty on its next trip as Tabb deflected a pass and got the ball to Crain on the fly and his lay in forced a Christopher timeout at 21-8 with 4:35 remaining in the quarter.

"We were a bit tentative tonight especially early." said Coach Johnston. "But I think part of it was Century and the way they played defensively."

Century picked up some fouls in the second quarter that helped keep the Bearcats close by sending them to the free throw line.

Christopher hit 6-of-8 charities; the last two by Joe Kretz cut the lead to single-digits at 23-14.

But Tabb would score again just before the half, rebound his own miss once again and laying a shot off the glass and in to push the Centurions advantage to 25-14 and the break.

Christopher got on a brief roll in the third to cut the lead down to ten.

James Trogolo scored twice in the run, once on a rebound put-back and the next one on a short shot in the lane, to make it 35-25.

But Century answered with Tabb scoring on a lob pass from Soloman and a Matt Miller 3-pointer and it was 44-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

"We didn't want to let them make any runs early in the game and we didn't want to get behind." added Palmer, who is in his first year at Century after several seasons' at Pope County.

Century reached its largest lead of the title game at 47-29 early in the fourth on a Maxwell 3-pointer with 6:20 left.

However Christopher made its biggest move of the night, a 10-2 run, to get the lead down to single digits.

With Century losing a bit of its composure on four straight trips, the Bearcats took advantage of the lull with Kretz and Matt Stallman scoring a basket apiece followed by two Stallman free throws.

Trogolo scored two baskets; the second one on a short bank from the right baseline with 2:05 left at the lead was cut to 51-43.

Even though Century had trouble at the foul line the rest of the way, Christopher missed too many opportunities in the final moments.

Trogolo's 3-pointer cut the lead back to 56-47 with a minute left, but Collin Crain was fouled and sent to the line.

His first shot went in and Tabb tipped in his next one for a 3-point play that ended the drama of the contest.

Tabb's 26 points led all scorers while Maxwell put down 12 points.

Both of these two were All-tournament selections.

Soloman and Crain each added seven.

Christopher (7-3) got 13 from Burnett and 11 from Trogolo.

Trogolo was also named to the All-tournament list.

"I am proud of my kids, they could have rolled over tonight but we hung in there and made a couple of runs at them," said coach Johnston.

"Century had never won a holiday tournament championship so this is a big win for our program," added coach Palmer.

SESSER-VALIER 49, CARTERVILLE 44
S-V topped Carterville to claim the third place title in a game that featured a slow-moving first half, sloppy play and a lopsided foul differencial.

Carterville commited 22 fouls compared to seven by the Red Devils and Sesser-Valier made good on 15-of-29 foul shots to post the win.

Nick Wingo led the hosts with 18 points while teammates Al Kramer and Brian Galloway added 16 and 10.

Carterville (9-5) got 20 points from Dan Pearson.

WOODLAWN 61, TRICO 55
The Cardinals brought home fifth place honors with a win over the Pioneers.

Tyler Burns finished with 16 points to lead Woodlawn (8-3) while Doug Junkins and Nick Knapp pitched in 15 and 14.

Trico's Cody Summer had 14 points; Matt Rodewald and Phillip Schaber added 12 each.

ZEIGLER-ROYALTON 63, SHAWNEE 51
The Tornadoes got 18 points each from Rickey Menkowski and Kyle King to cop the Consolation Title by beating Shawnee.

The Redskins were led by Doug Taylor and Richard Hanneken with 12 each.

The All-tournament team consisted of Josh Tabb and Jesse Maxwell of Century; Doug Junkins of Woodlawn; Justin Barrington of Carterville; Joe Kretz of Christopher; Brandon Bundren of Vienna; Rickey Menkowski of Zeigler-Royalton; Phillip Schaber of Trico; Alex Fischer of Goreville and Nick Wingo of Sesser-Valier