03-05-04
MASSAC COUNTY VS. WEST FRANKFORT
@ ELDORADO CLASS A SECTIONAL
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - With the clock winding down on the Massac County basketball season, senior guard Matt Jacobs decided he wanted his team to play at least one more game.

Trailing 73-71 after getting the ball back after a West Frankfort turnover with :20 left, Jacobs wanted the ball coming out of a Patriots timeout.

When he got the look at the basket he wanted, he launched a 3-point attempt from the top of the arc.

With a defender in his face, the 6-2 senior drained the biggest attempt of his prep career, which gave Massac County a one point lead with just :04 left.

After a West Frankfort timeout, the Redbirds got the ball to senior Craig Ramsey.

But his 3-point attempt misfired at the horn setting off a celebration by the Patriots as they roared into the Carbondale Supersectional with a come-from-behind 74-73 victory in front of a crowd of 2,700 fans Friday night at Duff-Kingston Gym at Eldorado H.S.

"I told coach that I wanted the ball at the end," said Jacobs. "We showed a lot of heart tonight. We didn't give up when we got down and we wanted to win the game right then."

The Patriots (26-6) will now advance to SIU-Arena for the second time in the past five seasons to face Pinckneyville, who was a 55-46 winner over Nashville in the title game of the Sparta Class A Regional.

"We did a good job on him for most of the night and we worked hard to keep him from catching the ball where he could score," said West Frankfort coach Kevin Toney. "We knew the ball was going to go to him."

The way the game began it didn't look like anyone from Massac County would be able to hit a last second shot to win the game as the Redbirds flew out to a quick advantage in the opening quarter.

After Dominique Petty scored the Patriots first seven points of the game to give his club a brief 7-6 lead, West Frankfort responded with the games' first big scoring run.

Ryan Patton put back a pair of rebound baskets while Matt Weeks, the Redbirds 6-2 sophomore guard, canned a pair of 3-pointers in a 12-2 run that gave his team an 18-9 lead.

A late quarter basket on a baseline drive by Jacobs cut into the West Frankfort lead at 22-14.

However a basket by Patton and a free throw by Ramsey sent the teams to the bench at 25-14 Redbirds.

"We didn't defend very well in the first quarter tonight and we let them get off to a good start," added Hosman. "They beat us on the boards in the first half and we talked about that intensely at halftime."

Massac quickly cut into the WF lead in the first two minutes of the second quarter and they rode the wave all the way to halftime as they carved a huge hunk out of the Redbirds lead.

A Gerren Rogers lay in and a steal and fast break from Aaron Bowman got the Pats rolling.

When Justin Kindle scored on a short shot from the left block, the West Frankfort advantage was cut to 27-20 at the 5:27 mark.

West Frankfort hit a cold spell in the second quarter, hitting only four shots from the field and the Patriots made the most of the Redbirds offensive problems.

Massac scored seven of the final eight points in the last 1:19 of the period.

A rebound basket by reserve Bryan Meyer and a 3-pointer from the right wing by Bowman with :04 left sent the teams to intermission at 34-29.

"I don't know what happened early tonight. I don't know if we got too relaxed or over confident or what but we (the coaches) got their attention at halftime and we came out and played a lot harder in the second half," added Hosman.

The Patriots looked poised to take over the game seemingly with every offensive possession in the third quarter. However West Frankfort continued to battle to keep the lead.

The Redbirds' strong frontcourt of Bearden and 6-6 junior Ryan Kirkpatrick made a lot of teams' offensive noise in the third quarter.

Kirkpatrick scored six early points on inside shots.

He received two nice assists from Ramsey and Bearden in the early part of the quarter.

His lay in from Bearden with 5:23 to go pushed the WF margin to 42-35.

Bearden scored a pair of baskets of his own in the frame as well. His 10-foot baseline jumper on a pass from Ramsey kept the Patriots a bay at 46-40.

Jacobs started his own personal offensive run with a two consecutive fast break baskets.

His second one, off of a steal, (see photo) cut the West Frankfort lead to 46-44.

However, as they had done earlier in the game, the Redbirds quickly responded.

A driving bank shot by Patton and a pair of free throws by Bearden made it 51-46 late in the quarter.

As Massac's Bowman attempted a shot in the final seconds, Kirkpatrick deflected the ball into Patton's hands.

The Redbirds eventually found Ramsey for a 3-point attempt that ripped through the net just before the horn to give his team a 54-46 lead heading to the final eight minutes of the title tilt.

Many teams in Massac's situation would have folded up and went home at this point.

After spending so much energy to get back into the game only to see a double-digit deficit still staring them in the face, lesser teams would have 'warmed up the bus.'

But on this night, Jacobs and Co. found another gear in the final frame to pull out the victory.

He nailed two 3-pointers, both from the top of the arc on consecutive possessions that gave the Massac County faithful some much-needed hope.

When his second 'bomb' exploded, the Pats' revolt had new life trailing just 60-54 with 6:01 left.

A clearly tired group of Redbirds got a basket by Patton on a short lay in to push the lead back to eight.

But then came the Patriots next scoring salvo that gave Massac County its first lead since early in the opening quarter.

Petty scored five of the points in a nine-zip scoring parade. When Aaron Bowman hit two free throws with 3:54 left, Massac led 63-62.

West Frankfort's Patton hit a pair of free throws to give the lead back to the Redbirds on the next trip down the floor.

But another big run by Coach Hosman's club seemed to be the knockout blow that would send the Patriots to SIU-Arena on Tuesday.

Rogers scored again for Massac, getting a lob pass near the right block. He banked it home for a 65-64 advantage.

After a West Frankfort missed shot, the Patriots went to a spread offense and the Redbirds let them hold it for nearly a minute as they regrouped.

When the Patriots finally looked to score, Petty and Rogers worked a 'give and go' to perfection for another basket and Massac County found themselves ahead 67-64 with 2:18 to go.

"I thought they were step quicker than we were late in the game on the boards and that was a big key," said West Frankfort coach Kevin Toney. "They have awfully athletic kids up front with Rogers, Petty and Kindle and we didn't do a good enough job keeping them off the glass."

Another WF miscue on its next possession led to a Rogers' basket.

Ramsey and Rogers matched each other by hitting two free throws to get the score to 71-66 with just 1:05 to go.

With the game seemingly in hand, the Patriots committed two straight turnovers that resulted in seven straight West Frankfort points in a stunning turn of events.

Patton, the West Frankfort 'Warrior' on this night, nailed a 3-pointer with :47 left to breath some hope into the Redbird comeback lungs.

Just seconds later Rogers made a poor open court pass that Ramsey intercepted and took to the basket for a driving lay in while being fouled by Jacobs. This shot tied the game at 71-all.

Ramsey subsequently missed the crucial charity toss, but his teammate Bearden grabbed the rebound out of the air and was fouled by Massac reserve Josh Burnham with :33 seconds to go.

Bearden gave the lead back to West Frankfort at 73-71 by hitting both foul shots.

In what turned out to be the defensive play of the game, Patton stole a pass from Massac County in the Patriots backcourt that should have clinched the Redbird victory.

However his pass while, being trapped, went into the backcourt for an over and back violation which gave the ball back to Massac County with :21 to go.

This set up the exciting ending provided by Jacobs' heroics gave the Patriots another shot at heading to Peoria.

Rogers topped Massac County with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jacobs added 17 points. Kindle and Petty pitched in 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Patriots shot 44 percent from the field (26-of-59) while out rebounding West Frankfort 34-28.

The Redbirds closed out their fine season with Patton leading the way with 20 points while Ramsey and Bearden each added 16.

WF out shot the Patriots from the field. They were an impressive 29-of-49 (59 percent) but they could not overcome 11 turnovers, including four crucial ones in the final eight minutes.

Picked by many (including ABV) to finish in last place in the SIRR Ohio Division, West Frankfort ended one of the top seasons' in the schools history with a 24-7 record.

"We won our share of close games this year and sooner or later you are going to lose one of them," said WF coach Kevin Toney. "Unfortunately for us it was tonight. When you lose to a class program like Massac County, who plays hard and is well coached, you know that they earned it."

The Patriots are one win away from going to the Elite Eight for the first time in the school's history.

"We've lost a lot of close sectional's over the years and to win one like this makes it all worth while," said Massac County coach Joe Hosman. "These kids didn't quit all year and Matt Jacobs stepped up and wanted the ball in that late situation. Winners want the basketball in their hands and Matt wanted it tonight."

Massac County (74) - Jacobs 3 3 2-3 17, Bowman 1 1 2-3 7, Rogers 8 0 5-9 21, Petty 4 1 0-0 11, Kindle 3 0 2-4 6.
2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-17-26, PF-17.
West Frankfort (73) - Weeks 1 2 0-0 8, Ramsey 5 1 3-5 16, Patton 7 1 3-3 20, Kirkpatrick 6 0 1-4 13, Bearden 6 0 4-7 16.
2FG-25, 3FG-4, FT-11-19, PF-22.
Fouled Out - Petty, Massac County; Hogg and Kirkpatrick, West Frankfort.
Technical Fouls - None.