03-02-04
WEST FRANKFORT VS. ELDORADO
@ ELDORADO CLASS A SECTIONAL
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - Old school basketball had a revival in southern Illinois this season, courtesy of the West Frankfort Redbirds.

Crisp passing, few mistakes, medium range shooting, finding the open cutters to the basket, solid defense, etc.

Playing this way all season, West Frankfort redefined the team concept in the Ohio Division of the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference.

John Wooden would be proud.

Not having a great long-range scoring attack hasn't hurt coach Kevin Toney's club this season as they picked up their 24th win of the season.

The Redbirds used a very balanced offense and a stingy defensive scheme that limited Eldorado to four third quarter points in a 59-47 win Tuesday night in front of a capacity crowd in the first semifinal of the Eldorado Class A Sectional.

Matt Weeks and Ryan Patton scored 12 points each, leading five players with eight points or more in the West Frankfort victory.

Patton was a large part of the Redbird offensive on this night as he contributed points as well as assists during West Frankfort's assault.

"We (the coaches) are never surprised at what Ryan can do on a basketball court," said Toney, whose team moves to the regional final on Friday night.

Patton made an immediate impact in the opening minutes, both shooting and passing.

He got assists on both of Weeks' early baskets.

Weeks nailed the Redbirds first of three 3-pointers (from the top of the arc) on the night to open the game's scoring at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter.

Patton then hit Weeks with a nice pass in the lane that resulted in a lay in and an early 5-2 West Frankfort advantage.

However the Eagles quickly responded as senior guard Shannon Lane led a 6-0 run with a 3-pointer from the right wing and then hit a flying Lucas Griffin with a pass that resulted in a fast break lay in and a 8-5 Eldorado lead.

But Patton fed teammate Ryan Bearden with yet another interior pass for a score to cut the Eagles lead at the first horn to 8-7.

West Frankfort started flexing its basketball muscle in the second quarter, making a big run to take a double-digit lead.

Guard Craig Ramsey and center Ryan Kirkpatrick got into the scoring act in the early part of the second quarter, leading the Redbirds on a 13-2 run.

Ramsey connected on a pair of free throws to go along with a 17-foot shot from just inside the 3-point line that made the score 20-10 with 3:42 before intermission.

Weeks also added a mid-range shot, which is the Redbirds' 'bread and butter' according to coach Toney.

"We don't have a real 3-point shooter," added Toney. "So we make sure that we shoot the 15-to-17 foot shot which is a shot we can make."

After Eldorado center William Carmickle and Patton traded baskets, the Eagles scored the next six points of the game to pull to within 22-18.

Griffin, Carmickle and reserve Dallas Basinger scored baskets in the run.

Lane ended the quarter with a made 3-pointer from the right wing and a 3-point attempt that turned into an assist to Carmickle, who tipped in the shot just before the buzzer making it 25-23 and intermission.

"They came out and smacked us in the mouth just like in a prize fight," said Eldorado coach Greg Goodley, referring to the way West Frankfort jumped on his team early in the second quarter.
"When we played them before at their place the night we beat them, we stepped up and played strong. But tonight they staggered us from the beginning and even though we got back close at halftime, we never looked comfortable in what we were doing."

Eldorado appeared to be getting itself back on track in the opening minute of the second half.

Carmickle scored in the lane on a rebound and Joey Jackson put in a shot from the left block.

Those two shots, sandwiched around a pair of Weeks free throws, tied the score at 27-all with 7:06 left in the quarter.

However as it turned out, the Eagles would not score again the rest of the stanza as the Redbirds took command of the game and took the Eldorado crowd out of the equation.

WF scored ten straight points with Patton netting four of those markers with a pair of baskets while adding yet another assist.

His pass to Bearden, who was cutting to the basket, set up the 6-5 center with an easy lay in for a 31-27 lead.

Another Bearden basket on a Weeks assist followed another Patton basket extended the lead to 35-27.

West Frankfort reserve Josh Webb, who earlier in the evening advanced another round in the Country Financial Three-Point Showdown, hit his first field goal attempt from that mid-level 17-foot area to send both teams to the final quarter at 37-27.

The Eagles could not cut the lead to less than nine points in the final quarter, despite 10 fourth quarter points by Carmickle.

The Redbirds put Eldorado away with Kirkpatrick scoring three times in the paint. His backdoor lay in on a pass from Ramsey while in a spread offense sealed the game at 55-42 with 1:59 to go.

Coach Toney's team finished off the game by making 4-of-6 free throws.

Besides the dozen points each by Patton and Weeks, Bearden pitched in 10 while Ramsey and Kirkpatrick added eight apiece.

Eldorado got 18 points from Carmickle and 11 from Lane as those two seniors played in their last prep basketball game.

"Even when we made a move to get back into the game, we never really looked good on offense tonight," said Eldorado coach Greg Goodley.

Eldorado (47) - Lane 1 2 3-4 11, Griffin 3 1 0-0 9, Hammond 1 0 3-4 5, Carmickle 8 0 2-2 18, Basinger 1 0 0-0 2, Jackson 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG- 15, 3FG-3, FT-8-10, PF-18.
WEst Frankfort (59) - Ramsey 2 0 4-7 8, Weeks 3 1 3-4 12, Patton 4 1 1-3 12, Kirkpatrick 4 0 0-0 8, Bearden 5 0 0-0 10, Hogg 1 0 0-0 2, Farkas 1 1 2-3 7.
2FG-20. 3FG-3 FT-10-17, PF-149.
Fouled Out - Griffin Eldorado.
Technical Foul - None.