12/26/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Good things have happened over the past several seasons for the Altamont Indians when they play well on the defensive end of the floor.

The Tribe displayed their usual strong defensive effort and were in control of the boards on Tuesday night.

Coach John Niebrugge's club won the rebounding war, shot the ball well and used an early offensive onslaught, and another one late in the game, to never lose command of its 68-48 victory over Du Quoin at the 42nd annual Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

The first round win moves the defending tournament champions into the semifinals on Wednesday night in the newly revamped tournament format of eight-teams in the bracketed event.

Six-foot-five senior forward Kaidyn Miller proved to be too much for Du Quoin to handle on Tuesday as Miller led the way with 21-points and 16-rebounds for Altamont.

The rebounding from Miller sparked a 30-14 advantage on the glass for the Indians, who will now face Goreville on Wednesday.

“If we needed a rebound tonight it was usually Kaidyn Miller pulling it down for us,” said Coach Niebrugge. “They (Du Quoin) are athletic and quick and we needed to do a better job on their dribble penetration. But I thought our seniors stepped up. Some of these guys it is their ninth varsity game of their careers. They're still learning how to deal with the 'ebbs and flows' of the varsity level.”

The Blackcats took care of New Athens, 69-50 in the final game of the opening round.

Altamont also got offense from seniors Eli Miller and Dillan Elam.

Both netted 13-points in the contest while senior Alec Jahraus and sophomore Kade Milleville produced eight-points apiece as seven different Altamont players scored as the club improved to 6-3 overall in 2023-24.

Senior guard Kaden Davis added a 3-pointer to the totals.

In fact when Davis hit his 3-point shot in the first quarter, it was the fifth successful long range shot by Altamont in the first quarter against Du Quoin.

Miller and Jahraus each connected from long range to begin the scoring for the winners.

Jahraus hit his second trey from the left wing as the Indians led DQ, 11-4 with just under four minutes gone.

The Davis bomb followed by a Elam fast break score made it 21-7 Altamont.

Du Quoin and head coach Webster McGuire saw their record slip to 2-7 on the year with loss.

Two of the Indians hit for double-digits as senior guard Eli Maynor scored 14-points and sophomore Jeremiah Jones added 13.

No other Du Quoin player scored more than four-points as the Indians will face New Athens on Wednesday in the consolation semifinals.

Jones scored seven of his points in the first quarter including a conventional three-point play and a pair of late free throws.

But baskets late in the quarter from Milleville and K. Miller made it 25-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Du Quoin managed hang in during the second quarter as they trimmed its deficit to just 10 points by halftime.

Jones hit on two 3-point shots and Maynor hit his first of two from beyond the arc.

But both Miller's hit 3-point shots in the quarter and Milleville added a pair of late free throws for a 41-31 halftime advantage for Altamont.

Five-consecutive points to begin the second half for DQ got Coach McGuire's club to within 41-36 with Maynor hitting his second and final 3-pointer in the game.

Altamont took back control with Elam adding a couple of scores inside a buckets by K. Miller and Milleville.

A rebound bucket by Maynor got Du Quoin back to within eight at 52-44 heading to the fourth quarter.

(CONTINUED)

(CONTINUED)

Altamont dominated the final frame on both ends of the floor as they pulled away for the triumph.

A 14-2 start to the fourth quarter finished the job for Coach Niebrugge's squad.

Kaiden Miller scored eight of his points with two of his scores coming on offensive rebounds.

The senior also got assists from Eli Miller for two other baskets, one in transition while Elam nailed a 3-pointer during the run.

The final points for K. Miller, on his second offensive put back, pushed the score to 66-46 before the coaches played reserves in the final few minutes.

Altamont hit 26-of-45 shots overall from the field (57.7 percent) with 8-of-18 from the arc, 5-of-9 in the first quarter run where the Indians never relinquished the lead.

Coach Niebrugge's club hit 8-of-12 from the foul line while DQ were just 3-of-4.

Du Quoin ended up just 20-of-47 overall (42.5 percent) and 5-of-14 from long range.

All though Altamont turned it over 14 times to DQ's 11, they took control with its defensive effort and will now face Goreville, the team they beat 57-40 last December to win the title game of the SVHT.

“We feel like with have an x-factor with Kaidyn Miller who can play big but also play on the wing a little bit,” said Coach Niebrugge. “We have to get him the ball.”

Du Quoin (48) – Davis 0 1 0-0 3, Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 2 2 3-3 13, Maynor 4 2 0-0 14, Bardo-Spiller 2 0 0-0 4, J. Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Pyron 0 0 0-0 0, Juhl 1 0 0-0 2, T. Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Siefert 1 0 0-0 2, Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Wilmington 2 0 0-1 4. 2FG-15, 3FG-5, FT-3-4, PF-16.
Altamont (68) – Jahraus 1 2 0-0 8, Davis 0 1 0-0 3, Walker 0 0 0-0 0, E. Miller 2 3 0-0 13, Elam 4 1 2-4 13, Milleville 3 0 2-2 8, McManaway 0 0 0-0 0, Roedl 0 0 0-2 0, Meyer 0 0 2-2 2, Ruffner 0 0 0-0 0, K. Miller 8 1 2-2 21. 2FG-18, 3FG-8, FT-8-12, PF-9.
Fouled Out – Jones - Du Quoin.
Technical Fouls – None.

WALTONVILLE 68, MARISSA/COULTERVILLE 36
The Spartans broke an 11-11 first quarter tie with a 17-2 second quarter to stay unbeaten at 10-0 with the triumph.

Coach Anthony Lowery got 23-points from 5-foot-10 sophomore Kyle Cooper and 17-points from senior Makabe Devor in the victory over the Meteors.

Six-foot-four sophomore Gage Peterson added 13-points as both Cooper and Peterson combined for 13 of the 17 second quarter points.

Senior Seth Karnes added eight second half points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter.

Marissa/Coulterville (5-7) and first season head coach Matt Reuss got 10-points each from juniors Ryan Rhodes and Brock Portz in the loss while junior Hayden Steinwagner added nine-points for the Meteors, who will now face Sesser-Valier in the consolation semifinals on Wednesday.

Marissa/Coulterville (36) – Rhodes 2 2 0-0 10, Portz 3 1 1-1 10, Perry 0 0 0-0 0, Trieb 1 0 0-0 2, Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, Daugherty 1 0 0-0 2, Steinwagner 3 1 0-0 9, Klingeman 0 0 0-0 0, Stewart 0 0 1-2 1, Middendorf 0 0 0-0 0, Rank 1 0 0-0 2, Sabo 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-2-3, PF-13.
Waltonville (68) – W. Devor 0 0 0-0 0, Cooper 8 2 1-2 23, Lamke 1 0 0-2 2, Klingler 0 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0 1 0-0 3, Kretz 0 0 0-0 0, M. Devor 5 2 1-2 17, Mayville 0 0 0-0 0, Rose 0 0 0-0 0, Peterson 6 0 1-2 13, Stewart 1 0 0-0 2, Karnes 1 2 0-0 8. 2FG-22, 3FG-7, FT-3-8, PF-4.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Dane Walter's club survived a pair of fourth quarter technical fouls to pull out the win with a 7-2 OT advantage.

Six-foot-two senior forward Sam Easter led the way with 15-points, and two key baskets in the extra session.

Junior guard Trent Sternberg added 12-points while senior guards Owen Liefer (11) and Isaac Moll (10) were also in double-digits for the Musketeers who are now 8-3 on the season.

The Red Devils and head coach Marcus Clarry are now 3-8 on the season and they are now in the consolation bracket for the second-straight season in their own event.

Junior guard Kyler Willmore scored 20-points for S-V to lead all scorers, including 7-of-7 from the foul line.

Six-two senior Colt Packer added 10-points for the Red Devils while Coach Clarry got six-points apiece from seniors Jonah Ruffino and Wyatt Loucks.

Sesser-Valier (49) – Loucks 1 1 1-2 6, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Willmore 2 3 7-7 20, K. Short 1 0 0-0 2, Kistner 0 0 0-0 0, Packer 1 0 3-4 5, B. Short 2 2 0-0 10, Ruffino 1 0 4-4 6. 2FG-8, 3FG-6, FT-15-17, PF-10.
Red Bud (56) – Liefer 5 0 1-2 11, Moll 1 2 2-4 10, Wagner 1 0 0-0 2, Easter 6 1 0-0 15, Lacht 3 0 0-0 6, Major 0 0 0-0 0, Sternberg 4 1 1-4 12. 2FG-20, 3FG-4, FT-4-10, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Liefer, Easter - Red Bud.

GOREVILLE 69, NEW ATHENS 50
The top-seed Blackcats overcame a bad start to pull away from the Yellow Jackets to advance to the semifinals with the victory.

Eight different players scored for Goreville as they improved to 10-1 on the season.

Sophomore Tyler Suits scored 15-points and freshman Conner Craig tossed in 14.

Six-six freshman Conner Craig added 13-points, junior Evan Holm scored nine-points and senior Drake Moss ended up with eight.

Coach Conrad Widdersheim got 26-points from junior guard Isaiah Lintker and nine-points from senior Ethan Range as the Yellow Jackets (5-7) will play Du Quoin in the consolation semifinals on Wednesday.

New Athens (50) – Laur 0 0 1-2 1, Helmers 0 0 0-0 0, Mulholland 0 0 2-2 2, Gallagher 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor 2 0 0-0 4, Middendorf 0 0 0-0 0, Lintker 4 3 9-10 26, Schutte 1 0 0-0 2, Range 0 3 0-2 9, Dutkanych 1 1 1-2 6.
2FG-8, 3FG-7, FT-13-18, PF-18.
Goreville (69) – Moss 3 0 2-4 8, Howell 0 0 1-2 1, E. Holm 2 1 2-2 9, P. Holm 0 0 0-0 0, Green 1 0 0-0 2, Tripp 1 0 5-7 7, Suits 4 2 1-1 15, Evan Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Earon 0 0 0-0 0, Buffington 4 0 5-6 13, Craig 5 0 4-6 14, Church 0 0 0-0 0, Rhoads 0 0 0-0 0, King 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-20-28, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.