12/16/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - One of the question marks in high school basketball is how games play out when rivals meet on the court.

Especially when teams hook up on a Senior Night.

Christopher and Zeigler-Royalton matched up on Friday night in the Bearcats' final home game of the regular season and the Tornadoes got off to a good start against the hosts.

However it didn't take too long for Christopher to get control of the game.

After spotting the visitors an early advantage, Coach Eric Stallman's club started hitting shots against the Tornadoes' zone defense from long range late in the first quarter.

The Bearcats ended up with eight made 3-pointers as they took control in the second quarter and went on to a 63-51 win Friday night.

In the previous encounter between the teams on January 9th, the Bearcats struggled offensively but managed to win 62-50 in overtime.

The offense was much better the second time around.

Six-three senior Scout Hudgens led all scorers with 22-points and he added a pair of 3-pointers to the total.

Junior Chase Cole (14-points) and sophomore Landon Sveda (13-points) each hit three 3-pointers for the Bearcats.

Junior Samuel Traiteur added nine-points in the victory.

“The last time we played them we had the same type looks at the basket but we didn't make them,” said Coach Stallman. “But tonight we made those type shots and everything looks better when you're making shots and we shot better tonight.”

Christopher had lost 6-of-7 games heading into Friday night's contest but picked up a final win of the regular season.

The Bearcats ended up 6-6 in the Black Diamond Conference West Division standings and 14-15 overall.

Zeigler-Royalton and head coach David Russell saw their regular season end with a seventh-consecutive loss.

The Tornadoes ended up 10-21 overall but just 1-11 in the BDC West.

Two players for Z-R hit for double-figures in scoring.

Six-three junior River Freeman netted 15-points and 6-1 freshman Lucas Rogers added 13 for Coach Russell.

Cole McKinney, a 6-5 senior, added eight-points and point-guard 5-10 senior Chase VanHoorebeke scored seven.

Senior guard Peyton Foster scored six-points, with five of the points coming during an early first quarter run by Zeigler-Royalton.

On consecutive trips down the floor, Foster scored on a fast break lay in off an assist from Rogers and then the senior nailed down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc for a 9-3 Tornadoes' lead.

After a slow start, Christopher made a run to take the first quarter lead.

Sveda, Cole and Hudgens each hit 3-point shots in a 12-4 finish.

Hudgens scored on another transition fast break for a 15-13 Bearcats' lead.

Despite a couple of scoring runs by Christopher in the second quarter, the Tornadoes remained in striking distance of the home team by halftime.

The Bearcats got three-straight scores to open the quarter with Sveda scoring on a fast break and then junior reserve Connor DeWeerdt got involved.

The 6-6 junior forward made a nice assist to Hudgens for a basket and then scored on a fast break off an assist from Cole to give the Bearcats a 21-13 lead that forced a Z-R timeout at the 6:18 mark.

The Tornadoes responded with their own run with buckets coming from VanHoorebeke, Rogers and Freeman, who all scored inside as Christopher needed a timeout at 21-19.
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Two late second quarter scores by Traiteur pushed the Bearcats to a 33-26 halftime lead.

Sveda added two more 3-pointers and Hudgens converted on another drive in the lane.

Rogers also hit a 3-point shot for Zeigler-Royalton as his team trailed by seven at intermission.

The Bearcats had chances to put Z-R away in the third quarter but they missed too many shots.

Christopher hit just 5-of-17 attempts in the frame and only increased their lead to nine-points at the end of the third.

But the Tornadoes couldn't capitalize as they were just 4-of-13 from the field.

A late 3-pointer by Cole and a mid-range shot by Hudgens made it 46-37 after three.

One way to clinch a win is from the foul line and the Bearcats hit 6-of-7 free throws in the fourth quarter.

An 8-2 run to begin the quarter had a 3-pointer from Cole and 5-of-6 free throws by Cole and Traiteur.

Traiteur added a score on a drive to the basket while being fouled by Freeman.

The three-point play increased the Bearcats lead to 61-46 with 2:24 remaining.

“We started attacking better in the second half. When they extended their zone in the second half we got some easy looks inside,” said Coach Stallman. “We rebounded the ball well and we were able to get some transition scores off of their turnovers.”

Hudgens finished the contest with a pair of inside scores with the final bucket coming on a cut to the basket on an assist from Cole before both coaches emptied their benches.

Overall Christopher was 23-of-56 from the field, 8-of-23 from the 3-point line while Zeigler-Royalton ended up 22-of-46 and 2-of-9.

Perhaps the most telling stat was rebounding as the Bearcats held a 36-20 advantage with 17 offensive rebounds.

Six of the boards came during the third quarter when Christopher missed shots but Z-R failed to finish their defensive stops with rebounds.

Coach Stallman's club took care of the ball with just five turnovers with two coming by reserves late in the game.

Zeigler-Royalton committed just nine turnovers.

Christopher will host Sesser-Valier on Monday to begin the Woodlawn 1A Regional.

The Bearcats and Red Devils split the two contests between the rival schools with Christopher winning the first matchup at home 64-44 back on December 15.

S-V won the rematch 57-49 on February 13.

Zeigler-Royalton will travel to Steeleville on Monday to begin the Trico 1A Regional.

“We play well in spurts. We had a lull in the third quarter where we were trading baskets and then we missed some shots and it (the score) got up to 15,” said Coach Russell. “We had a really good first quarter. But our M-O all season has been that we with hit a couple of droughts during a game and then we have to pressure and we get tired. We don't play a lot of guys but tonight it was a was a good effort.”

Zeigler-Royalton (51) – VanHoorebeke 3 0 1-2 7, Holder 0 0 0-0 0, Foster 1 1 1-2 6, Tucker 1 0 0-0 2, Freeman 7 0 1-1 15, Rogers 4 1 2-4 13, Speakman 0 0 0-0 0, McKinney 4 0 0-1 8. 2FG-10/3FG-2/ FT-5-10/PF-9.
Christopher (63) – T. Skropka 0 0 0-0 0, Butler 0 0 0-0 0, Sveda 2 3 0-0 13, Slomka 0 0 0-0 0, Cole 1 3 3-4 14, A. Skropka 1 0 0-0 2, Traiter 3 0 3-4 9, Schlake 0 0 0-0 0, DeWeerdt 1 0 0-0 2, Hudgens 7 2 2-2 22, Casey 0 0 0-0 0, Freeman 0 0 1-2 1. 2FG-15/3FG-8/FT-9-12/PF-92.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.