 12/27/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO – The Carterville Lions did just what they needed
to do on Friday night in their quarterfinal win over Fairfield.
The
Lions forced a 14-turnovers, 11 of which came in the first two
quarters of play and they survived a poor third quarter offensively
to hold off the Mules, 50-42 to advance to the semifinals on
Saturday.
They
will face Vienna in the second semifinal of the afternoon at
1:30 pm.
Fairfield
will play Eldorado at 10 am in the fifth place bracket semifinals.
Coach
Shane Hawkins' club coughed up 13-turnovers of their own, eight
coming in the third quarter, but they persevered to improve
to 6-4 overall with two wins in the tournament so far.
The Lions
ran clock late in the game, got to the free throw line and cashed
in the charity chips at the window on their way to the Final
Four.
Colton
Hawkins, a 6-4 junior, hit 10-of-13 from the foul line which
included 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter to help secure the victory.
His 21-points
topped the team while junior guard Kaden Wilson added 15 for
the Lions.
As a
team Carterville was 18-of-23 from the line.
“I
thought we were really good defensively in the first half and
we made them earn things,” said Coach Hawkins. “The
third quarter we just made bad decisions. It was more our offense
that hurt us than the defense. We knew that they were going
to make a run. They only had 10-points in the first half but
I knew they have guys that can make shots.”
Coach
Scott McElravy and his Mules slipped into the fifth place bracket
and are 6-6 overall on the season.
Senior
guard Justice Dagg and junior guard Jake Easton led the scoring
with 13 and 12-points respectively.
“They
(Carterville) are really good defensively. They got up and pressured
us pretty hard. I felt like that the teams that we played so
far would have us prepared for that but they did a good job
with their ball pressure. They denied passing lanes, they stopped
our drives,” said Coach McElravy. “I was proud of
the kids in the second half when we came back and our effort
was a lot better. They're bigger and faster than us in every
spot and they're the number two seed for a reason.”
The first
two quarters were not good for the Mules as the athletic Lions
forced six first quarter turnovers and five more in the second
frame to take a commanding lead.
Fairfield
held a brief 3-2 lead with a 3-pointer by senior Kallen Miller.
Carterville
closed the stanza with an 11-2 run, with Wilson scoring twice,
once on a steal and fast break lay in and another drive for
a basket.
Hawkins
hit his only 3-pointer of the game and Wilson added a pair of
free throws for a 13-5 advantage at the end of the quarter.
Sophomore
Jadan Wilson came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer to open
the second quarter scoring and Hawkins closed the half with
a free throw and two inside scores on a drive in the lane and
then off a rebound of his own missed shot for a 25-10 halftime
lead.
The Mules
were in trouble having more turnovers than points in the first
16 minutes.
A Kaden
Wilson score on a fast break off of a Hawkins' steal gave the
Lions their biggest lead at 17-points.
Senior
Alex Kimbrough also scored for Carterville off another turnover
from Fairfield but the Lions caught the turnover bug the rest
of the third quarter.
Fairfield
forced eight miscues and turned them into points, including
a 7-0 run to finish the frame at 34-26. |
