02/12/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
TAMMS - As the regular season enters the final week before things get real in the state tournament basketball teams want to be playing their best heading going into the regionals.

It is suffice to say that the Pope County Pirates are playing well.

After a bit of a shaky start to their game on Monday night on the road, the Pirates hit high gear in the second quarter.

Coach Jim Simmons club scored 31 second quarter points, including a 19-0 run, as they cruised to a 29-point halftime lead and coasted home for an 84-47 non-conference decision over host Egyptian on Monday night.

Cousins Masin and Eli Presser were impressive in the victory.

Masin, a 6-6 senior guard/forward, led the way with 29-points with most of the points coming on the inside.

Six-three junior Eli canned six 3-pointers in the game and finished with 24-points as the duo actually outscored the whole Egyptian squad despite playing just the first three quarters.

Senior guard Landon Oshe added 11-points for the Pirates who improved to 16-12 overall this season.

Egyptian fell to 8-22 on the season as the Pharaohs played a pretty good first quarter and trailed just 17-12 after leading 9-6 early on.

Three players hit for double-figures for Coach John Dillard.

Six-three junior Brandon Plott scored 18-points to lead his team.

Junior Kendrick Williams ended up with 12-points and sophomore Damarion Clark tossed in 10.

The game quickly turned in favor of the Pirates with an 11-2 run to close the first frame.

Masin Presser scored on a nice inside move before Eli Presser nailed down a pair of 3-pointers.

Another bomb from beyond the arc from Oshe found the mark as the Pirates were up by five at the first horn.

Eli then took a nice pass from inside from Masin for another 3-pointer to open the second quarter.

Another down low score from Masin and a steal and fast break lay in by Eli was the seventh of 12 first half turnovers by Egyptian.

The 19-0 run by Pope County was attributed to both Presser's and Ohse.

(CONTINUED)

(CONTINUED)

Two more scores in the lane by Masin and another 3-pointer from Eli followed by yet another 3-point shot by Ohse and suddenly the Pirates led 45-16 with 1:20 left in the first half.

Clark, Williams and 6-foot sophomore Keaton Pearman scored baskets in the second quarter for Egyptian but the club Masin added his only 3-pointer for a 48-19 halftime advantage.

“We moved the ball pretty well tonight and we shot the ball well after the first few minutes,” said Coach Simmons. “We did a good job of going inside/out to get open looks from the 3-point line. Masin (Presser) does a good job in the post of passing the ball back out. He is averaging about seven assists a game.”

The Pharaohs played a pretty even third quarter with Pope County but they didn't make much of a dent into the Pirates' lead.

Plott and Williams each scored eight-points in the third and Clark added three-points.

But Eli Presser hit a pair of free throws and added a 3-pointer late in the quarter before Masin Presser added two more charity tosses for a 74-38 lead heading to the fourth.

Reserves for both teams finished off the final eight minutes of continuous clock.

Four other players scored for Pope County.

Senior Eason Comer and sophomore Alfred Simmons scored four-points for the Pirates while sophomore Hunter Steele added six.

Sophomore EJ Eckert hit a late 3-pointer for the Pirates.

Pearman ended up with four-points while senior Roger Potts hit a 3-pointer to round out the Pharaohs' scoring.

The Pharaohs finished with 19-turnovers to go with 19-of-47 shooting, with just a 2-of-19 performance from the 3-point line.

On the contrary, the Pirates were 32-of-53 overall (60.3 percent) and 10-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Pope County held a 31-20 rebounding spread with just 12-turnovers, four of which came in the fourth quarter by reserves.

Coach Simmons' club will close out its regular season on Friday at home against Cairo while the Pharaohs will host Century on Friday.

“The thing now is just to be playing well for tournament time. If you're not ready to go (in the regional) you won't last long,” said Coach Simmons. “We hope to be gelling at the right time.”

Pope County (84) - Ohse 2 2 1-2 11, Comer 2 0 0-0 4, E. Presser 2 6 2-2 24, M. Presser 11 1 4-6 29, Steele 3 0 0-0 6, Bucher 0 0 0-0 0, Simmons 2 0 0-2 4, Forthman 0 0 0-0 0, Eckert 0 1 0-0 3, Taber 0 0 0-0 0, Holmes 0 0 0-0 0, O. Presser 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-22/3FG-10/FT-7-12/PF-11.
Egyptian (47) – Plott 6 1 3-5 18, Clark 3 0 4-10 10, Beene 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 6 0 0-0 12, Pearman 2 0 0-0 4, Lessar 0 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0 0-0 0, McKee 0 0 0-0 0, Potts 0 1 0-0 3, Webb 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17/3FG-2/FT-7-15/PF-5.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.