03-01-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
NORRIS CITY – ABV top-ranked and state-ranked Trico Pioneers carry the favorites' moniker heading into the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield Class 1A Sectional tournament starting on Tuesday night.

Head coach Shane Hawkins knows how to get a team prepared for postseason battle and his Pioneers have played a tough schedule of games for a 1A team and are poised to make a serious run at Peoria.

At 28-2 Trico has but two losses on the sparkling record – a double-overtime regular season defeat to Du Quoin on the Indians home floor and a 57-39 loss to unbeaten 2A power Murphysboro.

The team leader and the one that the Pioneers depend on the most is Jesse Smith is a 6-foot senior guard who is putting up good numbers to lead a balanced scoring attach.

Smith is averaging 12.3 points a night for Coach Hawkins to go with 4.3 rebounds a contest. Smith shares the wealth, too, with 3.1 assists a night.

His biggest night of the season came back on February 5 where he scored a career-high 38-points in a 59-49 overtime win over the host Rangers at the Benton Shootout.

Scoring, rebounding and passing the ball – Smith handles a lot of the tough chores for Trico.
But with all good teams – this one gets a lot of help.

Up front 6-foot-6 junior forward Chase Heins has been a force.

A player who has improved tremendously in just a couple of varsity seasons – Heins is scoring 14.9 points a night while grabbing 7.5 rebounds.

And this is a against a solid schedule that included Class 2A and 3A squads. Heins put a severe hurt on Steeleville in the title game of the New Athens Regional by laying 30-points on the Warriors as Trico advanced with a 66-48 win.

Six-foot junior guard Dylan Witthoft is averaging 8.4 points a contest while Taylor Pyatt – a 6-foot-3 senior – is also at 8.4 p.p.g.

Senior Tyler Coleman (6.6 p.p.g.) and Dennis Froemling (four p.p.g.) are also key cogs in the Trico machine.

It is important to mention one of the true team-leaders on this club – 6-foot-2 senior Logan Thies.
Thies suffered a knee injury in preseason drills and could have cashed in his senior season but this kid is tough and has gutted out the injury wearing a brace and doing the best that he can. Thies helps out with an additional 4.2 p.p.g. and having him out there is a blessing.
Trico brings a lot of experience into this sectional having won its own Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament and an amazing run at the Carbondale Holiday Tournament in beating Madison and Carbondale to win the top prize.
The opposition for Trico on Wednesday is a stranger to sectional play.
The Crab Orchard Trojans of the Greater Egyptian Conference make their first ever sectional appearance in any boy's sport this week at NCOE.
Head coach Jon Brown's club is now 29-3 – by far a school record in a record breaking campaign after winning the GEC regular season and the GEC Tournament.
Their three losses have come at the hands of GEC rival Gallatin County, Goreville at the SEC/GEC Shootout back on February 5 and Wayne City in the final of the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.
A pair of juniors have led the way for the Trojans this season – which bodes well for Crab Orchard to make another run next season.
Six-foot-five forward Ben Kissing has been a phenom in the paint this season – averaging an outstanding 21.9 points a game while hauling down 9.9 rebounds a night.
His stock has risen in his three years as a varsity starter for Coach Brown's club.
In the backcourt Drew Johnson has been a real spark – handling the ball and a lot of the scoring duties for the Trojans.
Johnson is a 5-foot-11 junior who is netting 17.7 points a contest while dishing out nearly five assists a game.
Dylan Hutson – a 5-foot-11 senior – is tossing in 11.8 points a game for Crab Orchard.
“This should be a good sectional, obviously Trico is regarded as the best team or one of the best teams in the state and Meridian is very athletic and talented. We are very happy for Coach Patton and Coach Crawford at Gallatin County,” said Crab Orchard head coach Jon Brown. “We are playing really well right now. Winning the GEC, the GEC Tournament and then beating Sesser-Valier on their floor was a big confidence booster for us. We are very aware that we are the underdog in this game but our players are very competitive. We're excited to get the opportunity to play in the sectional.”
The Meridian Bobcats would love to get another shot at playing for a sectional championship after falling just a game short of the supersectional last March with a loss to Sesser-Valier at the Eldorado Sectional.
Head coach Jeff Mandrell's 'Cats roll into the NCOE Sectional after having won a tough regional at Goreville by beating both Egyptian and the host Blackcats on back-to-back nights.
If you like high scoring basketball that is fast-paced – Meridian is the team to watch.
The 26-5 Bobcats can 'light it up' as they have averaged 76.1 points a game this season with the top gun of the group being 6-foot-4 sophomore Joshua Jones who is putting up 15.4 p.p.g.
Brandon Madison – a 5-foot-10 senior guard – is next on the scoring parade with 14.1 points a night. Five-foot-ten senior Cameron Ballard (13.1 p.p.g.), 6-foot senior Brent Kennedy (12.1 p.p.g.), 6-foot-3 junior Jerry Johnson (11.1 p.p.g.) and 6-foot senior Daryl Rayford (10.2 p.p.g.) can all get the job done offensively.
The won the rubber game of three played with Goreville by routing the hosts on Friday night to win the regional title for the third year in a row.
Meridian will face the youngest club in the field the Gallatin County Hawks and head coach Robert “Radar” Patton on Tuesday night.
The Hawks won their regional with a 56-38 win over the host Hardin County on Friday night behind a monster game by 6-foot-10 sophomore Andrew Drone.
Drone scored 20-points in the regional title game and he will be tested by an athletic frontcourt of Meridian. Drone has averaged 18.7 points a night to go with 9.6 rebounds per outing.
The 20-10 Hawks are not a one-man show as Coach Patton has some additional weapons in the holster.
Patrick Lowe - a 6-foot-4 sophomore who Coach Patton regards as his best athlete – is second on the squad with 13.4 points a game along with 8.4 rebounds.
Six-foot-two junior Andrew Cox is putting up 7.6 points a game for Gallatin County while Daine Hish – a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard – is averaging 6.3 p.p.g. Hish is an outside scoring threat as this lefty can drain the 3-ball.
Both Lowe and Hish are over 30 percent accurate from behind the arc.
Five-foot-eleven junior Bryant Aud is next on the chart with 5.9 points a game.
These Hawks have only given up 48 points a game while Meridian is at 76.1. Something will have to give on Tuesday night.
ABV Projected Sectional Champion – Trico.