12/28/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - When it comes to winning tournament championships, especially the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, Goreville head coach Todd Tripp knows how to get his team prepared for the title game.

This mentor has been a part of the successful run as a coach at the event, and also as a player.

Goreville jumped out to an early lead and held off a late rally by Waltonville to win the 42nd annual tournament, 66-59.

The Blackcats are now 12-1 on the season with the victory as they led from start to finish while handing the Spartans their first defeat of the season.

Coach Anthony Lowery's club fell to 11-1 with the loss.

The Blackcats were topped in scoring by senior guard Drake Moss with 16-points, 10 of which came in a pivotal second quarter push that led to a 37-21 advantage at intermission.

Sophomore guard Tyler Suits and 6-foot-6 junior forward Drake Buffington each added 12-points in the title game victory.

Part of the Goreville success came from getting the Spartans in foul trouble.

Most notably Waltonville 6-foot-4 sophomore Gage Peterson, who spent most of the first half on the bench with three personal fouls.

The Blackcats took advantage of the foul problem by hitting 20-of-26 foul shots, 7-of-10 in the fourth quarter.

Waltonville was led by 5-10 sophomore guard Kyle Cooper, who topped all scorers with 26-points.

Peterson, after missing most of the first half, ended up with nine-points with all coming in the third and fourth quarters.

Senior Makabe Devor finished up with eight-points for the Spartans.

“I told the guys that we had to go after them and attack. I didn't think that they could stop us if we could get into transition,” said Coach Tripp. “It's a good thing that we did because we had a little cushion there. You hate to give up that lead but you want to see how your kids react and I thought our kids did a really good job.”

The early key to the contest was Goreville surviving some sloppy play (seven first quarter turnovers) by hitting 5-of-7 field goal attempts.

Buffington scored seven of his points in the opening minutes, including a conventional three-point play while being fouled by Peterson.

The sophomore had picked up a pair of early fouls and his third personal on the Buffington score sent him to the bench for the remainder of the half at the 2:59 mark of the first.

That three-point play made it 10-2 Blackcats.

The Spartans closed the first quarter gap with Cooper scoring nine of his points in the stanza.

His steal and fast break lay in ended the quarter at 17-14 Blackcats.

However with Peterson on the pine, Goreville outgunned the Spartans 20-7 in the second quarter.

A 10-3 run started by freshman Conner Craig and sophomore Cole Tripp and finished by a pair of scores by Moss followed by two free throws by junior Evan Moore made it 27-17.

The next scoring streak was helped by Waltonville committing five turnovers and Moss adding three more buckets.

Getting into the lane on drives, Moss scored twice and sophomore Tyler Suits hit 3-of-4 foul shots for a 16-point lead at intermission.

“I saw a lot of mental toughness tonight from a young group of kids that could've folded, going into the break down 16 to that team (Goreville) and one of our best players with three fouls. They could've been really frustrated,” said Coach Lowery. “But I saw a look in their eyes at halftime and they came out and turned it around. We had a shot down three that would've tied it. If that goes in it might have been a different story down the stretch. I'm really proud of how they responded. We just have to adjust a little earlier.”

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With Peterson back on the floor, Waltonville got within single digits in the second half but never got the lead.

The sophomore forward found the mark on a pair of inside shots.

A 3-pointer by Devor and a mid-range score by Cooper closed the gap to just 40-34 with 4:42 left in the third.

However Suits hit two of the biggest shots of the contest, nailing consecutive 3-point bombs.

Following a bench technical on Waltonville, Moss made both technical shots and junior guard Evan Holm nailed a 3-pointer for a 51-35 lead.

“I love that our guys don't hesitate. I tell them that 'I will tell you when I don't want you to shoot' and they were ready to go tonight,” said Coach Tripp. “That (rebounding) has been something that we have been stressing to them all year that we have to get better and tonight we were.”

Coach Lowery's club had one last run in them, beginning the fourth quarter.

The Spartans made their first six field goal attempts.

Cooper and Peterson combined to make five of those shots, fueling a 15-4 run.

Cooper's third bucket in the scoring spree, on a driving bank shot which he followed up with a three-point play made it 57-54 with 4:05 left.

However Buffington scored in the lane on the next possession and the Blackcats closed out the championship victory with 5-of-8 from the free throw line.

Goreville survived 16-turnovers to win its first SVHT since 2019.

Coach Tripp's club overcame the miscues by hitting 20-of-40 field goal attempts, 6-of-16 from the 3-point line.

The Blackcats held a 23-14 rebounding advantage and outscored the Spartans 20-13 at the foul line for the scoring difference and championship triumph.

Waltonville ended up 21-of-45 from the floor, 4-of-17 from the arc and they finished with 11-turnovers.

“We felt good coming in to this tournament and we knew we would be tested every day,” said Coach Tripp, who as a player was part of three-consecutive SVHT championship teams in 1990-92. “They have two of the best sophomores around and we knew that when the big kid (Peterson) came back in it would be a different story. They (Waltonville) are a nice team and we knew they wouldn't quit.”

Goreville (66) – Moss 5 1 3-4 16, Howell 0 0 1-2 1, E. Holm 0 2 0-0 6, Tripp 2 1 2-2 9, Suits 0 2 6-8 12, Morroe 0 0 2-2 2, Buffington 4 0 4-5 12, Craig 2 0 0-0 4, Church 0 0 0-0 0, Rhoads 1 0 2-3 4.
2FG-14, 3FG-6, FT-20-26, PF-17.
Waltonville (59) – W. Devor 0 1 0-0 3, Cooper 9 1 5-5 26, Lamke 2 0 2-2 6, Klingler 0 1 0-0 3, Kretz 0 0 0-0 0, M. Devor 2 1 1-3 8, Peterson 4 0 1-2 9, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Karnes 0 0 4-4 4.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-13-16, PF-23.
Fouled Out – M. Devor, Karnes - Waltonville.
Technical Fouls – Waltonville Bench.

The Tribe got 12-points from senior Kaidyn Miller and 10 from Aden McManaway in the victory to improve to 7-4 overall.

Coach John Niebrugge's club outscored Red Bud 21-13 in the fourth quarter.

The Musketeers now sit at 9-5 on the season.

Coach Dane Walter received 17-points from senior guard Owen Liefer and 10 from senior guard Isaac Moll.

Altamont (44) – Jahraus 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 2 0-0 8, E. Miller 2 0 1-2 5, Milleville 4 0 1-1 9, McManaway 1 0 8-10 10, Roedl 0 0 0-2 0, K. Miller 5 0 2-4 12. 2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-12-19, PF-16.
Red Bud (42) – Krebs 0 0 0-0 0, Liefer 6 1 2-4 17, Quinten 0 0 0-0 0, Moll 1 2 2-3 10, Wagner 0 0 2-4 2, EAster 0 1 0-0 3, Lacht 0 0 2-4 2, Major 0 0 0-0 0, Sternberg 2 0 4-4 8. 2FG-9, 3FG-4, FT-12-19, PF-22.
Fouled Out – Easter, Lacht - Red Bud.
Technical Fouls – None.

DU QUOIN 59, SESSER-VALIER 54
The Indians nabbed the consolation championship with the victory over the host Red Devils behind 23-points from senior guard Eli Maynor ans 15-points from senior forward Dwayne Wilmington.

Sophomore guard Jeremiah Jones added 12-points to the win totals for the now 4-7 Tribe.

Sesser-Valier (4-9) was led in scoring by junior guard Kyler Willmore with 11-points followed by 10-points from senior forward Braydon Short.

Sesser-Valier (54) – Loucks 1 1 1-2 6, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Willmore 3 0 5-6 11, K. Short 0 0 0-0 0, Kistner 4 0 0-0 8, Packer 4 0 0-2 8, B. Short 5 0 0-0 10, Ruffino 1 2 0-0 8. 2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-5-8, PF-18.
Du Quoin (59) – Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 4 0 4-4 12, Maynor 7 2 3-8 23, J. Smith 0 0 0-0 0, T. Smith 1 0 3-4 5, Johnson 0 1 1-2 4, Wilmington 6 0 3-3 15. 2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-14-21, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Loucks - Sesser-Valier.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Matt Reuss got 22-points from junior guard Ryne Rhodes and 12-points from junior guard Brock Portz in the win.

Rhodes canned 12-of-14 free throws, 7-of-8 in the fourth quarter to help hold off New Athens.

The Yellow Jackets were paced by junior guard Isaiah Lintker with 26-points, 10-of-11 from the foul line.

New Athens mentor Conrad Widdersheim got eight-points from junior forward Tommy Dutkanych.

Marissa/Coulterville is now 7-6 on the year while New Athens fell to 5-9.

New Athens (49) – Laur 1 1 0-0 5, Helmers 0 0 0-0 0, Mulholland 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 1 1-2 4, Middendorf 0 0 0-0 0, Lintker 8 0 10-11 26, Schatte 0 1 0-0 3, Range 0 1 0-0 3, Dutkanych 3 0 2-4 8.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-13-17, PF-19.
Marissa/Coulterville (53) – Rhodes 5 12-14 22, Portz 5 0 2-5 12, Trieb 0 0 0-0 0, Daugherty 0 1 2-4 5, Steinwagner 4 0 0-0 8, Middendorf 1 0 0-2 2, Rank 1 0 2-2 4. 2FG-16, 3FG-1, FT-18-27, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Steinwagner - Marissa/Coulterville.
Technical Fouls – Range - New Athens.