High School Sports Archives - Page 37 of 67 - Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News

Red Devils…Tigers win at the Murphysboro Sophomore Tournament

February 27, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford – franklincounty-news.com

MURPHYSBORO – Franklin County teams were featured in three games in a row at the 40th annual Murphysboro Sophomore Tournament on Saturday.

Since the IHSA lifted the 90 quarter rule several years ago, there are a lot of players that will appear in this tournament who were varsity starters, or saw some significant varisty playing time for their teams this year.

In the first of the three games, Seth Boles had 17 points and Eli Gunter added 14 as Sesser-Valier defeated Hamilton County 52-41.

The Devils crashed the boards very hard were very good on the defensive end. Tyler Winchester did not play for Sesser-Valier that Saturday.

Shaefer led Hamilton County with twelve points on the afternoon. The Hamilton County JV team, which was made up of mainly freshmen and sophomores, were very competitive in the Christopher Turkey Tournament, setting the all time tournament record for most three pointers it by a team.

HAMILTON COUNTY SCORING: Shaefer 12, Braden 9, Webb 8, Sheldon 5, Downen 4, Weaver 2, Gray 1, Peters 0, Richards 0, Van Winkle 0

SESSER VALIER SCORING: Boles 17, E. Gunter 14, Kirk 11, Basso 5, Bates 5, G. Gunter 0, Kiselewski 0, Thery 0, Stanley 0, Newton 0

In the second game, Thompsonville defeated Trico 49-26, in a game where there was a continuous clock in the fourth quarter.

Tyson Kessler led the Tigers with 13 points and Trey Bybee, back from injury, added 10. Corbin Fitch had several steals and Anthoney Darge if not was very close to having ten plus rebounds.

THOMPSONVILLE SCORING: Kessler 13, Bybee 10 Fitch 9, Darge 5, Raubach 5, Jones 4, Beavers 3.

The West Frankfort Redbirds stormed back from a 10-0 first quarter deficit to fall to the Breese Central cougars 45-43.

The Redbirds turned in a gutsy performance, but they just fell short on the evening.

C.J Johnson led WF with 12 points. Kyle Hammers and Cole Levanti added eight in a losing cause.

WEST FRANKFORT SCORING: Johnson 12, Hammers 8, Levanti 8, King 6, Stewart 4, Rains 3, McPherson 2, Hopkins 0, Melvin 0

In the consolation bracket tonight Hamilton County will play St. Louis Confluence at 6:15p.m. and West Frankfort will play Trico at 7:30.

In the winners bracket on Thursday night, Sesser-Valier will play Marion at 6:15 p.m. and Thompsonville will play Breese Central at 7:30 p.m.

Not what I was expecting at all last night

February 25, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford – franklincounty-news.com

CRAB ORCHARD, IL- I have been asked the question so many times over the years, why do you like sports? I can throw the news, and days like yesterday it applies to the weather. Last night was one of the great reasons why, you don’t know what to expect.

In a movie or TV show, you know what to expect. I was expecting a down to the wire battle between the two Franklin County rivals playing in Willamson County.

Class 1A regional champs, the Christopher Bearcats.

Class 1A Crab Orchard Regional Champs, the Christopher Bearcats.

Going into last night’s Class 1A Boy’s Regional Championship game against Crab Orchard and Sesser-Valier, I was expecting a close game similar to the overtime war that took place on Valentines Day.

Sesser-Valier has been peaking at the right time during the stretch run of the season. There were a few times that Christopher was stumbling entering the road to Peoria.

What I witnessed was a 71-41 win by the Christopher Bearcats last night, in a game that was not in question, from about the middle of the third quarter.

With very few personnel changes, both these kids have faced each other probably 100 times going back to their early grade school days and during the summer. They know each other well.

I was asked this question several times after last night’s game for people that are outside Franklin County. What was the huge difference between the overtime by S-V on Valentines Day and the big win by Christopher last night?

I answered the bottom line was that Christopher was red hot and Sesser-Valier was ice cold. One glaring difference though between the two games Devils killed the Bearcats on the offensive boards in the game ten days ago at Christopher. Last night, the Bearcats owned the glass.

S-V had good looks. They took good shots. they just had one of those nights. Either on film or live, I have watched both teams play at least a dozen times this season. .

There was nothing either Christopher coach Eric Stallman and Sesser-Valier coach Shane Garner could draw up much on the X’s and O’s last night that would have been any surprise to the either.

With very few personnel changes, both these kids have faced each other probably 100 times going back to their early grade school days and during the summer. They know each other well.

The only thing X and O wise was minor. Eric Stallman came out in a 2-3 zone the first few possessions. Tyler Winchester hits a deep three about the 2:55 mark in the first quarter, and gives the Devils a 9-7 lead. That was their last lead of the night. Christopher goes back to man to man, which they play 90% of the time.

Christopher goes on a 10-3 in the closing seconds and has a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams were uncharacteristically patient to open the second quarter. Off of a Kaeleb Pedigo steal, Young gets a monstrous dunk at the 4:03 mark to put Christopher up 26-16.

Pedigo and Jared Curry both had two fouls and Christopher starts taking the air out of the ball. They got a couple Princeton style back cuts to go up 33-18 at the half.

In the opening seconds of the second half Charlie Farmer bombs a 22 footer form the baseline to cut the Red Devil deficit to 12. The Bearcats then go on an 8-3 run to go up 41-24 on Gabe Schimpf hitting Young in the post to go up 41-24.

That possession is where I began to see the frustration set in with the Devils. They began to play defense with their arms instead of their feet.

From that point on the Bearcats lived at the free throw line, scoring 14 of their 19 points from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a blowout. The Bearcats improve to 17-12 and the Devils finish their 2016-17 campaign. Coach Shane Garner is always a class act and gave the maroon clad the chance to give Jamie Lance, Charles Farmer, and Addison Baxter a standing ovation.

Kaleb Pedigo led the Bearcats with 22 on the night for four Bearcats who were in double figures. Jared Curry added 17. I mentioned Young’s 14 points already. Bryce Pratt (cool hand Luke) had 11 points.

Lukas Gunter (The Red Baron) was the only Red Devil in double figures with 13 points. Tyler Winchester had eight, Charles Farmer seven, and Jamie Lance added six on the night.

Christopher will play in the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield sectional against the Gallatin County Hawks Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. The Hawks are an opponent that I am very familiar with from following the GEC, and I will have a preview out on Tuesday.

The Hawks were 74-64 winners over Cairo in OT at the Hardin County regional last night. I understand that Pilot Coach Brian Brantner put on quite a show in the overtime period, similar to what he did against Herrin in the WF Midwinter Classic.

Wednesday night will feature the Woodlawn Cardinals (15-14) against the Meridian Bobcats (13-14) in the Wednesday night game at Norris City.

Woodlawn (15-14) beat their Jefferson County and Midland Trial rival Webber Township 49-43 last night at the Wayne City Class 1A regional. The Trojans finish the year 17-12. In the regular season the four W’s of the Midland Trail beat up on each other in barn burners. If you would have thrown Grayville in the mix , it would have been an old school Mid South conference tournament.

The Cardinals face the Meridian Bobcats on Wednesday Night. The Bobcats (13-14) were 75-69 winners over the Goreville Blackcats (20-10) last night. My prayers is going out to Meridian Coach Erik Griffin who is in the hospital because of illness.

Thank you to Crab Orchard Coach John Brown and AD Keith Johns for your hospitality last night. I want to spend an extra special thank you for the ones who complimented me on my feature story about Dee Ozment last night. I was more than humbled.

A special thank you for Benton/West Frankfort Gazette writer William McPherson for giving me the chance to see it last night.

BOX SCORE:

CHRISTOPHER (71) Kaeleb Pedigo 6 1 7-7 21, Jared Curry 4 1 6-6 17, Bradley Young 4 0 6-9 17; Bryce Pratt 5 0 1-2 11; Gabe Schimpf 2 1 0-0 7; Zach Snell 0 0 0-0 0; Gabriel Motsinger 0 0 0-0 0; Andrew Dunford 0 0 0-0 0

SESSER-VALIER (41) Lukas Gunter 6 0 1-2 13; Tyler Winchester 1 2 0-0 8: Charles Farmer 1 1 2-2 7; Jamie Lance 3 0 0-0 6 Joshua Gunter 1 0 0-0 2; Seth Boles 1 0 0-0 2; Addison Baxter 0 0 0-0 0 Reed Basso 0 0 0-0 0; Eli Gunter 0 0 0-0 Addison Page 0 0 0-0 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

CHRISTOPHER: 17 16 19 19 – 71

SESSER-VALIER: 12 6 12 11 – 41

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Slider, Sports

Bearcats – Devils IV

February 24, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford – franklincounty-news.com

The Christopher Bearcats and the Sesser-Valier Red Devils tangle for the fourth time this season. Christopher has the series advantage over S-V 2-1.

In the first meeting Christopher won at Sesser 59-56. The second meeting was a 66-52 win for the Bearcats. The third was an 85-81 thrilling overtime win for the Devils at Christopher.

Tonight they meet in Williamson County for the championship of the Crab Orchard Class 1A Regional. The winner will face either Cairo (14-12) or Gallatin County (18-8) at the Norris City-Omaha Enfield sectional on Tuesday.

All game times are at 7:00 p.m.

Either Christopher Coach Eric Stallman or Shane Garner will have any aces up their sleeve for this one. Both teams will play man to man. Both teams will push the ball. It is going to come down to who has the hot hand and who executes.

There are two Jefferson County teams matching up at the Wayne City Class 1A Regional tonight as Webber Township (17-11) faces Woodwlan (14-14) to have the right to travel to Norris City on Wednesday.

The winner of Woodlawn-Webber will face either Meridian (12-14) or Goreville (21-9) who face each other at the Cobden Class 1A regional.

There is not a clear cut favorite coming into anyone of these games tonight. Class 1A is just that evenly balanced this year. Whoever steps on the floor a week from Tuesday at the SIU arena out of the eight teams above, will be battle tested.

In Class 2A the IHSA decided to dissect the state east and west by 1-57. I will attempt to break down the Pinckneyville and West Frankfort sectionals next week. It is difficult with teams you are unfamiliar with that are deep into the 217 feeding in.

Pinckneyville (28-2) and DuQuoin (14-13) meet in the Championship of the Trico for Perry County bragging rights and to play in the Pinckneyville sectional.

Nashville (18-12) will travel to Carlinville, to face Piasa SW. Forty miles south of Springfield is a long way to travel for a regional championship game.

Eldorado (27-3) will face their Saline County rival Harrisburg (11-16) for the chance to play at the West Frankfort Sectional Tuesday night against the winner of the Newton regional.

Mt. Carmel (23-4) and Edwards Co (20-6) face off and play for the Flora regional championship tonight. The winner will take on who comes out of the Pana regional in which T-Town is playing for the championship.

I will try to keep you informed the best of my ability about who is still on the road to Peoria.

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Sports

Garascia, Haley garner AP honors

February 24, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

S-V-W’s Hannah Garascia left any Jaylin Haley right. (WSIL TV file photo)

SESSER, IL Paul Hines, Mt Vernon Register- News. Please Click for the full story. Here is an excerpt.) – A pair of Sesser-Valier/Waltonville girls basketball players picked up Associated Press honors Thursday. Hannah Garascia was named second team AP all-state in 2A. Her teammate Jaylin Haley was selected as honorable mention. Both players are committed to play for Rend Lake College next season. “Nothing was given to them. They’ve earned that,” SVW coach Rick Metcalf said. “To get those kind of awards and notoriety, you’ve got to do something special.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Slider

ABV Jack talks releases statement about his house fire

February 22, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

WOODLAWN, IL – NOTE- I have been friends with Jack Bullock for several years now. His website is an invaluable resource in helping me prepare for high school basketball stories. He opens up about his house fire on his website abaselineview.com. There is a link to the GoFundMe site. Please keep Jack in your prayers. -sd Here is

Jack Bullock’s home that was destroyed by fire Thursday night.

an excerpt from his story. To the friends of A Baseline View. This is the most difficult thing that I have ever written on my website. But I felt like I needed to let everyone know what was going on. Many of you who are close to me and know me from Facebook also know that this past Thursday night my mobile home caught fire and burned to the ground. I came home while it was on fire but I wasn’t able to save anything, including my best friend and buddy, my dog “Raider.” I lost my home and my truck. Because of the age of my mobile home I had no insurance on it and my truck only had liability insurance because I never drove it long distances.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Slider, Sports

Sesser-Valier tackles the hosts Crab Orchard tonight at 7:30 P.M.

February 22, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford- franklincounty-news.com

The Sesser-Valier Red Devils match up with the hosts Crab Orchard Trojans tonight at Dee Ozment gym. Game time is around 7:30 p.m. after the Christopher/Steeleville.

For those who have not been there the gym is awesome for a school of 138. It is the fourth best in the GEC in my book behind NCOE, Gallatin County and Hardin County. There is a gap there and Thompsonville is the fifth best facility on the conference.

I have watched the Trojans play a few times this year either live or on film. My familiarity with the GEC helps a lot here. Their best

Here is a screen shot from the Thompsonville Tigers you tube feed of Dee Ozment gym. It is a facility that is worthy of hosting back to back regionals.

player is 6’3 senior Caleb Vaughn. He plays a lot like Jared Curry. He has signed a letter of intent to play for Southeastern Illinois College.

His running mate in the back court is 5′ 11″ senior Cameron Stephens. He is a sharp shooter. The Christopher comparisons are the best I can describe but he is similar to Kaeleb Pedigo.

McKager Farrell a 6′ 3″ senior and Amos Bealsey a 6′ 4″ senior are hosses in the post. Farell and Vaughn hit the 1,000 point mark in the same game against Thompsonville on January 31.

Their fifth starter is Jaden Shell a 5′ 11″ senior. He is a three type player.

Both teams are very similar as both play man to man. Both teams like to run also. I see a very high scoring game.

I can not see anyone stopping Lukas Gunter. Other than Beasley everyone likes jacking the three for Crab. Charles Farmer and Tyler Winchester needs to have the hot hand.

Preston Launius has turned into quite the defender. I look for him to draw Vaughn.

I am curious how Jamie Lance matches up Beasley and Ferrell. Lance and Seth Boles needs to stay out of foul trouble. Addison Baxter can come in and get a little physical with them inside.

The Trojans go about seven deep. Joshua Gunter could come off the bench and give them some fits going nine deep with Addison Page.

It is going to be a good game. Sesser-Valier’s tougher schedule will come into play. When I watched the Devils at Christopher, I noticed that they have became much more physical. The BIT prepared them for that.

I am done predicting games. It causes a little friction. It will be a slug fest and a very hard fought game.

Filed Under: High School Sports, Sesser-Valier High School Sports, Sports, Uncategorized

Christopher plays Steeleville tonight at 6:00 at Crab Orchard

February 22, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

Steve Dunford -franklincounty-news.com

Tonight down at the Crab Orchard regional Christopher will face Steeleville and Sesser-Valier will face the Crab Orchard Trojans.

I have a few things to say first. First my condolences goes to Robert “Radar” Patton long time Gallatin County coaches family. He passed away today.

He has ties to Franklin County as current Gallatin County Coach Doug Miller was his assistant for a few years. Miller started his coaching career at Thompsonville.

Radar’s son Drake was the coach of the Galatia-Thompsonville Lady Cats before going back home to coach at Gallatin Co. He met head to head with his dad in a few times coaching.

If anyone knows if there has been a trust fund set up for Jack Bullock let me know. He lost his home in a fire last Thursday. I use abaselineview.com a lot as a reference to prepare for my stories. He has graciously let me share links.

Bryce and Jodi Bainter with Hensley Jean.

Here is some happy news. Steeleville coach Bryce Bainter has a new addition to his family. His lovely wife Jodi gave birth to an eight pound baby girl, Hensley Jean, at 8:04 this morning at Momma and the baby are doing well.

I have a soft spot for coaches wives. They are the back bone of the family. I have never met Jodi, but we will talk soon if the Bainter’s oblige.

There are several coaches that have very young families. After the season, I am going to do several feature stories on each family.

Now on to tonight’s games.

Christopher 15-12 faces Steeleville 20-8 at 6:00 p.m. at Dee Ozment gym in Crab Orchard. Christopher had a little trouble with Z-R in their last Friday night. Steeleville picked up a nice win against Elverado Monday night in the first round.

The Warriors and the Bearcats have not faced each other this year. The Bearcats are 8-2 against common opponents. They are 2-1 against Sesser Valier and Chester. They have beat Trico twice. They also own wins against Webber Township and New Athens.

The Warriors are 4-4 against common opponents. They beat Trico twice and had wins over Webber Township and New Athens. They lost to Sesser Valier and Chester three times.

Owen Gross a 6′ 1″ sophomore plays the three spot. He is more of a third guard and one of the better ones in Southern Illinois.

Dusty Sutton a 5′ 8″ senior plays the point and Andrew Grafton a 5″ 11″ senior is his running mate. They have some size in the post 6′ 4″ Reid Frediking and 6′ 3″ senior RJ Smith.

They have a very deep bench. They can bring a couple kids that are 6′ 6″ to give them some additional size.

I am curious how Owen Gross matches up with Jared Curry. Grafton and Kaleb Pedigo along with Gabe Schimpf could get in a shootout.

The size inside might give Bradley Young a little trouble. He gets a extra amount of adrenaline in a big time game. Along with Pedigo, he has been on the big stage a lot during his career.

Bryce Pratt has been “Cool hand Luke” all year. He does not look like a freshman at all on the court.

I give the edge on the bench to Steeleville. Christopher coach Eric Stallman has been going to his bench a little more. Senior Zach Snell has played a lot more minutes down the stretch, as well as freshman Gabriel Motsinger and sophomore Dalton Saeger.

This is a game that I can not pick a favorite in. It will be a good one. I am looking forward to Richard Blakely telling me about it on WXAN.

Filed Under: Christopher High School Sports, High School Sports, Sports

Rangers pass final post season tune-up at Salem

February 22, 2017 By Jim Muir Leave a Comment

This Future Ranger might have a future in the broadcast booth. Trey Severin with Ranger color man Coach Tom Wheeler last night. Trey had on a headset earlier.

This Future Ranger might have a future in the broadcast booth. Trey Severin with Ranger color man Coach Tom Wheeler last night at B.E. Gum gym. Trey had on a headset earlier.

SALEM, IL- (WJBD radio- Salem/Centralia, Click to read the full article. Here is an excerpt) A slow start couldn’t be overcome by a strong finish and the Salem Wildcats fell to 6th ranked Benton at B.E. Gum on senior night 56-51. Brenden Boles layup with 2:38 left cut a 15 point second half deficit to just 2 points, but Salem would get no closer. Derek Oxford hit a 3 pointer from the corner, his 4th on the night, to help seal the deal late for the Rangers who improved to 28-2 while Salem fell to 12-14. Brenden Boles led the Cats with 13 points. Kaden Wayer added 12.

Filed Under: Benton High School Sports, High School Sports, Slider, Sports