Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
HERRIN – Kyle Hammers, Keagan Thrash, and Bradlee Croslin had 14 points each on the night at the Redbirds last night as they fall to the Herrin Tigers 68-59. Here are some links to stories written about last night’s game.
Here are a couple links about last night’s game.
BUCKY DENT FROM THE SOUTHERN ILLINOISAN
DAVE BROY FROM WEST FRANKFORT SPORTS
http://westfrankfortsports.com/fchs-redbirds-varsity-jv-bball-teams-lose-at-herrin-p901-165.htm
Saturday, January 13
3:30 Sesser-Valier-Waltonville vs. Herrin
5:00 Pinckneyville vs. West Frankfort
Tuesday, January 16
5:30 Herrin vs. Pinckneyville
7:00 West Frankfort vs. Sesser-Valier-Waltonville
Thursday, January 18
5:30 Pinckneyville vs. Sesser-Valier-Waltonville
7:00 Herrin vs. West Frankfort
Tie Breakers
1st tie breaker is the head-to-head play within your division 2nd tie breaker is each team’s free throw percentage.
The 30-point mercy rule will be in effect during the fourth quarter.
The Sesser-Valier Red Devils are ranked fifth and the Christopher Bearcats sixth in the latest poll Class 1A released by Jack Bullock (ABV Jack) of the website abaselineview.com.
The Thompsonville Tigers crack the honorable mention slot in Class 1A, and the West Frankfort Redbirds crack the 2A honorable mention slot.
Please click on the link below for the latest poll.
http://abaselineview.com/abvrankings.html
Cameron Bowby – Marissa-Coulterville
Matt Campbell – Johnston City
Tanner Dunn – Goreville
Blake Fewkes – Woodlawn
Lukas Gunter – Sesser-Valier
Gage Hawkins – Christopher
Tyson Kessler – Thompsonville
Keith Kiener III – Chester
Preston Launius – Sesser-Valier
Peyton Massey – Goreville
Blake McKay – Woodlawn
Chase Selby – Johnston City
Braden Webb – Goreville
Tyler Winchester – Sesser-Valier
Bradley Young – Christopher
SESSER – The Parings for the Sesser Valier Holiday Tournament were released about an hour ago. The Woodlawn Cardinals received the top seed in the event. They will face the Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes at 5:00 p.m, in a first round matchup. All first round games will be played on December 26th.
The Christopher Bearcats (4-1) are the #3 seed, facing the Galatia Bearcats (2-6) at 10:30 a.m.
The Sesser-Valier Red Devils (2-5) are the #4 seed and they will face the Waltonville Spartans in their traditional 8 p.m. matchup.
The Thompsonville Tigers (3-4) are unseeded and they face the #5 seed the Cobden Appleknockers (6-4) at 6:30 p.m.
Below is the full bracket – sd
By Steve Dunford
Panoramic view of Sesser-Valier high school gym last season.
Over the last week, I have been asked by a few people to share my thoughts on the seedings of the Sesser-Valier and Eldorado Holiday Tournaments. They will be released in the next few days.
I am not a coach, so I do not get a ballot to seed the teams. I am going to go 1-16 in case they seed the teams all the way through. In the past, both tournaments list 9-16 as unseeded.
I love to hear your thoughts. I hope this spurs some conversation. Franklin County teams are in bold.
Goreville (#1 4-2) – The Blackcats gave A-J all they wanted in their own tournament banged up. They are in the middle of a two week break, which could not come at a better time for Coach Todd Tripp. I have watched Goreville a few times this season on film. I will get to see them live, if the Lord is willing on Saturday night against West Frankfort.
Sesser-Valier (#2 2-4) – You might ask why I have seeded the hosts so high? I am going to pull a “Mo” on you by answering my own question. They hung around with every team at DuQuoin in their losses. A blowout win over Joe Hosman’s Massac County Patriots as DQ and leaving Chester with a 15 point win on Friday upped their seed a few notches. It is no disgrace getting beat by Okawville by 20.
Woodlawn (#3 3-3) – The Cardinals had a very good weekend, beating Odin by 20 and Christopher by 10. They just keep reloading and winning.
Christopher (#4 4-1) – The Bearcats slid a few notches after falling to Woodlawn. They were projected as my top seed going into the game with the Cardinals. If Young and Curry are on fire, they can be cutting the nets down two years in a row.
Chester (#5 5-2) – Like Christopher, they slid down a couple of notches, after the Devils beat them on their own floor over the weekend. A fifteen point loss to Murphysboro would not have hurt them one bit.
Odin (#6 5-3) – Eagle Coach Tyler Mitchell is no stranger to the SVHT. The Eagles dropped two in a row to the top dogs of the Midland Trail, Webber Township and Woodlawn.
Cobden (#7 6-4) – If I ever need an attorney, I want Appleknoker coach Rhett Barke representing me. I love to watch him coach. They about knocked off Meridian over the weekend.
Steeleville (#8 4-4) – Owen Gross is one of the better players in the tournament. Whether they go left or right, the Warriors seem to always play four games.
Johnston City (#9 2-5) – This is a homecoming for Indian coach Scott Burzynski. The coach can point to his #54 jersey hanging in the commons. I have not watched them play, but it seems that JC gets better every time out. They might make some noise.
Thompsonville (#10 3-4) – A fifteen point loss at Pope County probably cost them a top 8. If the team shows up that played in the second half against Webber Township, the Tigers can spring an upset and move right.
New Athens (#11 4-4) – The Yellow Jackets are solid. Jackson Heintz will be one of the better post players in the tournament. They waltzed through the consolation bracket of the Christopher Tournament.
Century (#12 3-4) – They had a decent Vienna Classic. A loss Egyptian caused their stock to plummet.
Galatia (#13 2-6) – A lot of people comment to me about T’ville and their big front line. Galatia equally is as deep on the inside. They lost their backcourt due to graduation. The Bearcats picked up a nice win over Crab Orchard Friday night.
Marissa-Coulterville (#14 4-4) The Meteors have a couple wins against private schools in the Metro East that are in the startup phases of their program. Steeleville beat them by 30. This is the reason for the low seed.
Waltonville (#15 2-6) Their wins are against winless Z-R and Sandoval. It is going to be a tough year for the Spartans.
Zeigler-Royalton (#16 0-6) It is no secret the Tornadoes are rebuilding. They came an eyelash from knocking off Woodlawn last year.
By Jim Muir
The Sesser-Valier-Waltonville Lady Devils ran their record to 9-0 Monday night with a 77-33 Black Diamond Conference West victory over Johnston City.
The Lady Devils raced out to an 18-6 first quarter lead and then put the game away in the second frame by outscoring Johnston City 31-8 to take a commanding 49-14 halftime lead.
S-V-W Coach Rick Metcalf went to his bench early and often in the lopsided contest with all 13 players seeing action in the first half.
“We shot the ball extremely well tonight,” said Metcalf. “I thought we shot particularly well from behind the arc.”
The Lady Devils hit 10 3-pointers in the road win, led by sophomore Jaice McCowen, who had four 3-pointers. McCowen led her team in scoring with 15 on the night.
Also scoring in double figures for the Lady Devils was Jada Hale with 14, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“I thought Jada and Jaice both played extremely well tonight,” Metcalf said. “We’re getting balanced scoring and that’s a big part of the success we’re having right now.”
Through nine games the Lady Devils have had seven different players lead the team in scoring. Rounding out the scoring from Monday’s win, Paige Tucker also had double figures with 12 points, Sami McCowen added nine points, Carlie Page added seven points, Peyton Wilderman scored six points, Ella Zahm had four points and Brooke Wilderman, Anna Kistner, Rylee Breeze, Jaycee Garner and Adrianna Fedderke all had two points.
The Lady Devils are back in action on Thursday night in a key conference matchup when they face Route 148 rival Christopher in a road game.
By Jim Muir
Sometimes in sports it’s not as important how you start as it is how you finish.
After struggling throughout the week, the Sesser-Valier Red Devils finished the Du Quoin Tip Off Classic on a strong note by grabbing their first win of the season – a 72-44 victory over Massac County.
“We played pretty well,” said S-V Coach Shane Garner. “Our defense was pretty solid and forced some turnovers that we were able to capitalize on. Our shot selection was better which led to better offensive production.”
The Red Devils outscored the Patriots in every quarter but put the game away in the third frame. Leading only 31-26 at the intermission, S-V outscored Massac County 25-11 in the third quarter to take a commanding 56-47 lead into the final quarter.
Garner said the turnovers – a problem for his team in three losses this week at Du Quoin – improved on Saturday night.
“We still had some unforced turnovers in the first half but I thought we did a much better job in the second half,” Garner said. “It was good to get the first win under our belt.”
S-V’s Tyler Winchester grabbed game scoring honors as he tallied 25 points and hit five 3-pointers. Also in double figures for the Red Devils was Eli Gunter with 13 points and Lukas Gunter with 12. Rounding out the S-V scoring, Josh Gunter and Addison Page added seven points each, Preston Launius had six points and Peyton Rock added two points.
In a Saturday afternoon game the Red Devils were defeated by Carmi-White County by a score of 56-41. S-V has little time to rest after four games in the opening week of the season as they will host always tough Okawville in the home opener on Tuesday, December 5.
By Jim Muir
The Sesser-Valier Red Devils dropped a hard-fought 56-48 decision to the host Indians in Friday night hoops from the Du Quoin Tip-Off Classic.
Coach Shane Garner said turnovers were instrumental in the loss on Friday night.
“Turnovers were an issue on Monday against Cairo and they were again tonight,” said Garner. “I though we clicked early and executed very well. In the end they were able to put together some runs and we weren’t.”
Du Quoin led 19-16 at the end of one quarter and extended the lead to 34-27 at halftime.
Garner said rebounding was also a key to the loss.
“They really dominated us on the glass,” said Garner. “We would force them into missing a shot and then we couldn’t capitalize and get a rebound and gave them second chance opportunities.”
The Red Devils were led in scoring by Tyler Winchester with 19, the lone S-V player in double figures. Also scoring for the Red Devils was Preston Launius and Peyton Rock with nine points each, followed by Lukas Gunter with 8, Addison Page with 2 and Josh Gunter with one point.
The loss dropped S-V to 0-2 on the young season and 0-2 heading into a tough day of action on Saturday in the round robin tournament. The Red Devils face Carmi-White County at 12 noon and then will come back at 6 p.m. to meet Massac County.
By Jim Muir
WOODLAWN – The Sesser-Valier-Waltonville Lady Devils improved to 7-0 Wednesday night with a close 34-31 victory at Woodlawn.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively with S-V-W trailing 6-3 at the end of the opening quarter.
“Our offense was stagnant all night,” said S-V-W Coach Rick Metcalf. “Our defense was really good all night that’s what got us by and got us the win.”
The Lady Devils put together a good second quarter outscoring Woodlawn by double digits 14-4 to take a 17-10 halftime advantage. The second frame actually was the difference in the game as Woodlawn outscored S-V-W 21-17 in the second half but still fell short.
“We hit some clutch free throws down the stretch that really contributed to the win,” Metcalf said. “I thought Sami McCowen and Paige Tucker both had outstanding games for us tonight.”
Tucker and McCowen led the Lady Devils in scoring with 14 and 8 points respectively. Sophomore Carlie Page added seven points, Jada Hale and Jaycee Garner scored two each and Jaice McCowen added one point.
Metcalf said he is pleasantly surprised to be heading into December with an unblemished mark.
“We have played really well as a team, “said the longtime coach. “We have had six different leading scorers in seven games and that is great balance.”
The Lady Devils are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they will host Chester in a Black Diamond Conference West matchup. The JV game will begin at 1 p.m.
