Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes defeat Trico in overtime

December 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By RANDALL RISLEY

ZEIGLER – Zeigler-Royalton used a tenacious team defense, clutch scoring and outstanding free-throw shooting to defeat Trico 64-61 in overtime Tuesday night.

“Our kids battled the entire game and gained confidence as the game went on,” said Zeigler Royalton coach Matt Morgan. “Their willingness to make a commitment on the defensive end, our ability to knock down free-throws, and our crowd’s energy were the difference in the game.”

The Tornadoes were led in scoring by Nick McPhail with 19 points and Boris Moskoff with 16.

McPhail had five field goals and was nine of eleven from the free throw line in addition to six assists and five steals.

Moskoff had three field goals and was an outstanding ten of ten from the charity stripe. Boris also added a team high seven rebounds.

Brandon Jones contributed eight points and six rebounds against the taller Pioneers, Jeffery Pedigo ran the offense, Jeremy Weddle added a clutch three pointer and Brandon Stubblefield and Bailey Schmipf
provided scoring and intense defense.

The Tornadoes are 10-3 on the season and 2-1 in Black Diamond Conference play.

Next up for Z-R will be #3 seed Waltonville in the first round of the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

“It’s a big win for our team and we are going to enjoy it, but at the same time we know we have to get back to the gym and get to work to prepare for the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament next week,” Morgan said.

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Harrisburg defeats Lady Redbirds

December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The Harrisburg Lady Bulldogs had a strategy best suited for a long distance race: get the big lead early and hold on. The Lady Bulldogs beat the West Frankfort Lady Redbirds 69-32 Tuesday night in Harrisburg.

The game was an Ohio Division conference match-up. Fueled by a 20-6 lead in the first quarter, Harrisburg outscored the Redbirds in every quarter thereafter. Only in the third quarter did the Redbirds virtually hold their own, outscored by just 4 points. However, by that time it was too little too late.

Scoring leader for Matt Hampleman’s club went to Jacklyn Calvert  with 13 points.Other scorers included: Wilce 8, Cunningham 5, and 2 each for Melvin, Sailiez, and Jones.

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Redbirds dominate Carmi-White County

December 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

A smothering defense allowed the West Frankfort Redbirds to break a close game open Tuesday night. The Redbirds scored a 58-42victory over visiting Carmi-White County.

The game opened slowly as neither team scored until the halfway point of the first quarter. At the end of the first eight minutes, the score was tied 8-8.

At the halfway point, the Redbirds and Bulldogs had battled closely with the Redbirds taking an intermission lead of 19-16.

The Redbirds forced turnovers in the third quarter and kept Carmi-White County out of their comfortable shooting zones. Eric Dixon’s team became their own worst enemy as the game dragged on. They shot three-point shots freely, rarely connecting. and, in doing so went away from offensive rebounding which had produced results in the first half.

In quarter three, the Redbirds got balanced, scoring Braxton Koehl with 7 points and Trenton Easley had 6 in the frame. By quarter’s end, the ‘Birds had opened a 38-26 lead and had captured the momentum.

The fourth quarter saw the Redbirds open the lead even further, enroute to the 16 point win.

And, with that win, Dan Dewerff’s team ran their record to 2-5 for the season. Scoring for the Redbirds included:  Trenton Easley and Christian Dunning with 15 points each, Nick Korolenko had 10,,Braxton Koehl had 9, Keller, and Maller had 4 points apiece, and Fort had a single free throw.
The Redbirds and Carmi-White County each had 20 rebounds.
Carmi-White County came from behind to win the JV game 51-45 after the Redbirds had opened up a fourth quarter lead.
The Redbirds now prepare for visiting Benton on Friday night. This was a game scheduled to begin the 2012-13 basketball season until Benton requested a reschedule. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m. Friday, and the varsity game approximately 7:45 p.m.
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Sophomore Rangers get a win over Carbondale

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Dakota Head makes a free throw to go up by 2 at the end of the game.

By TAMMY HEAD

Benton took the lead early and held on for the entire game to win 56-54 over Carbondale. The sophomore squad was hitting on all cylinders Monday night equally sharing the scoring responsibilities.

Ahead 21-18 after the first period, Rangers extended their lead to 39-26 at the half maintaining a ten point lead at the end of the 3rd.

Carbondale made a run at Benton at the 6 minute mark bringing the score to 49-46 with 5:30 left to play. Rangers continued to battle for the next 5 minutes, then with 33 seconds remaining, Carbondale was within 1 point. Dakota Head hit the front end of a pair of free throws to make the score 56-54. Carbondale had time to tie it up but couldn’t get the shot to fall. Rangers held on to win 56-54.

Coach Brett Blondi said, “I thought our kids played extremely hard and turned out a gutsy performance.  We made big stops when we needed to.  I was very proud of our kids effort.”

Scoring for the Rangers:

Trey McDaniel – 12, Martin Ward – 12, Jesse VanHorbeke – 12, Gus Gibbs – 10, Dakota Head – 8, Brendon Ritchason – 2

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Redbirds at home tonight

December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The West Frankfort Redbird boys junior and varsity basketball teams are at home Tuesday night. The Redbirds play host to visiting Carmi-White County in a non-conference game.

The Redbirds are coming off a lopsided loss Friday at Herrin, 73-35.

The JV game begins at 6 p.m., and Varsity game approximately 7:45 p.m.

Both games can be heard online at www.wfschools.org

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Tigers hand Redbirds big loss

December 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

General George Custer got a warmer reception at Little Bighorn than the Redbirds received Friday night at Herrin. Entering the game, both teams had won only once. Pre-game talk among the fans was a close game was expected. Then, reality set in. Final score: Herrin 73-West Frankfort 35.

A relentless trapping zone defense forced the Redbirds into three consecutive turnovers to begin the game. Still, early, the Redbirds held it close as Herrin struggled offensively. In fact, Nick Korolenko’s jumper tied the game at a bucket apiece three minutes into the contest.

However, Herrin corrected their offensive mistakes – and the ‘Birds never did. At the end of the first quarter Herrin held a commanding 17-2 lead. Still, there was hope. A week ago, Irvin Lukens’ club held a huge lead over Benton. But, the Rangers came back to win that game in overtime. The Redbirds would not be as lucky. Mistakes continued to haunt the “Birds into the second quarter and by half Herrin’s lead had ballooned to 38-8 .

In the second quarter, the ‘Birds offense did show some signs of a slight pulse. That continued in the third quarter.  Quarter Three was the most productive quarter of basketball for West Frankfort  Friday night. The Redbirds put 17 points on the Memorial Gym scoreboard in that frame. This was in part aided by two three-point shots from sophomore Braxton Koehl and a pair of buckets by sophomore Christian Dunning.

But, by then, the Redbirds also had quit defending the lane,and were giving up easy buckets off drives and entry passes. Herrin’s Jeril Pirtle used that quarter to knife his way through the porous defense for 9 third quarter points. teammate Justin Lukens had 8 in the quarter as Herrin substituted freely. Both teams finished the long ago decided game with bench personnel.

Herrin was led by the 26 points from Justin Lukens, son of the Herrin varsity basketball coach, Irv Lukens. Justin Lukens had quarters of 9,9 and 7 points, sitting out much of the fourth quarter. Pirtle ended up with 15 points for the game. No other Tiger scored more than 6 points.

Christian Dunning was the lone Redbird in double figures with 14 points. Korolenko had 7 points. Koehl had the two three-point shots mentioned earlier for a total of 6, senior Trenton Easley had 3 points, Drew Maller and Zack Fort had 2 points apiece and Gage Williams had a free throw for a single point.

The major statistic in the game was turnovers. Herrin committed 8 for the game. West Frankfort had 23 turnovers, as they were helpless against Herrin zone defenses and extended court pressure. The inability to even get shots attempted negated any hope of a comeback  for Dan Dewerff’s team.

The win improves Herrin to 2-5, 1-1 in conference play for the season. And, the Redbirds fell to 1-5, 0-2 in the Ohio Division of the River-to-River Conference. If there is any good news for the ‘Birds it is that they have time to regroup. Saturday night is an idle night for the Redbirds- a chance to forget one of those inevitable nights in the gym when nothing seems to go right – which happens to most every team.
Herrin easily won the junior-varsity contest, keeping the JVs winless with a 54-26 victory.
Next up for the Redbirds is a visit from Carmi-White County. That game will be Tuesday night, with the JV game set to begin at 6 p.m.
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Lady Indians score road victory at West Frankfort

December 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
BY BRUCE A. FASOL
A furious third quarter comeback by the West Frankfort Lady Redbirds could not keep visiting Johnston city from scoring a 49-44 victory Saturday afternoon. The non-conference game was played at Max Morris Gym.
Johnston City dominated the first half, leading 9-5 after one quarter. In the second quarter the Indians took a commanding27-17 lead into the locker room. But, the Lady Redbirdss caught fire in quarter three and made up a huge difference outscoring Johnston City 12-4. The Indians stopped the comeback with an 18-14 advantage in the
last frame.
Scoring for the lady Redbirds: Wilce 12, Calvert 9, Cunningham 8, Stewart 8, Melvin 4, and Sailiez 1.
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Patriots beat Redbirds in Ohio opener

December 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

The Massac County Patriots defeated the West Frankfort Redbirds Friday night. The game was the conference opener for both ball clubs. Once the Patriots ran their lead to double digits, they seemed to draw a line in the sand. Only a few times did the pesky Redbirds cross that line, getting no closer than 4 points.  And, Massac County began drawing that line by first quarter’s end, up 19-10.

The Redbirds were outscored 12-10 in the second quarter, after making some runs at the Patriots. In the second quarter, the Patriots found some holes in the Redbird defense that allowed Devontay Blye to drive to the goal. Autin Kendall hit a shot and got a stick back bucket as well to lengthen the Patriot lead to 31-20 at intermission.

The third quarter turned into a Dalton Mitchell-Braxton Koehl heavyweight match up. Mitchell blistered the nets for 10 points in the third quarter. He sank two three-point shots in the process. Sophomore Koehl, a Redbird starter, added a dozen points in the frame, with two field goals and ten for ten free throw accuracy. But, by quarter’s end, the determined Redbirds still trailed, but by only 10 points,51-41.

Massac County put the game away with a 23-11 scoring advantage over the last eight minutes. Trenton Easley sank a three-point shot as a highlight of the frame for West Frankfort.  The Redbird bench added the only other two field goals, one by Jacob Bartoni and one by Drew Maller.

Scoring for the ‘Birds included: 15 for Koehl, 11 Easley, 9 for Fort, 8 Maller ( who started game for injured Christian Dunning), 6 for Nic Korolenko, 2 Bartoni and 1 point for Evan Keller.

Unofficially, Massac County out-rebounded the home team 28-22. Both teams turned it over 13 times in the game.

With the loss, the Redbirds are now 1-4 for the season. They drop to 0-1 for the Ohio Division play.

The next game for the Redbirds will be a Friday road game at Herrin. The Junior Varsity lost their game 60-27 and remain winless.

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Late basket lifts Lady Redbirds

December 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By BRUCE A. FASOL

A late basket by senior Rebecca Cunningham lifted the West Frankfort Lady Redbirds to a thrilling 28-27 win over visiting Anna-Jonesboro on Thursday night.

The Lady Redbirds had built an early 7-2 lead, and it was their largest of the game. In the second half, it also looked like the ‘Birds would pull away after building a 4-point lead. However, a determined Lady Wildcat team kept cutting those leads. After trailing initially, Anna-Jonesboro held a 15-13 lead at the half. and, indicative of the flow of this game, the Lady Redbirds had grabbed off a 23-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

AJ took a one point lead after a dramatic three-point shot by Kaitie Grant with 5:16 to play. The Redbirds tied the game with a free throw at the 4:48 mark left. The game stayed tied at 26 apiece until Grant hit a free throw to give the visitors the one point lead with :53 seconds to go.
Both teams could not find the range, and both teams committed mistakes as the clock wound down. With just :13 seconds remaining Rebecca Cunningham fired a little jump shot in the lane to give the Redbirds a 28-27 lead. Anna-Jonesboro had a chance down the stretch but missed a key free throw, as did the Redbirds. A final shot hit the rim that could have won the game for the Wildcats.
West Frankfort Coach Matt Hampleman was happy with the win, but still admitted there were a lot of things to work on.
“We ran the sets we wanted to run, but couldn’t finish it off,” he said.
One of the areas needing work was free-throw shooting where the Redbirds were 5 of 12, or 42 percent, from the line. The Redbirds were also plagued by turnovers.
Coach Hampleman pointed out that the Birds are somewhat young, at times with three freshmen on the floor.  But, Hampleman put it into perspective, saying,  “Any win is a good win in front of our fans.”
Scoring for the Redbirds included Kiarha Wilce 10, Rebecca Cunningham with 8,Lindsey Williams 5,Jacklynn Calvert 4 and Hanna Melvin 1.
The game also marked the return of Jordan Crowder. However, it was short lived on Thursday as she was re-injured in the contest.
With the win, the Lady Redbirds are 3-7 and will host Johnston City on Saturday.
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Rangers fall to Egyptian in season opener

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By JIM MUIR

The Benton Rangers opened the new basketball season on a losing note Tuesday night dropping a 68-59 decision to the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Egyptian rode the one-two punch of Demantae Price and Justin Prewett, who combined for 52 points in the victory in second round action from the first-ever Goreville Invitational Tournament. Prewett had 28 and Price had 24 respectively.

The Rangers fell behind 19-10 after one quarter and trailed by 12 points early in the second quarter before rallying behind the play of Nathaniel Higgins and Daulton Ward to outscore Egyptian 19-12 in the second frame and trail only 31-29 at the half.

Benton actually grabbed the lead early in the third quarter surging ahead 34-33 but fell behind again and trailed 43-41 heading into the final frame.

“I thought we showed some character to come back after falling behind early,” said Benton coach Ron Winemiller. “When we got the lead I thought we were going to be all right but we had a couple of possessions where we shot too quickly and we made a couple of ill-advised passes and then when we fell behind again we just couldn’t bounce back.”

The Rangers entered the game with virtually no varsity experience except for Cole Forby who was a mainstay on last year’s 19-9 regional championship team.

“I thought our inexperience showed some during the game and I really do think this team is going to get much better,” said Winemiller. “That is not coach-speak, I think we have the potential to be a pretty good team as the season rolls on. I really like this team, they have been a great group to work with.”

While Benton was playing in its first game of the season Egyptian, who played in last week’s Christopher Turkey Tournament, was playing game number five, a point not lost on Winemiller.

“I think we had some season opening jitters and they (Egyptian) got off to a great start tonight,,” said Winemiller. “But, I think we settled down in the second quarter.”

Nine players saw action for Benton in the season-opening loss but only four hit the scoring column with three of them going for double figures. Ward led the way with 23 points, followed by Higgins with 20 and Forby with 10. Ethan Hughes also added six points for the Rangers.

In other action last night Goreville, who has established itself as the team to beat in the tournament, walloped Anna-Jonesboro by a score of 81-41. The tournament is idle Wednesday night but resumes on Thursday with a pair of games and also two games each on Friday and Saturday.

Here is the schedule for the remainder of the week:

Thursday

AJ vs. Egyptian 6 p.m.

Johnston City vs. Benton 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Benton vs. AJ 6 p.m.

Goreville vs. Johnston City 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Egyptian vs. Johnston City 6 p.m.

Benton vs. Goreville 7:30 p.m.

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