St. Elmo finishes second in own Holiday Tournament

ST. ELMO – A defensive lapse by St. Elmo at the end of the first quarter may have cost it the championship at its own tournament Saturday night.

Leading 14-4 late in the period, the Eagles allowed Altamont to shoot three 3-pointers in the final 2:20 to trim that lead to 17-14.

“That was probably the biggest breakdown we had all night long,” said St. Elmo coach Greg Feezel. “They took advantage.”

The Indians would tie the Eagles at 20 with 4:12 left in the first half, and the game would be tied four more times before top-seeded Altamont took a 42-41 advantage with 6:51 left in its 59-54 win against the Eagles that earned it the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament title.

The third-seeded Eagles (3-3) started the game on a 5-0 run in the first 3:30 and led Altamont 8-4 a minute later, before extending their lead to 10.

Junior center Ben Sperry was a key to St. Elmo’s early success, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds in the first quarter. He was named second-team all-tournament.

His teammate, sophomore Connor Beasley, was named to the first-team. Against Altamont, he scored 14 points, including a 3-pointer that gave St. Elmo a 27-24 advantage with 52 seconds left in the first half.

Before then, Altamont went on a run of its own, holding the Eagles scoreless for almost six straight minutes in the second quarter. St. Elmo led 28-26 at halftime.

“I thought we were looking good, but in good ballgames, you’re always going to make a run and then cool off,” Feezel said.

Neither team made a serious run in the second half until Altamont used an 8-1 series to take a 53-45 lead with 1:35 left in the game.

Sperry made 3-of-4 free throws on St. Elmo’s next two possessions to cut the deficit to 53-49, but the Indians made 6-of-10 free shots down the stretch to preserve the victory.

“Someone had to lose,” Feezel said. “You can’t be upset with anything here.

“The kids were disappointed enough. That’s shows me they care, and that’s all that matters.”

Saturday, Dec. 18

Altamont vs. St. Elmo

Altamont 59

St. Elmo 54

Points –Beasley, 14; Blaine Scholes, 12; Sperry, 12; Garrett Buzzard, 6; Kase Stolte, 6; Blake Pruett, 4.

Record –3-3

St. Elmo  17–11–12–14—54

Altamont  13–13–13–20—59

Up Next –vs. Pana on Monday at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament

Third-Place Game

No. 3 Beecher City handled fourth-seeded South Central in the third-place game, 61-46.

Trailing by 14 at halftime, the Cougars (1-6) slowly tried to inch back into the game, holding Beecher City to 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

South Central trimmed the lead to as few as eight, but the Eagles have a very deep team, which ended up wearing out the Cougars.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Beecher vs. South Central

Beecher City 61

South Central 46

Points –Fischer Tharp, 22; Colby Bushue, 10; Nathan Hill, 8; Andrew Snow, 5; Derek Harmeier, 1.

Record –1-6

SC  12–14–10–10—46

BC  20–20–7–14—61

Up Next –vs. Flora on Monday at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament

Fifth-Place Game

No. 6 Cowden-Herrick defeated fifth-seeded Brownstown in the fifth-place game on Saturday, 48-46.

The Bombers seemed all but out of the game, trailing by nine points at halftime and by seven after the third period.

Brownstown, however, used a 12-0 run in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 44.

The Bombers were unable to score a basket in the final 30 seconds to counteract Cowden's late scoring.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Brownstown vs. Cowden

Cowden 48

Brownstown 46

Points –Austin Hunter, 11; Bryce Mason, 11; Zach Rigdon,  10; Colten Hunter, 8; Jake Behrends, 6.

Record –3-9

Hornets  15–12–12–9—48

Bombers  9–9–14–14—46

Up Next –vs. Cowden on Jan. 7

Seventh-Place Game

Mulberry Grove High School boys basketball coach Chris Johnson said he hoped his team could get at least a win or two by the new year after the Aces lost their ninth straight game.

Two games later, Johnson had his wish.

In the seventh-place game of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament, No. 7 Mulberry Grove defeated No. 8 Ramsey, 64-51.

The Aces trailed by one heading into the fourth quarter, but freshman Devonta Williamson stepped in to score 10 of his career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, as Mulberry Grove ran away with the victory.

Asa Thomas and Blake Hadley combined to score 31 points for the Rams.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Mulberry vs. Ramsey

Mulberry 64

Ramsey 51

Scoring:

Mulberry – Williamson, 22; Harley Steed, 14; John Rickman, 10; Jacob Rickman, 7; Allen Tompkins, 7; Zach Heilig, 4.

Ramsey – Thomas, 16; Hadley, 15; Andrew Cunningham, 6; Tyler Pryor, 6; Jordan Johnson, 4; Austin Cunningham, 2; Luke Webb, 2.

Records:

Mulberry – 1-10

Ramsey – 1-8

Mulberry  15–7–16–26—64

Ramsey  13–13–13–12—51

Up Next:

Ramsey – vs. Odin on Jan. 4

Mulberry – at Mt. Olive on Jan. 4

Second-round games

Beecher City vs. St. Elmo

St. Elmo trailed by 10 at halftime, but scored 53 points in the second half to upset second-seeded Beecher City, 77-65.

Beasley made 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, which also featured the Eagles holding Beecher City to just nine points in the third quarter. At that point, St. Elmo led by 10.

Scholes scored 17 points for St. Elmo, 11 of which came in the second half.

Friday, Dec. 17

St. Elmo 77

Beecher 65

Points – Beasley, 23; Scholes, 17; Pruett, 10; Buzzard, 8; Stolte, 8; Sperry, 7; Jake Mansker, 4.

St. Elmo  12–12–29–24—77

Beecher  13–21–9–22—65

Altamont vs. South Central

After finishing its triple-overtime battle with Brownstown, South Central lost to Altamont, 59-42 in a second-round contest on Friday.

Altamont won with a balanced scoring effort, netting no fewer than 12 points in any quarter and holding a 31-20 halftime lead.

In second quarter, Altamont scored 15 of its 16 points off 3-pointers, including three by Heiden.

The Cougars were led by Snow (11 points) and Tharp (10 points).

Friday, Dec. 17

Altamont 59

South Central 42

Points – Snow, 11; Tharp, 10; Bushue, 7; Harmeier, 6; Ross Stock, 4; Jacob Linder, 2; Colton Wilkins, 2.

Altamont  15–16–12–16—59

S. Central  7–13–12–10—42

Brownstown vs. Ramsey

Rigdon and Mason, seniors from Brownstown,  combined to score 45 points in the Bombers’ second-best offensive showing of the season, a 70-59 win against Ramsey in the second round.

Rigdon scored at least four points in each quarter, and Mason had at least three, with 3-pointers in each period except the fourth.

Ramsey got an unexpected performance from Pryor, who scored 16 points off the bench, including four 3-pointers.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Brownstown 70

Ramsey 59

Scoring:

B-Town – Rigdon, 23; Mason, 22; A. Hunter, 8; Matt Sefton, 7; C. Hunter, 6; Behrends, 2; Coleman Scott, 2.

Ramsey – Hadley, 17; Pryor, 16; Johnson, 8; Andrew Cunningham, 6; Thomas, 5; Webb, 5.

B-Town – 20–17–18–15—70

Ramsey – 15–11–11–22—59

Cowden vs. Mulberry

Mulberry Grove could not overcome Cowden-Herrick’s 23-point second quarter, losing a second-round game, 63-48.

Tompkins had an overall strong game for the Aces, scoring in each quarter for a game-high 21 points.

Nine different players scored for the Hornets, with Luke Moore scoring 21 and Shane Mitchell scoring 13.

Saturday, Dec. 18

Cowden 63

Mulberry 48

Points – Tompkins, 21; Heilig, 9; John Rickman, 6; Jacob Rickman, 5; Steed, 5; Williamson, 2.

Mulberry  10–8–16–14—48

Cowden  11–23–14–15—63

First-round games

St. Elmo vs. Cowden

St. Elmo trailed by as much as seven in the third quarter against Cowden-Herrick in the first round of its own tournament, but rallied behind two scoring sequences that helped lift the Eagles to a 69-56 win.

With 12 seconds left in the third quarter, Pruett stole the ball from Cowden-Herrick. Right before the buzzer, Sperry tipped in his own miss to cut the Hornets’ lead to 45-42.

Early in the fourth quarter, Pruett made a 3-pointer to cut St. Elmo’s deficit to one. Moments later, he made another bucket off a Buzzard steal to give the Eagles their first lead, 47-46, since mid-way through the third period.

“A kid like Blake Pruett decided he had had enough, I guess,” Feezel said. “Our intensity level was lacking all night long, and finally, it showed up.”

And it stayed high until the game ended on a 22-10 St. Elmo run.

With about 2:30 left in the game, Pruett made a 3-pointer and was fouled after the shot. He split the bonus free throws, but the four-point possession put the Eagles up by 11, effectively ending Cowden-Herrick’s chance for a comeback.

The Eagles had previously defeated the Hornets, 75-53, in a National Trail Conference contest on Dec. 7.

Wednesday, Dec. 15

St. Elmo 69

Cowden 56

Points – Beasley, 20; Buzzard, 15; Pruett, 14; Sperry, 9; Mansker, 6; Scholes, 2; Stolte, 2; Patrick Schaal, 1.

St. Elmo  14–15–13–27—69

Cowden  15–13–17–11—56

Beecher vs. Mulberry

Mulberry Grove was defeated by Beecher City, 68-36, in the first round of the tournament.

Overmatched by Beecher City’s depth, Johnson said his team did all he could ask for in the game.

“There’s going to be nights where if you go out and give it everything you’ve got and we come up short, then that’s all we can do,” he said.

That game was the perfect example.

Tompkins, a senior, fouled out on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Aces continued to fight, with Steed, also a senior, taking control.

He may have scored just five points in the final period, but Steed rushed up and down the court and stepped up to take those shots before he fouled out with 30 seconds left in the game.

“The last three games, our kids have really changed their whole attitude, and the way they are playing,” Johnson said. “We’re playing four quarters now.”

With a front-loaded schedule, Johnson knew the early going would be difficult for his squad, but watching his team find more confidence each game has helped ease the burden of losing.

Wednesday, Dec. 15

Beecher 68

Mulberry 36

Points – Steed, 9; Heilig, 8; Williamson, 8; Tompkins, 4; Jacob Rickman, 3; Bloemker, 2; John Rickman, 2.

Mulberry  13–4–8–11—36

Beecher  17–15–19–17—68

First-Team All-Tournament

• Ryan Heiden, MVP, Altamont

• Jaden Jahraus, Altamont

• Luke Levitt, Beecher City,

• Fischer Tharp, SC

• Connor Beasley, St. Elmo,

Second-Team All-Tournament

• Blake Hadley, Ramsey

• Jalen Hovis, Cowden

• Brandon Duckwitz, AHS

• Bryce Mason, Brownstown,

• Ben Sperry, St. Elmo

Click here for a photo gallery from the tournament.