Eagles repeat as champs of St. Elmo tourney

Jacob Baron scored 16 points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots as St. Elmo/Brownstown repeated as champions of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament.

Baron was named most valuable player as the Eagles defeated South Central, 45-41, the 60th edition of the SEHT on Saturday night and avenged a 25-point loss to South Central at the beginning of the month.
Patoka edged Cumberland, 61-60, for third place; Mulberry Grove defeated Ramsey, 52-43, in the fifth-place game; and Windsor/Stew-Stras beat Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, 53-32, in the seventh-place game.
Joining Baron on the first team all-tournament team were teammate Andy Goldsborough; Keenin Willshire of South Central; Wyatt Criner of Mulberry Grove; and Ross Hemmen of Cumberland.
On the second team were Hunter Brandt of South Central; Tyler Alexander of Patoka, Brennen Cutts of Cumberland; Kendall Aderman of Ramsey; and Jordan Wittenberg.
The St. Elmo/Brownstown cheer squad repeated as first-place winners in the cheer competition, and Mulberry Grove placed second.
In the championship game, the Eagles and Cougars were tied, 7-7, after one quarter, and St. Elmo/Brownstown held eight-point leads twice in the second quarter, on a three-pointer by Jace McWhorter at 5:41 and a rebound basket by Baron with 3:20 left in the half.
The Eagles were up by seven, 25-18, at halftime, but the Cougars got within three after a steal to make it 30-27 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
But, Baron followed with a traditional three-point play and Jaxon Tish hit a three-pointer to give the Eagles a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter.
South Central cut the lead to four at 39-35 on a follow basket by Willshire and a Hunter Brandt basket. Brandt scored again with 4:22 left to tie the game at 39.
Baron made a free-throw, then scored underneath to make it 42-39 with 1:25 left.
Willshire scored with 34.2 seconds left to make it 42-41, McWhorter made one of two charity shots with 25.3 seconds left, and Goldsborough sealed the win with two free throws with 4.5 seconds left.
A big difference between the championship game and the loss to South Central earlier, Eagles coach Greg Feezel said, was his team’s defense.
“The kids listened to us defensively,” Feezel said. “I thought we were fairly solid all night defensively.
“The kids listened to what we wanted done, they listened to coach (Ryan) Beccue and coach (Logan) Mahon wanted done, and that’s what the script has got to be,” he said.
“We gave everybody an assignment and told them how to guard, and they did it. As a coach, if you can get a team to do that, it makes you feel good,” Feezel said.
“You’re not going to pull away from coach (Blake) Doehring’s teams. He’s too good of a coach, and he’s not going to let that happen. They tied it up, and I knew it wasn’t even ever over till the very end,” he said.
It was a special win for Feezel for several reasons.
“It’s the 60th annual and getting beat the way we did earlier, just different things. It’s definitely a big deal for us,” he said.
“We have a really nice shoot-around/practice earlier today, a really good one, and I think that helped a lot,” Feezel said.
SEB – Baron 6-7 4-6 16; McWhorter 3 1-2 9; Tish 3 0-0 9; Goldsborough 1 2-2 4; Pruett 1-2 0-0 3; Smith 1-4 0-0 2; Higgs 0 2-2 2.
South Central – Willshire 5 4-4 14; Dodson 1 4-6 6; Patton 2 0-2 6l Hester 2 0-0 6; Brandt 2 0-0 4; Miller 1 0-3 3; Cowger 1 0-0 2; Robb 0 0-0 0; Smith 0 0-0 0.
Three-pointers – SEB-McWhorter 2, Tish 3, Pruett 1; South Central-Patton 2, Hester 2, Miller 1.
Rebounds – SEB-Baron 9, McWhorter 3, Tish 2, Goldsborough 9; Pruett 2, Smith 2, Higgs 1; South Central-Willshire 8; Dodson 3, Patton 3, Hester 2, Brandt 2.
In the third-place game, Patoka’s Austin Hinkel made a free throw with 0.3 left on the clock in overtime to lift the Warriors in overtime.
Kyle Alexander put Patoka up 60-58 with 47.3 seconds left in overtime after Cumberland held the ball without any movement for more than 90 seconds early in OT.
Ross Hemmen tied the game at 60 with 24.5 second left, and the Warriors worked the ball around for a last shot until Hinkel was fouled.
St. Elmo/Brownstown advanced to the title game by defeating Patoka, 41-36, and South Central advanced by defeating Cumberland, 46-36.
Other tournament games:
Ramsey 49, Windsor/Stew-Stras 43
South Central 57, Ramsey 28
Mulberry Grove 62, CHBC 39

St. Elmo/Brownstown fought off South Central on Friday to repeat as champion of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament. Above, in front, are cheerleaders Willow Brown, Ginevra Behrends, Andi Chandler, Morgan Poe, Emily Lawson, Amanda Koester, Holly Struble, Dakota Orechovesky, Elly Wilhour, Elaine Voelker, McKenzie Fisher, Madison Doty and Jayla Thull. In the middle row are Ean Forbus, Brady Maxey, Gavyn Smith, Bryton Pruett, David Stine, Lukas Miller and Carl Brauer. In back are cheerleading coach Deb Hunter, Eagles head coach Greg Feezel, Andy Goldsborough, Alex Higgs, Caleb Campbell, Kaden Tish, Jacob Baron, Jaxson Tish, Jace McWhorter, assistant coach Logan Mahon and assistant coach Ryan Beccue. Not present are cheerleaders Nora Rees and Teresa Viramontes.

Seven of the 10 players chosen for the all-tournament teams at the 60th annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament are pictured above. From left to right are: Jacob Baron of St. Elmo/Brownstown (MVP

The St. Elmo/Brownstown cheerleaders repeated as champions in the cheer competition. Mulberry Grove placed second.

Jace McWhorter drives to the basket in the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament. Defending are South Central’s Keenin Willshire (left) and Collin Miller.

Bryton Pruett of St. Elmo/Brownstown and Dawson Hall of South Central leap for a rebound during the title game of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament on Saturday night.

St. Elmo/Brownstown’s Jacob Baron, the MVP of the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament, goes up to score in the championship game as South Central’s Keenin Willshire defends. At right is Andy Goldsborough of St. Elmo/Brownstown.