Benton Sectional Championship...

The crowd was there, the atmosphere was there, but the game wasn't. By 5:45 tonight, people were standing in line to get into Rich Herrin Gymnasium. At 6:15, a mass of humanity flooded into the gym to get seats and by 7PM there were no seats left in the lower bowl. In talking with people who have seen many games at RHG, the crowd of this game ranked right up there. I would estimate around 3500 plus in the gym. Other games that people talked about tonight having a similar crowd was Effingham vs. Benton in a 1979 Class AA Sectional Game, Hamilton County vs. Benton in a 1984 BIT game, Hamilton County vs. Pinckneyville in a 1993 game which the teams were the top 2 ranked teams in Class A, and the 2004 BIT game between Cairo and Pinckneyville. There were seats available at tip time, but not very many.
This game didn't live up the hype as Pinckneyville soundly defeated Mt. Carmel 56-38.

FYI
The 4 players who advanced out the Benton Sectional tonight in the 3 pt. shooting contest were Cain Sheldon of Harrisburg with 9, Seth Thomas of Hamilton County with 9, Timmy Steed of Carmi with 8, and Dustin Korte of Massac County with 7. Congrats to these 4 shooters and they advance to Peoria next Thursday to shoot against other qualifiers from around the state in Class 2A.

Role Player Shines Bright on the Big Stage...
Dardeen and Cassity get a lot of much deserved ink for their play. However, sometimes in big games a role player does many things to help their team win. Tonight, that player was Ryan Rushing of Pinckneyville. The Senior guard had 14 points in the game on 7 of 11 from the floor to lead the Panthers. He had 8 of those points in the 2nd quarter. With Rushing scoring, it took pressure off of his teammates and gave Mt. Carmel something else they had to worry about.

Prep Fan Base
Congrats to the student body at Pinckneyville and Mt. Carmel who showed up in huge numbers to support their teams. I love seeing this support from the school student body. I just wish all schools had students at games like this.

A View from the Next Level
With a big game, there are going to be several college coaches in attendance. SIU Head Coach Chris Lowery was there along with assistant Rodney Watson. I saw an assistant from Penn State, an assistant from St. Louis University, and an assistant from Parkland Junior College in Champaign, IL all looking for players to help them out tonight.

Final Seconds...
The defense of Pinckneyville took the Aces out of their game tonight and lead to the least expected margin of victory. It is on to the SIU Arena for a historical night of 2 Super-Sectional games. Nokomis vs. Okawville in 1A and Pinckneyville vs. Trenton-Wesclin in 2A will be 2 of the best games around the state on Tuesday night.

DC

Leaping into the Sectionals...

Thanks to Leap Year, we will have a February 29th tomorrow with most of the Sectional Championships being played on.

Here is a rundown of the teams in 1A and 2A that feed into Carbdonale and their State Tournament histories.

1A
Dieterich
They won their first regional this season. This is the farthest they have been.
Nokomis
They made the Elite 8 in 1910, 1983, and 1997 but didn't place.
They were in the Sweet 16 in 2006.
Trico
This is their first trip to a Sectional Final in school history.
Okawville
They made the Elite 8 three times getting 3rd in 1980 and 2nd in 1987.
They were in the Sweet 16 in 1982, 1983, 1993, and 2000.

2A
Columbia
They made their only trip to the Elite 8 in 2001.
Trenton-Wesclin
They won the State Title in 1990 and made the Sweet 16 in 2002.
Mt. Carmel
They won the State Title in 1927. They were in the Elite 8 in 1929, 1935, and 1944.
More recently, they were in the Sweet 16 last season.
Pinckneyville
They won the State Title in 1948, 1994, and 2001.
They finished 2nd in 1988.
They finished 3rd in 1947, 1953, 1954, and 1955.
They finished 4th in 2006.
They were in the Elite 8 in 1935, 1951, 1952, and 1956.
They were in the Sweet 16 in 1964, 1973, 1981, 2002, and 2004.

Less than 24 hours to go until game time...I know that all hoops fans can barely wait.

DC

Benton Sectional...Night 2

There was a pretty good crowd (around 2,000) and buzz in the gym tonight to see Mt. Carmel beat Du Quoin 51-45. This sets up the Sectional Championship game on Friday night at 7:30PM between the Pinckneyville Panthers and the Mt. Carmel Golden Aces. Rich Herrin Gymnasium will probably have one of its biggest crowds ever on Friday night when these two teams play.

FYI
The following shooters advance to Friday night in the 3 point contest: Seth Thomas - Hamilton County (8), Timmy Steed - Carmi (10), Josh Reed - Fairfield (12), and Chris Kern - Chester (9). These 4 will join Dustin Korte of Massac County, Cain Sheldon of Harrisburg, Reid Roper of Benton, and Bryson Potts of Benton. The top 4 shooters from these 8 will advance to shoot at Peoria next weekend.

Another congrats to the students of both schools who came out in full force tonight. The Southsiders from Du Quion packed their bleachers while Mt. Carmel had a group of students spell out "Let's Go Mt. Carmel Beat the Du Quoin Indians" will several of their students. Great job to all!!! I look forward to seeing the students from Pinckneyville and Mt. Carmel in full force on Friday night cheering their teams on.

Clutch Down the Stretch
Jensen Dardeen of Mt. Carmel is about a good of a point guard as we have seen in Southern Illinois in recent years. He had 11 points in the 4th quarter tonight and carried Mt. Carmel on his back to the victory.

Scoreboard
Trico defeated Waltonville 66-57 at the Meridian Sectional.
Dieterich defeated Grayville 61-51 at the Nokomis Sectional.
Trenton-Wesclin defeated Pana 88-43 at the Nashville Sectional.

Sweet 16 Time in the Carbondale Super-Sectionals
All teams remaining in Class 1A and 2A are in the Sweet 16. Here is the set-up for the 1A and 2A Carbondale Super-Sectionals.

The winner of the Nokomis Sectional Friday night (Nokomis vs. Dieterich) will play the winner of the Meridian Sectional Friday night (Trico vs. Okawville) next Tuesday at the SIU Arena.

The Winner of the Nashville Sectional Friday night (Trenton-Wesclin vs. Columbia) will play the winner of the Benton Sectional Friday night (Pinckneyville vs. Mt. Carmel) next Tuesday at the SIU Arena.

Final Seconds...
One of the best games in high school sports will happen on Friday night when Sectional Championships will take place. The level of excitement that builds towards the game and during the game is hard to beat compared to other high school sporting events. If you have a chance, go and experience one of these games on Friday night. It will be a treat.

DC

Benton Sectional...Night 1

There was an awesome atmosphere tonight at Rich Herrin Gymnasium. I would say a crowd of near 3,000 packed in to see Pinckneyville beat Harrisburg 66-59. The Panthers will play the winner of the game tomorrow night between Du Quoin and Mt. Carmel on Friday night.

FYI
Dustin Korte of Massac County hit 14 out of 15 3 pointers in the 3 point contest. Other shooters to advance were Cain Sheldon and Reid Roper of Harrisburg, and Bryson Potts of Benton.

There were several colleges and junior colleges in attendance tonight. I saw an assistant coach from Penn State as well as St. Louis Head Coach Rick Majerus and assistant Porter Moser. I also saw representatives from Rend Lake and John A. Logan as well.

Congrats to the students of both schools who came out in big numbers tonight. The end bleachers on the lower ends were filled to capacity with students. That is awesome to see support like that from kids of each school. Also, they cheered their teams and did nothing to get themselves in trouble. Great job to all!!!

Soap Box Time
I will now step on the box and talk about this since I have seen it the past 3 years. Since cheerleading is recognized as a sport by the IHSA, it is time for the taunting by cheerleaders to other cheerleaders and fans after they backflip down the floor to stop. If during a game the players can't do it, then the cheerleaders shouldn't be able to do it. The rule I propose is that whatever baseline you are on, then cheerleaders may not backflip past the half line. We have seen too many close calls, like tonight, where officials and cheerleaders could have been seriously injured with this going on.

Scoreboard
Okawville defeated Sesser-Valier tonight 46-33 at the Meridian Sectional.
Nokomis defeated Woodlawn 61-52 at the Nokomis Sectional.
Cloumbia defeated White Hall North Greene 66-60 at the Nashville Sectional.

Final seconds...
The first night of Sectional play was exciting as usual. I can't wait for night number 2.

DC

3A-4A Girls Basketball Update...

Much like last weekend at the 1A and 2A State Tournament, there will be no Southern Illinois representative at the 3A and 4A State Tournament in Girls Basketball.

In Class 3A last night, Quincy Notre Dame defeated Highland at the Illinois College Super-Sectional in Jacksonville last night 48-42 in overtime. In Class 4A, Chicago Marist beat Edwardsville 48-44 at the Illinois Wesleyan Super-Sectional.

I am still amazed that a Super-Sectional game had a Chicago team and a Metro East team near St. Louis. I guess this new happening will become habit as we go down the road in the 4 class system in both boys and girls basketball.

DC

Last Stand of the Mid-South Conference...

In the February issue of SISC, I wrote in the SISC viewpoint about the final year of the Mid-South Conference this school year. In the article, it was also mentioned that in 1990 Waltonville and NCOE were in the Carbondale Class A Super-Sectional. That was only the 2nd time up to that point 2 teams from the same conference had played in that game. This year, the Mid-South Conference is making a strong run to try to do it one more time.

Of the 8 teams that are left that will feed into the Carbondale Class 1A Super-Sectional, 3 of those are from the Mid-South Conference. Grayville won the Wayne City Regional last night over Red Hill and will join Woodlawn at the Nokomis Sectional. Grayville will play Dieterich on Wednesday night and Woodlawn will play Nokomis tonight. The third MSC team will be Waltonville who will play Trico at the Meridian Sectional on Wednesday night.

The MSC has only 5 teams in the conference this year and 3 of them won Regional titles. The only other Southern Illinois conference to match it is the River to River Conference (Pinckneyville, Du Quoin, and Harrisburg) but that conference has 12 teams.

DC

Something fishy around here...

During this past weekend, the BASS Masters Classic was held. You could watch daily coverage each night on the ESPN networks. This reminded me that earlier in the month the IHSA Board of Directors approved the recommendation to add a bass fishing tournament beginning in the Spring of 2009. This will hinge on the finding of sponsorships to be secured in advance of the tournament.

Obviously, this will give many students another opportunity to participate in an extra-curricular event at school. However, I am very curious to see where this tournament will be held, the rules of high school bass fishing, and how regular season and postseason meets and sites for meets will be determined.

DC

Heading to the Sectionals in 1A and 2A...

Sectional week is upon us. We have one regional that will be completed tomorrow night at Wayne City with Red Hill playing Grayville. (Grayville already owns a win over Red Hill this year.) The other Regional Champions were determined on Friday and Saturday nights.

2A is a who's who of programs with recent success. At Benton, Pinckneyville will play upstart Harrisburg. Game 2 on Wednesday will feature Mt. Carmel vs. Du Quoin. All of these teams have won at least one regional since 2002. At Nashville, White Hall North Greene will play Columbia and Pana will play Trenton-Wesclin. All of these teams have won at least one Regional since 2003.

In 1A, it is a much different story. The Nokomis Sectional has teams that haven't had the recent success like the previously mentioned teams. Woodlawn won their first Regional since 1988 and will take on Nokomis who has 13 in their history. Dieterich won their first ever Regional championship and will play Grayville (last won a regional in 1987) or Red hill (2 titles and last one in 2004) in the other Sectional game. At Meridian, Waltonville last won a Regional in 1993 will play Trico who hasn't won one since 1997. Sesser-Valier last won a Regional in 2001 will play Okawville who has won 11 Regionals and the last being in 2003. The kicker is that in 1A, the only teams to have won at least one Sectional are Waltonville, Nokomis, and Okawville.

Hoops fans, this is the most exciting time of the year for high school basketball. The excitement that will take over these towns the next 2 weeks will grow as teams advance down the tournament trail.

DC

Postseason Crowds...

We are almost officially to the end of the first week of postseason for Class 1A and 2A boys basketball teams. Seeing games and seeing attendance both in person and on television highlights has shown something very interesting. It seems that the size of crowds at sites are smaller than in years past.

In past years, there were stories of people getting in line early in the day to get into a gym, or staying in line for long hours and possibly over night to get a ticket to a regional or sectional game. With the expansion to four classes, it seems on the surface that at least during regional week, the addition of regional sites has thinned out the crowds to games.

What do you think? Hoops fans, is this what you are seeing at regional games you are attending this week? Do you think this will continue into the sectional? Post what you think.

Regional update

Class 1A regionals at Sesser-Valier, Dieterich and Crab Orchard are on for tonight with all others in Class 1A will move to a Saturday/Monday night format.

All Class 2A regionals will play championship games on Saturday night.

Regionals iced out

Early indications are that all regional games on Friday night have been canceled. From reports I've been able to get this morning all the Class 2A games championship games will be played on Saturday night. At least three (or more) of the Class 1A games still have a semi-final to play to set up a championship game. Those regionals will be on a Saturday-Monday format.

We will keep our ear to the ground this afternoon and post any updates that we get.

The Culmination of February Fever...

This weekend is the first of 4 weekends of State Championship basketball for the IHSA with 2 weekends in Normal for the girls and then 2 weekends in Peoria for the boys.

It all begins in Normal, IL tomorrow on the campus of Illinois State University at Redbird Arena on Doug Collins Court. 1A and 2A Girls Basketball State Champions will be decided this weekend and then 3A and 4 A Girls Basketball State Champions decided next weekend.

In 1A during the afternoon session on Friday, Moweaqua (Central A&M) will play Newark while the other semi-final will see Flanagan(Coop) taking on Jacksonville (Routt). The losers of these games will play at 11AM Saturday for 3rd Place while the winners will play for the 1A State Championship at 12:45PM Saturday.

In 2A during the evening session, Teutopolis will play Warsaw(West Hancock Coop) and the other semi-final will see Kankakee (McNamara) vs. Rochester. The losers of these games will play at 6:30PM Saturday for 3rd Place while the winners will play for the 2A State Championship at 8:15PM Saturday.

Hoops fans, the time is now for the new format of 4 classes and the Final Four. Make your predictions for the 1A and 2A State Champions in girls as well as post your opinions of this new four class system in boys and girls basketball.

DC

Mother Nature Trumps March Madness

For the second straight week Mother Nature has tangled with March Madness and came out on top. Last week it was girls post season that were left in disarray and this week it is regional finals in Class 1A.

Hopefully, the ice/sleet and other assorted mix will be out of the area to get Class 1A and Class 2A sectionals on track next week. Right now three regionals (Sesser-Valier, Crab Orchard and Wayne City) were canceled for Thursday night and will play semi-final games on Friday with the finals on Saturday. All those regionals are 1A. The Class 2A regionals are all set for the finals on Friday if the weather permits.

Let's have a little fun (and crawl out on a limb) and pick some winners for area team.

At Herrin Class 2A -- Call in the score ... Pinckneyville by a bunch.

At Harrisburg Class 2A -- Harrisburg can't pull off the second upset this week ... Massac wins by 10 or less.

At Hamilton County Class 2A-- Eldorado continues its storybook season with a close win over Mount Carmel.

At Sparta Class 2A -- Du Quoin win this over Murphy in the weakest regional in Southern Illinois.

Look for Pinckneyville and Eldorado to advance to the finals of the Benton Sectional next week.

At Sesser-Valier Class 1A -- The host Red Devils are tall, talented and appear to be gelling at the right time. NCOE or Carrier Mills won't come close.

At Crab Orchard -- Waltonville wins this one and advances to the Meridian Sectional.

At Trico Class 1A -- Meridian defeates host Trico and heads back south to host its own sectional.

At Marissa Class 1A -- Okawville is a nice team and wins this one.

Here's where things get interesting. I like Meridian to defeat Waltoville and SV to beat Okawville in what will be a dandy b-ball game.

OK, there they are for all the world to see.

What do you think ... weigh in and include your picks.

BRRR!

The ice and snow has pulled many athletic activities in the region to a halt. Looking forward to the thaw when things get back on track!