Pressure the name of Madison’s game: Cougars’ third-place opponent struggled in semifinal loss to Sesser-Valier
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| Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@svnmail.com Eastland senior Collin Macomber tries to find room for a shot Friday afternoon against Salt Fork’s Joel Learnard in a Class 1A semifinal at Carver Arena in Peoria. Macomber had three points and 13 rebounds for the Cougars. |
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PEORIA – If the Eastland Cougars want to bring home Class 1A’s third-place trophy, they’ll have to be able to handle a lot of pressure.
That’s been the formula for success for the Madison Trojans (23-8) this season. On Friday, the Trojans press was handled expertly by the Sesser-Valier Red Devils in the second 1A semifinal. The Red Devils won 58-40.
“We’re used to getting turnovers and turning those into easy layups on the other end,” Madison coach Jaime Cotto said. “The press didn’t bother them at all and that wasn’t what we’re used to. We’re really going to have to battle tomorrow to come back and get third place.”
Sesser-Valier (26-9) turned the ball over only 10 times. They were led by center Justin Matyi’s 29 points.
Madison shot 23 percent, making only 15 of 65 shots.
“I would never have thought I’d be standing here saying we scored 40 points and shot 20 percent,” Cotto said. “We’re usually in the 60s or 70s. I can’t even explain how this happened. The shots just wouldn’t fall.”
Madison was led by sophomores Corey Hardin (nine points, 19 rebounds) and Thorian Gregory (10 points, seven rebounds, five assists).
Eastland might have to play without Tony Dunlap Jr., who injured his left shoulder late in the third quarter of the Cougars’ 48-38 loss to Salt Fork in the first semifinal. At 8:30 p.m. Friday, the team was still unsure whether the senior guard would take the court Saturday.
“We’ll just have to turn our frown upside down,” Eastland coach Tony Dunlap Sr. said.
Class of 2008 approves: Four-fifths of the starting lineup from Eastland’s 2008 sectional championship team was in attendance to watch the Cougars’ first state game.
Justin Witt, Billy Hammer, Jared Shellhause and Cole Stichter were key members of a team that went 26-5 and won Eastland’s first sectional title in boys basketball.
“It’s been a lot of fun watching them get to do this,” said Witt, a sophomore at Highland College who will play at Wisconsin-Platteville next season. “We want to keep setting the bar higher at Eastland. The 2005 team did that for us, and hopefully we did that for these guys.”
Eastland’s other 2008 starter, Tony Dunlap Jr., was busy Friday – playing for the Cougars. He scored 22 points four days after scoring 36 in Eastland’s 70-57 supersectional win against Newark.
“Tony’s been playing phenomenal,” Witt said. “But he’s had a lot of help. The other guys are getting him open and feeding him the ball when he’s hot.”
Thunder in action: West Carroll High School’s band had the honor of entertaining the Carver Arena crowd during Friday’s Class 1A and 2A semifinals.
The Thunder’s band was chosen by the IHSA through a 10-song CD audition. They also played in Peoria in 2007, when West Carroll competed in the Class A Elite Eight.
Band director Emily Bressler is a Sterling native who performed at state in Champaign with the Golden Warriors band in 1991.
“It took us awhile to get in the groove, but overall they sounded great,” Bressler said.
The band’s playlist trended heavy, with “Paint It Black” and “Iron Man” among the crowd favorites.
Senior clarinet player Becky Titus most enjoys a song that doesn’t require her instrument. She takes over the “Whoo-hoo!” vocals on Blur’s “Song 2.”
Senior baritone saxophone player David Walter commemorated the event with a special hairdo: a dyed-green mohawk.
“My mom just called,” said Walter, whose favorite song to play is “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas. “She said they showed me on TV!”
