Fifth-ranked and top-seeded John A. Logan defeated Kaskaskia, 83-69, in the opening game of the NJCAA Central District, Region 24 tournament at Rend Lake College in Ina., Ill.
The Volunteers (27-3) jumped off to an 11-2 start and never let the Blue Devils closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Kaskaskia (18-11) got within 30-23 on a pair of Chauncey Hughes free throws with 6:14 to play in the half, but JAL rallied for the next 11 points starting with a basket by Cobie Barnes and finished with a free throw by Detrick Reeves for a 41-23 lead at the 2:49 mark.
Logan went on to lead 47-28 at the break.
Barnes led Logan with 18 points. Sean East scored 17 and Tae Williams had sixteen including four straight baskets at once stretch in the first half.
Chauncey Hughes led Kaskaskia – scoring 21 of his game-high 26 points in the final half. Traevion Jones had 12 points and Jylen Petty added ten.
The biggest lead of the game was 24-points, 83-59, with 3:28 to play before Kaskaska scored the final ten points of the contest.
Wabash Valley 64; Lincoln Trail 62
The game between fourth-seeded Wabash Valley and number five seed Lincoln Trail was expected to be close and it was a wire-to-wire challenge between the two teams with WVC emerging a 64-62 winner.
There were nine ties and 14 lead changes in the game.
Darius Osborne’s trey with 1:54 left gave the Warriors their final lead at 64-62 after Tobias Thompson scored to put LTC in front 62-61 at the 2:37 mark.
LTC’s Freddie Reeves missed a driving layup that would have tied the game 64-all at the 1:54 mark.
The Statesmen (14-14) had an opportunity to win the game after Jakobi Heady missed a pair of free throws with 13-seconds on the clock.
Clint Wickcliffe missed a desperation three point shot at the buzzer.
Heady paced five Warriors in double figures with 14 points. Deshaun Nettles scored 13, Osborne 12, Cearius Warren 11 and Davin Miller netted ten.
Wickcliffe had 15 of his game-high 23 point in the first half to lead Lincoln Trail. Greg Jenkins scored 12 points and Reeves added eleven including three 3’s.
There were two ties and seven lead changes in the opening half.
Wabash led 26 -25 with Wickcliffe connected on a basket for a 27-26 LTC advantage. Reeves went 1-2 from the FT line before Heady countered with a trey to tie the game at 29-all.
Wickcliffe buried a triple to lift Lincoln Trail into the lead and the Statesmen took a 39-35 lead into halftime.
Southwestern Illinois 73; Lewis & Clark 72
Second-seeded Southwestern Illinois escaped Lewis & Clark’s upset bid, winning 73-72 in game three of the District Quarter-finals.
The Blue Storm (25-6) came out of the gate for an early 9-3 lead.
The Trailblazers’ L.T. White who scored 15 first half points including four treys, hit back to back aerials for a 15-9 Lewis lead.
Lewis & Clark (8-21) eventually built a 34-23 edge on seven straight points by Jeff Daniels. SWIC got within 36-33, but White scored six of L&C’s final eight points of the half and the Trailblazers led 44-36 at the break.
The Blue Storm still trailed 56-52 with 12:24 to play, but catapulted to a 63-56 advantage, scoring 11 straight points in a run started by back to back baskets by Von Lillard.
Lewis & Clark was down 65-59 with 7:15 to play when coach Doug Stotler was ejected from the game after drawing his second technical foul protesting a charging call on Souley Diabe.
The Blue Storm stretched the margin to ten points, 69-59, but Lewis & Clark responded on back to back baskets by Jude Jacques and a pair for free tosses from Anton Webb.
The Trailblazers closed the gap to 73-72 after a two and then three-pointer from Nuvaun Peterson with :37.5 left in the game.
Peterson had the last shot, a trey to win, but it was off target to the left and SWIC survived the upset from the number ten-seeded team.
Jaquias Frankliin led SWIC with 15 points. Lillard scored 12 and Noah Courtney netted ten points. White hit five 3’s and scored 18 points for Lewis & Clark while Zidane Moore had eleven.
Shawnee 65; Vincennes 55
(From the Vincennes Sun Commerical)
In a one-of-a-kind disastrous season for the Vincennes University basketball team, it was quite a flameout to the Trailblazers’ season in the Region 24 quarterfinals on Monday.
Third-seeded Shawnee scored the game’s last 24 points, holding sixth-seeded VU scoreless for nearly nine minutes to rally for a 65-55 victory.
Shilo Jackson scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half for the Blazers (12-19), who suffered their first losing campaign since going 9-13 in 1954-55. What made Monday’s loss tough was VU controlled play most of the way, leading 35-21 at halftime and as much as 15 in the second half.
It was 55-41 on Trenton Johnson’s 18-footer with 8:57 remaining. But a combination of the Saints’ 3-point shooting and their press dominated the end.
VU’s zone defense, stout for most of the game Monday, sprang a leak late.
Tedrick Washington, who led Shawnee (17-10) with 20 points, hit three consecutive 3-pointers to close the Blazers’ lead to 55-50 with six minutes to go. Ashton Young followed with a 3-pointer and then the Saints found Ryan Gordon alone underneath for a dunk that tied the game at 55 with 4:35 showing.
The onslaught was just half over. Two AK Hazley free throws at 3:24 gave Shawnee the lead for good. He banked in a 15-footer from the free-throw line to take the advantage to four, and another Gordon dunk made it 61-55 with 1:30 showing.
It was still just a two-possession game, but VU got very few shots off at the end as numerous turnovers against the Saints’ press were the death blow.
The Blazers played well most of the way, behind Jackson’s dominant play inside. He scored the team’s first seven points, and Brevin Jefferson’s driving bucket gave VU its second lead at 14-13.
That was the start of a 15-2 splurge with Jackson supplying the last nine as the Blazers extended their margin to 27-15. It was 35-21 at halftime as Darrius Davis beat the clock with a one-arm 10-footer.
VU had a double-figure lead for nearly 19 minutes before Shawnee’s emphatic finish made it disappear.
Johnson had eight of the Blazers’ 20 second-half points and finished with 13. Jefferson had seven of his 10 after halftime.
Wednesday’s semi-final has the top four seeds playing at 6 and 8 p.m., CST.
(1) Logan takes on (4) Wabash Valley in the early game while (2) SWIC meets (3) Shawnee in the nightcap.
The winners play Friday night at 7 CST with the Region 24 champion qualifying for the NJCAA Tournament starting Monday, Mar. 21 in Hutchinson, Kan.
