Allen pours in 24, but Grant pulls away in 4th
to claim Regional title
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
The underdog Glenwood Titans put up a strong fight Monday night, but in the end the undefeated
Springfield Grant Generals came away with a 53-38 victory to claim the IESA Class 8-4A Quincy
Regional title.
The Generals (23-0), undefeated state champs as 7th graders a year ago, advance to the Taylorville
Sectional, while Glenwood (16-6), which won 10 games in 7th grade a year ago and lost to Grant by 50
points, continued to show marked improvement.
Glenwood's Peyton Allen concluded his breakout season with 24 points and five rebounds. Larry
Austin and Dante Womack, a 7th grader, each led Grant with 15 points. Scottie Wallace, a 6' 4" center,
added 12 for the Generals, while Stefan Wade had 11.
"We knew going in it was going to be one heck of a test," GMS coach Ryan Staley said. "I couldn't be
prouder of my kids. Our team came out and really competed and played hard. We gave ourselves a
shot to win this thing against a team that hasn't lost a regular season game in two years."
The game was played before a small crowd and in a gym that may have been built in medieval
times at Quincy Junior High. The speedy Generals had a 36-18 rebounding edge while also forcing 18
GMS turnovers.
Grant led 12-9 after one quarter, as Isaac Albracht hit a corner 3 to put the Titans on the scoreboard
before Allen had two baskets. Collin Butts added a drving layup for GMS.
The Generals used a full-court press and mixture of defenses in the second quarter, pulling ahead
21-11 after a conventional 3-point play by Wallace, who had nine points in the quarter.
Allen's four free throws represented the Titans' points in the quarter before Brian Hobbie scored
inside with 1:30 left. Down 23-15 after two free throws from Wallace with five seconds left, Allen got the
ball and swished a 26-foot, spinning and floating jumper at the buzzer, in front of the Grant bench, to cut
the deficit to 23-18 at halftime.
Things tightened up quickly in the third, as Allen hit two technical free throws at the start (A technical
foul was called on Grant for a player dunking during halftime warm-ups). Later, Allen nailed a 3-ball
from the top of the key, and Albracht scored on a layup and conventional 3-point play with 3:54 left to cut
the Grant lead to a single point, at 27-26.
But immediately, Wade came down and nailed a 3, and Womack had a transition layup and driving
layup to put the Generals back up 35-26. Allen scored twice in the last 30 seconds to put the deficit at
six, 36-30, after three quarters.
"Grant is quick and athletic, and every time we cut it to one or got momentum back in our favor, we
would have a costly turnover that they would turn into points on the other end," Staley added. "You know
that press is gonna come, you have to be strong with the ball. In a game like this, every little turnover
hurts."
The rough play on the court got both benches riled up early in the fourth quarter, as the officials let a
lot of contact go and things were getting chippy. Grant scored six quick points in the quarter to surge
ahead 42-30 before Allen hit two free throws and Tyler Brown hit a baseline driving layup.
With 2:38 to go, Hobbie got a steal and coast-to-coast layup to cut the deficit to 44-36, but from there
Grant hit 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to pull ahead for the 15-point victory.
Albracht added six points for Glenwood, while Hobbie had four points and eight rebounds. Butts
and Brown each had two points for the Titans.
GMS finished 12-of-35 overall from the field, including 3-of-16 from 3-point land. Glenwood had 18
rebounds, 18 turnovers and 13 fouls. GMS was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
Grant finished 19-of-51 from the field with 36 rebounds, seven turnovers and 14 fouls. The
Generals made 13-of-17 free throws.
•Austin has already attracted national recruiting interest, but it won't be long before the 6' 2" Allen
gets noticed as well.
"Larry Austin is a tremendous player, but I'll take Peyton Allen, in terms of skill level, desire to win
and work ethic over any basketball player I've ever coached," Staley commented. "The argument could
be made that the best player on the floor tonight didn't play for Springfield Grant."
•In the regional semifinals on Saturday, Glenwood defeated Quincy 48-39. GMS led 27-16 at
halftime and 34-30 after three quarters. Allen had 27 points to lead the Titans, followed by: Butts (11),
Hobbie (4), Brown (3) and Albracht (3). Glenwood had nine 3-point field goals, including six from Allen
and one each by Brown, Butts and Albracht. GMS finished 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Luka Radovic
led Quincy with 21 points.
"Overall, it was a great season for us," Staley summed up. "These kids won 10 games last year as
7th graders. They knew Grant was the team to beat all year long, but they never gave up and worked to
get better. We had quite a few players exceed my expectations with their improvement."
to claim Regional title
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
The underdog Glenwood Titans put up a strong fight Monday night, but in the end the undefeated
Springfield Grant Generals came away with a 53-38 victory to claim the IESA Class 8-4A Quincy
Regional title.
The Generals (23-0), undefeated state champs as 7th graders a year ago, advance to the Taylorville
Sectional, while Glenwood (16-6), which won 10 games in 7th grade a year ago and lost to Grant by 50
points, continued to show marked improvement.
Glenwood's Peyton Allen concluded his breakout season with 24 points and five rebounds. Larry
Austin and Dante Womack, a 7th grader, each led Grant with 15 points. Scottie Wallace, a 6' 4" center,
added 12 for the Generals, while Stefan Wade had 11.
"We knew going in it was going to be one heck of a test," GMS coach Ryan Staley said. "I couldn't be
prouder of my kids. Our team came out and really competed and played hard. We gave ourselves a
shot to win this thing against a team that hasn't lost a regular season game in two years."
The game was played before a small crowd and in a gym that may have been built in medieval
times at Quincy Junior High. The speedy Generals had a 36-18 rebounding edge while also forcing 18
GMS turnovers.
Grant led 12-9 after one quarter, as Isaac Albracht hit a corner 3 to put the Titans on the scoreboard
before Allen had two baskets. Collin Butts added a drving layup for GMS.
The Generals used a full-court press and mixture of defenses in the second quarter, pulling ahead
21-11 after a conventional 3-point play by Wallace, who had nine points in the quarter.
Allen's four free throws represented the Titans' points in the quarter before Brian Hobbie scored
inside with 1:30 left. Down 23-15 after two free throws from Wallace with five seconds left, Allen got the
ball and swished a 26-foot, spinning and floating jumper at the buzzer, in front of the Grant bench, to cut
the deficit to 23-18 at halftime.
Things tightened up quickly in the third, as Allen hit two technical free throws at the start (A technical
foul was called on Grant for a player dunking during halftime warm-ups). Later, Allen nailed a 3-ball
from the top of the key, and Albracht scored on a layup and conventional 3-point play with 3:54 left to cut
the Grant lead to a single point, at 27-26.
But immediately, Wade came down and nailed a 3, and Womack had a transition layup and driving
layup to put the Generals back up 35-26. Allen scored twice in the last 30 seconds to put the deficit at
six, 36-30, after three quarters.
"Grant is quick and athletic, and every time we cut it to one or got momentum back in our favor, we
would have a costly turnover that they would turn into points on the other end," Staley added. "You know
that press is gonna come, you have to be strong with the ball. In a game like this, every little turnover
hurts."
The rough play on the court got both benches riled up early in the fourth quarter, as the officials let a
lot of contact go and things were getting chippy. Grant scored six quick points in the quarter to surge
ahead 42-30 before Allen hit two free throws and Tyler Brown hit a baseline driving layup.
With 2:38 to go, Hobbie got a steal and coast-to-coast layup to cut the deficit to 44-36, but from there
Grant hit 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to pull ahead for the 15-point victory.
Albracht added six points for Glenwood, while Hobbie had four points and eight rebounds. Butts
and Brown each had two points for the Titans.
GMS finished 12-of-35 overall from the field, including 3-of-16 from 3-point land. Glenwood had 18
rebounds, 18 turnovers and 13 fouls. GMS was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
Grant finished 19-of-51 from the field with 36 rebounds, seven turnovers and 14 fouls. The
Generals made 13-of-17 free throws.
•Austin has already attracted national recruiting interest, but it won't be long before the 6' 2" Allen
gets noticed as well.
"Larry Austin is a tremendous player, but I'll take Peyton Allen, in terms of skill level, desire to win
and work ethic over any basketball player I've ever coached," Staley commented. "The argument could
be made that the best player on the floor tonight didn't play for Springfield Grant."
•In the regional semifinals on Saturday, Glenwood defeated Quincy 48-39. GMS led 27-16 at
halftime and 34-30 after three quarters. Allen had 27 points to lead the Titans, followed by: Butts (11),
Hobbie (4), Brown (3) and Albracht (3). Glenwood had nine 3-point field goals, including six from Allen
and one each by Brown, Butts and Albracht. GMS finished 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Luka Radovic
led Quincy with 21 points.
"Overall, it was a great season for us," Staley summed up. "These kids won 10 games last year as
7th graders. They knew Grant was the team to beat all year long, but they never gave up and worked to
get better. We had quite a few players exceed my expectations with their improvement."
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: Feb. 4, 2010
