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Boys County Tournament preview
Following practice Monday, Williamsville coach Eric Buerkett acknowledged that his No. 1 seeded Bullets would have a target on their backs for the upcoming County
Tournament.
“We have been playing well (13-1) and I like the draw,” he said.
But he qualified the remarks with the fact that he had two tough upcoming contests this week, both Sangamo Conference foes, in Rochester and Illini Central, who also
happen to be the only unbeatens as the Bullets.
Tuesday, Rochester, a possible semifinal opponent for the Bullets, came up with a 43-38 decision. Yet entering the game, Rochester coach Jim Egan was bemoaning his
team’s inconsistent play, also knowing that his leading scorer, Alec Shunk, would not play.
And in another regular season game with some county implications at Pawnee, the improving Indians stopped New Berlin 50-33. That led Auburn coach Doug Graven to
comment that “we were never looking past Pawnee, more so now.”
In talking with the five coaches of the top five seeds Monday, the consensus was that any number of teams could win, but the emphasis was on Williamsville, Auburn and
Pleasant Plains, the top three seeds. In a matter of one day, that has transformed into a much more wide open event.
The County starts Monday at LLCC with No. 1 seed Williamsville meeting Tri-City (8 seed) at 6 p.m., with No. 4 New Berlin and No. 5 Rochester to follow at 7:30.
On Tuesday, No. 3 Pleasant Plains faces No. 6 Riverton with Auburn, the No. 2 seed, facing Pawnee No. 7 at 7:30. Play continues Wednesday and Thursday with semifinal
games in both the championship and consolation brackets.
The championship game, a single affair, will be played at 7 p.m. Jan. 17. The third place game will be at 8 p.m. Friday, preceded by the seventh place contest at 5 p.m. and the
consolation bracket title game at 6:30.
Williamsville, at 13-2, won its first championship since 1991 last year, edging Pleasant Plains 43-41. The bulk of the Bullets squad returned this year and until Tuesday, their
only loss was to Varna Midland in the Williamsville Holiday Tournament. Buerkett said Varna has size and quickness, even off the bench.
Williamsville returned three starters in Brandon Donnelly, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Travis Combs and Nick Horton. Trevor Thompson and Josh Gentile are the other starters.
Buerkett said that Gentile, a sophomore, worked his way into the lineup through his great summer play, a player who does the little things and can shoot.
Tuesday, Rochester, always known for defense under Egan, who is completing his 14th and last year, played a triangle-and-two and limited Donnelly and Gentile to just six
points.
After some experimenting, Egan told this newspaper Monday that he had pretty much settled on a seven-man rotation. It includes Shunk, 6-6 Riley McMinn, Jake Cullen along
with Blake Gand and 6-5 Ross Winning, with Pat Londrigan and Zach Carlson off the bench. Tuesday, McMinn picked up 11 points to go with 14 boards and Cullen, who Egan
says “is coming on of late,” also netted 11.
Tuesday, New Berlin, with top scorer Kody Kirkpatrick back after missing 10 days, couldn’t match up with Pawnee. Barth, who went to a deliberate game last year after starting
0-8 and came up a winner, wasn’t sure when Kirkpatrick, who has a lower back injury, would play again. He is still listed as game to game.
Barth, who said that he felt Rochester was certainly capable and probably the darkhorse next week, stated that “we might just have to hold the ball, that is if we can’t get the
lead.”
The lower half of the draw is dominated by Auburn and Plains, although neither Auburn’s Doug Graven or Plains’ Cliff Cameron are looking past their first round opponents. In
Auburn’s case, it is 104 rival Pawnee.
A team playing a tough schedule is the Cardinals, who started the season 0-5 losing to the likes of Centralia, Collinsville, Jacksonville, Jerseyville and Mahomet-Seymour, all
3A and 4A teams.
But the Cards, who lost earlier to Williamsville, has been coming on of late, punctuated by their showing at the Macomb Holiday Tourney, where they set two defensive records
and finished second, losing 42-37 to Macomb.
The Cards allowed just 85 points in their first three games against Farmington, West Hancock and Pittsfield and 127 for four games.
Cameron says he is a much happier camper after the Macomb Tourney, but recognizes that winning the county will be a tough task.
“Both Auburn and Williamsville are very good teams with solid lineups, but you still play them one at a time and Riverton is our main objective.”
Graven takes a similar position. “Pawnee and Auburn always play each other tough, but if we can get past them, Plains and Williamsville loom as our toughest opponents to
date.”
Graven, whose team’s late start has them at 8-1 on the year, the lone loss a 52-50 decision in the last four seconds to West Central at the Waverly Tourney.
The Trojans have been winning behind their 1-2 scoring punch of Josh Sergent (20 ppg) and 6-6 Cole Busch (18 ppg). The Trojans, who like the uptempo style, need “some
other guys to start scoring more,” states Graven. Auburn hasn’t won the county since 1986 and Graven feels that “we have a shot, but a lot of things have to go right.”
Plains, which will be looking for its ninth title in the last 15 years, is led by 6-3 junior Logan Harris, averaging 14.2 points a game and has more size in 6-3 Christian Shultz (9
ppg) and 6-1 John Ellenberg (8 ppg).
The Cards also got the services of Derek Betzer several games back who has added a “needed dimension,” says Cameron, coming off the bench. Auburn will get the services
of Jordan McCarty at tourney time after recovering from an injury to add to the bench strength.
Following practice Monday, Williamsville coach Eric Buerkett acknowledged that his No. 1 seeded Bullets would have a target on their backs for the upcoming County
Tournament.
“We have been playing well (13-1) and I like the draw,” he said.
But he qualified the remarks with the fact that he had two tough upcoming contests this week, both Sangamo Conference foes, in Rochester and Illini Central, who also
happen to be the only unbeatens as the Bullets.
Tuesday, Rochester, a possible semifinal opponent for the Bullets, came up with a 43-38 decision. Yet entering the game, Rochester coach Jim Egan was bemoaning his
team’s inconsistent play, also knowing that his leading scorer, Alec Shunk, would not play.
And in another regular season game with some county implications at Pawnee, the improving Indians stopped New Berlin 50-33. That led Auburn coach Doug Graven to
comment that “we were never looking past Pawnee, more so now.”
In talking with the five coaches of the top five seeds Monday, the consensus was that any number of teams could win, but the emphasis was on Williamsville, Auburn and
Pleasant Plains, the top three seeds. In a matter of one day, that has transformed into a much more wide open event.
The County starts Monday at LLCC with No. 1 seed Williamsville meeting Tri-City (8 seed) at 6 p.m., with No. 4 New Berlin and No. 5 Rochester to follow at 7:30.
On Tuesday, No. 3 Pleasant Plains faces No. 6 Riverton with Auburn, the No. 2 seed, facing Pawnee No. 7 at 7:30. Play continues Wednesday and Thursday with semifinal
games in both the championship and consolation brackets.
The championship game, a single affair, will be played at 7 p.m. Jan. 17. The third place game will be at 8 p.m. Friday, preceded by the seventh place contest at 5 p.m. and the
consolation bracket title game at 6:30.
Williamsville, at 13-2, won its first championship since 1991 last year, edging Pleasant Plains 43-41. The bulk of the Bullets squad returned this year and until Tuesday, their
only loss was to Varna Midland in the Williamsville Holiday Tournament. Buerkett said Varna has size and quickness, even off the bench.
Williamsville returned three starters in Brandon Donnelly, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Travis Combs and Nick Horton. Trevor Thompson and Josh Gentile are the other starters.
Buerkett said that Gentile, a sophomore, worked his way into the lineup through his great summer play, a player who does the little things and can shoot.
Tuesday, Rochester, always known for defense under Egan, who is completing his 14th and last year, played a triangle-and-two and limited Donnelly and Gentile to just six
points.
After some experimenting, Egan told this newspaper Monday that he had pretty much settled on a seven-man rotation. It includes Shunk, 6-6 Riley McMinn, Jake Cullen along
with Blake Gand and 6-5 Ross Winning, with Pat Londrigan and Zach Carlson off the bench. Tuesday, McMinn picked up 11 points to go with 14 boards and Cullen, who Egan
says “is coming on of late,” also netted 11.
Tuesday, New Berlin, with top scorer Kody Kirkpatrick back after missing 10 days, couldn’t match up with Pawnee. Barth, who went to a deliberate game last year after starting
0-8 and came up a winner, wasn’t sure when Kirkpatrick, who has a lower back injury, would play again. He is still listed as game to game.
Barth, who said that he felt Rochester was certainly capable and probably the darkhorse next week, stated that “we might just have to hold the ball, that is if we can’t get the
lead.”
The lower half of the draw is dominated by Auburn and Plains, although neither Auburn’s Doug Graven or Plains’ Cliff Cameron are looking past their first round opponents. In
Auburn’s case, it is 104 rival Pawnee.
A team playing a tough schedule is the Cardinals, who started the season 0-5 losing to the likes of Centralia, Collinsville, Jacksonville, Jerseyville and Mahomet-Seymour, all
3A and 4A teams.
But the Cards, who lost earlier to Williamsville, has been coming on of late, punctuated by their showing at the Macomb Holiday Tourney, where they set two defensive records
and finished second, losing 42-37 to Macomb.
The Cards allowed just 85 points in their first three games against Farmington, West Hancock and Pittsfield and 127 for four games.
Cameron says he is a much happier camper after the Macomb Tourney, but recognizes that winning the county will be a tough task.
“Both Auburn and Williamsville are very good teams with solid lineups, but you still play them one at a time and Riverton is our main objective.”
Graven takes a similar position. “Pawnee and Auburn always play each other tough, but if we can get past them, Plains and Williamsville loom as our toughest opponents to
date.”
Graven, whose team’s late start has them at 8-1 on the year, the lone loss a 52-50 decision in the last four seconds to West Central at the Waverly Tourney.
The Trojans have been winning behind their 1-2 scoring punch of Josh Sergent (20 ppg) and 6-6 Cole Busch (18 ppg). The Trojans, who like the uptempo style, need “some
other guys to start scoring more,” states Graven. Auburn hasn’t won the county since 1986 and Graven feels that “we have a shot, but a lot of things have to go right.”
Plains, which will be looking for its ninth title in the last 15 years, is led by 6-3 junior Logan Harris, averaging 14.2 points a game and has more size in 6-3 Christian Shultz (9
ppg) and 6-1 John Ellenberg (8 ppg).
The Cards also got the services of Derek Betzer several games back who has added a “needed dimension,” says Cameron, coming off the bench. Auburn will get the services
of Jordan McCarty at tourney time after recovering from an injury to add to the bench strength.
Issue Date: Jan. 8, 2009
