02/26/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - The Norris City-Omaha-Enfield 1A Sectional has an interesting mix of teams that were all favored to win regionals and all made it through.

Waltonville, after shutting down Okawville to win the Woodlawn Regional 52-26, got to show up for practice this week while the Rockets can now get ready for baseball.

The Spartans held the Rockets to just 11 second half points in the win.

Coach Anthony Lowery and his program won its first regional title since 2008, the first year of four-class basketball behind the scoring of sophomores Kyle Cooper and Gage Peterson.

Cooper, a 5-10 guard, netted 15 while the 6-4 forward Peterson added 10.

Other contributors for the now 25-6 club are seniors Makabe Devor, a 6-1 senior, 5-10 senior Seth Karnes, 6-0 junior Isaiah Lamke and 5-9 senior Aiden Kretz.

Five-nine freshman Witten Devor also adds to the totals for the Spartans.

Waltonville posted quality wins this season over regional champion Webber Township (2), and 2A Fairfield while the losses came to 3A Troy Triad, 1A regional winner Goreville, 1A Payson-Seymour and 1A Okawville.

Webber Township won the third battle with the Spartans and the sectional opponent for Waltonville also has a victory over Coach Lowery's club.

Mounds Meridian topped Waltonville 86-78 in a game at the MLK Shootout back on January 13th.

Coach David Davis, the ABV 1A 'Coach of the Year' in 2022-23, has his Bobcats playing well.

Meridian made quick work of the opposition at the Hardin County Regional last week, pounding both Galatia (84-58) and the host Cougars (79-48) to advance to Norris City-Omaha-Enfield.

The Bobcats have faced a bunch of talented teams this season and their 24-8 record was well earned.

Eight of the schools on the schedule were 2A teams and two others were 3A teams Richland County and Jerseyville.

With a win over Waltonville the Bobcats could end up with another crack at state-ranked Goreville in the sectional title game.

The Bobcats lost the previous encounter 67-56 back on December 8th at Goreville.

Six-three freshman Antonio Flenoid, Jr. became eligible in January and made an immediate impact for the squad.

Flenoid, Jr. leads the team with right at 17-points a game and over eight-rebounds.

Coach Davis has another double-digit scorer in 5-10 sophomore Javionne Ranson, who is at 11-points game.

Flenoid, Jr. (22) and Ranson (15) led the way in the Hardin County victory.

Six-three senior Cole Kaufman, 6-3 senior Jai'Deon Reed and 6-4 senior William Thurston are all at or near double-figures in scoring.

Eight Bobcats average over four-points a game for Coach Davis, providing the kind of depth it takes to make a long postseason run.

Five-nine junior Shamar Easley, 5-10 sophomore Javionne Ranson and 6-4 sophomore Dionte Reed provide more minutes for Mounds Meridian as they hope to add a second-straight sectional title to the trophy case.

Goreville played 11-contests this season against 2A schools and the only defeats came against 2A regional champion Benton, 2A conference rival Vienna (2).

The Cats and Eagles played three times with the two teams splitting regular season games home-and-home.

Vienna won a semifinal against the Blackcats at the Metropolis Superman Classic.

The two Johnson County rivals shared the Black Diamond Conference West Division title.

Coach Tripp and Company are looking for their first sectional championship since 2019-20 Covid19 shortened season where they finished 35-2 won their second super-sectional title in three seasons.

Three different Blackcats hit for double-digits in the rout of Crab Orchard.

Cole Tripp, a 6-0 junior, scored 19-points in the regional title game romp for Goreville.

Five-eleven senior Drake Moss scored 15 and 6-6 junior Drake Buffington added 13.

Tyler Suits, a 6-0 guard, scored eight-points for the balanced scoring Blackcats.

Five-five senior Evan Holm, 6-3 junior Connor Craig and 6-1 senior Duncan Rhodes added six-points each and 5-10 sophomore Zech Green scored five.

It isn't too often that a defending state champion has a totally different path to the state finals.

Coach Dennis Rueter and his Waterloo Gibault Hawks will migrate southeast to NCOE this season after having spent the past 16-seasons going through the 1A Jacksonville Super-sectional.

The Hawks lost three starters from last season's 32-7 team, two to graduation and one to transfer, and this season was a bit of a struggle against perhaps the toughest schedule of any of the 1A teams left.

Gibault comes into the sectional after having to rally past New Athens Friday night, 53-45 to win the Trico Regional title.

The 1-2 punch for the Hawks are seniors Gavin Kesler and Kanen Augustine.

Kesler is a 6-3 forward who is averaging 15.5 points a game while Augustine is a 5-9 point guard at 13.9 p.p.g.

Both are shooting over 70 percent from the foul line.

Augustine (22) and Kesler (14) represented most of the points in the regional title game triumph.

Coach Rueter, who eclipsed 800-wins this season for his career at Gibault, has 6-1 junior Ryan Biffar (6.3 p.p.g.) and 5-8 freshman Jack Holston and 6-4 senior Andy Altes who also contribute.

Wednesday night's matchup with Goreville will mark the 15th game this season against a team with a winning record, they have played six games against 3A and 4A teams and 10-games against 2A programs.

The Hawks are 9-1 against 1A teams including the three wins at Trico with the lone loss coming to Jacksonville Routt, who played for a regional title on Friday.