01/19/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
WEST FRANKFORT - The West Frankfort Redbirds, heading into Friday night's title contest against Crab Orchard, had won or shared nine championships of the previous 36 Mid-Winter Classic's.

Behind the tournament's MVP Keagan Bowers and a defensive effort against the Trojans' high scoring offense, the Redbirds nabbed title number ten with a convincing 71-55 victory

Five-ten senior guard Brady Melvin notched a team-best 23-points, including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as West Frankfort hoisted the trophy.

Bowers added 19-points in the contest and junior Eli Tyson tossed in 10-points for Coach Josh Sertich as the hosts took command with a big second quarter and held off all rally attempts by Crab Orchard to capture the championship.

For the Trojans, it was a contest against a physical football playing school that should help Coach Jon Brown's club heading into the GEC tournament next week and on into the postseason.

Crab Orchard saw its overall mark slip to 14-7 with a 2-1 mark in the tournament with wins over Thompsonville and Cairo.

West Frankfort sits at 9-12 on the season after the 3-0 week at the 37th annual event that was reduced to just four-teams starting in 2020 because of a lack of available participants due to an abundance of new tournaments in the past six seasons.

“Quite honestly their strength gave us trouble,” said Coach Brown. “We hit shots but they were able to put bodies on us. They were very physical. They were changing and rushing our shots. You have to give them credit. They're a strong, physical team.”

It took a few minutes early in the game before the hosts got going.

Crab Orchard got a three-point play by junior guard Carter Watts and a 3-pointer from Cameron Dawes for a 6-5 early lead for Crab Orchard.

However the advantage was short lived as the Redbirds got six early points from Melvin and seven first quarter markers from Bowers for a 17-11 lead at the end of one.

After the Trojans scored on consecutive possessions (Dawes and Cameron Clark) to get to within 20-17, West Frankfort made its best run of the night.

Melvin scored six-straight points for his team on a pair of drives to the basket and also two free throws.

Eli Tyson, a 6-foot junior guard, scored on a fast break lay in off of a Trojans' turnover and then canned a 3-pointer from the right corner.

When Bowers added to his totals with a 3-point shot from the left corner, the 14-0 game changing run was completed at 34-17 West Frankfort with 2:31 left before halftime.

Crab Orchard hit just 4-of-16 shots in the second quarter and trailed 36-21 at halftime.

“We thought we could have some success against them offensively. The set plays we ran against them got us some easy buckets and that was crucial,” said Coach Sertich. “It was important to get some good looks and stops on the other end. We did a great job on the glass keeping them from getting many second chances.”

The Trojans had a better third quarter offensively but they couldn't get the defensive stops to cut into the lead by much.

West Frankfort opened the second half by hitting their first six field goal attempts.

Six-two sophomore Quentin Osborn scored four of his six-points in the third quarter and Bowers added nine-points to his total.

Bowers added a pair of late quarter scores and Melvin scored on a couple of transition opportunities as West Frankfort led 56-40 at the end of the third.

Melvin ended what little drama there was left in the championship game story with two 3-point bombs; one from the right wing and the other from the left corner.

The second 20-footer made it 64-45 Redbirds with 5:36 remaining.

“They (Crab Orchard) are a tough team to prepare for because they shoot the ball so well and they shoot a lot of 3's, they can get to the rim and defensively they can throw a 'triangle-and-two' at you and it can throw some teams off,” said Coach Sertich. “I was happy how we played tonight.”

The host club shot 53.7 percent from the field (29-of-54, 6-of-12 from 3-point land) in the win and held a 36-25 rebounding advantage.

Although they committed 13-turnovers, six in the third quarter, they got the defensive stops to keep Crab Orchard from scoring runs.

The Trojans ended up 24-of-62 from the floor (38.7 percent) and 5-of-20 from long range while committing just 10-turnovers.

“Our kids keep grinding and keep battling and we've had some games like this where we battled back,” said Coach Brown. “Right before our conference tournament we came up here and got a good game against West Frankfort. We can take away something positive from this week and have some momentum heading into next week (GEC tournament).”