12-28-02
MASSAC CO. VS.
ANNA-JONESBORO
@ ELDORADO HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - Heading into this season, coach Joe Hosman didn't know how senior Rob Fickert would handle being a starter.

With less than three years total experience on a basketball court, the 6-4 senior was a question mark for the Patriots.

Even though Allen Iverson is known as 'the Answer' in the NBA, the question of who will handle the tough duty in the middle for Massac County, the answer is Rob Fickert.

Fickert scored the first basket in overtime to get the Patriots going and finished with a team-high 10 points as coach Joe Hosman's Red, White and Blue bunch brought home yet another Eldorado Holiday Tournament title, beating Anna-Jonesboro 44-37 in a low-scoring overtime thriller.

Fickert was name the Most Valuable Player of the 38th Annual Tournament while Massac County (9-4) won the school's fifth title in ten years under Hosman.

His basket in the paint at the 3:37 mark in overtime put the Patriots up by two and his play on the defensive end, especially on the boards, was a factor in not only this game but in the three previous Patriot wins as well.

"He (Fickert) has really stepped up for us this season." said coach Hosman, who never gets tired of winning this tournament title. "After the first quarter we did a good job defensively and Fickert was big for us in the middle."

Massac County opened the game a bit tentative, and it showed with indecisions on the court that resulted in five first quarter turnovers and a 10-5 deficit at the first horn.

"I knew going into this game that A-J's 'match-up' zone defense would give us trouble." added Hosman, whose team lost in overtime to A-J at the Pyramid Tourney at Herrin back in November. "Coach (Jim) Drew does such a good job with that defense that you really need a day or two to prepare for it. But we adjusted well especially after the first quarter."

Foul trouble in the first half forced Anna-Jonesboro to slow things down a bit more than they would have liked and it reflected on the scoreboard. But things began to heat up in the second frame.

A-J's Mark Chamness stretched the Wildcats lead to its largest at 12-7 early in second quarter on a rebound basket.

Then Massac got an offensive rhythm going as they scored the next five points to tie the game.

Gerren Rogers scored in the paint on a short lay in to cut the lead to three. Then on a set out of bounds play, Massac's Dominique Petty canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to even things at 12.

Rob Bittle put the 'Cats back in front with a pair of free throws but MC's Aaron Bowman canned his only shot of the night, a 3-pointer from just left of the top of the key, to give the Pats their first lead at 15-14.

Adam Casper's rebound basket off of his own miss gave A-J the lead back briefly but Tyler Watkins stole a A-J pass on the left wing and scooted in for a lay in and a 17-16 Massac advantage.

Matt Jacobs took a pass from Shannon on the right baseline and scored off the glass while being fouled by A-J's Bo Bennett.

Jacobs missed the free throw but Massac would get the ball back just before the half ended after an A-J turnover.

However the Patriots missed a golden opportunity to extend its lead heading into halftime when they turned the ball over just before the buzzer without getting a shot off.

Massac would get a bit of a cushion in the first part of the second half with baskets by Shannon and Petty.

Shannon's score came on a pull-up bank shot from 5-feet out. Then Petty hit the boards hard and came up with a supreme effort.

After missing his initial shot, he kept the ball alive and put it back home on his third attempt and suddenly A-J was in trouble trailing 23-16 with 6:35 to go in the third.

However Daniel Webb trimmed six-points off of the Massac by himself.

He used his 6-2 football sized body to bully his way into the lane and scored on the shot while being fouled by Rogers.

His free throw completed a 3-point play and cut the 'Cats deficit to 23-19.

The next three possessions by each team produced no points.

However Webb would step out behind the arc and make his only 3-pointer of the night at 1:45 left in the third and the lead had been narrowed to 23-22.

Fickert became the first of the Patriots to get into foul trouble as he picked up his third personal sending Mike Chamness to the line to shoot two. Chamness hit the first one of two shots at :02 to even things at 23 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats got their first lead since the second quarter as Brett Wright scored his only two points of the game to make it 25-23.
Massac scored the next six-points to once again take control.

Jacobs hit a driving straight ahead bank from just inside the foul line.

After a Rogers scored on an 'up and under' move, Jacobs forced a five-second defensive call on Bittle to get the ball back for the Pats.

Fickert hit on a turn around 10-footer and it was 29-25 Pats with 4:50 to play.

After working for a good shot against a Massac zone defense, Mark Chamness hit a 3-pointer to get A-J back to within a point.

Then came two consecutive trips in which Fickert showed why he was the MVP of this tournament.

He got a rebound and hustled up the court, and after his teammates worked the ball around the perimeter, Shannon found him in the lane and his 10-footer banked home to put his club back up 31-28.

Another trip by A-J produced another missed opportunity. Webb and Chamness both missed on shot attempts close in and Rogers ripped down the rebound.

Massac seemed to put the Wildcats out of reach when Fickert rebounded his own miss and stuck the ball back in to force an A-J timeout at 33-28 and 2:45 to play.

But at this point of the proceedings, coach Drew inserted his freshman son Jimmy back into the game.

Although he had seen a few minutes on the floor in the third quarter giving the starters a rest, he was on the court as an offensive threat this time.

In fact when Webb received a cut on his back in the second quarter that produced some blood on his jersey, Webb put on Drew's number 45 for the rest of the half.

The 6-4 Drew got his first look at the basket from behind the arc and stroked home a 20-footer from the right elbow to bring the Wildcats back to a 33-31 score at 2:05.

At this point, coach Hosman instructed his troops to work the clock and they managed to play 'keep away' for nearly a minute before a kicked ball stopped play.

Realizing at this point that they had too many fouls to give, A-J committed four-straight fouls to get Massac to the line.

The strategy paid off as Jacobs missed the front half of the 1-and-1 and Webb corralled the rebound.

Anna-Jonesboro wanted to get the ball in the hands of Webb and they did just that when he got the ball on the right side of the lane. But his wide-open look that would have tied the game rattled 'in and out.'

Fickert was fouled on the rebound and made both free throws to push the lead to 35-31 with :42 seconds left.

Now looking to score quickly, Mark Chamness drove to the right baseline and collided with Shannon who was trying to take a charge. Shannon was called for his fourth personal on the play with :36 seconds remaining.

Chamness made his first shot, but his second one rimmed out and Fickert hauled down the rebound.

But a tipped pass set off a wild scramble for the ball out past the free throw line.

Chamness managed to get the ball and get off a shot that bounced between Jacobs and Bittle on the far left sideline.

The ball ended up going out-of-bounds off of Jacobs which gave A-J the ball back with :20 remaining in regulation and a final chance to send the game into overtime.

Anna-Jonesboro tried to run a set play for Webb but the play backfired and the ball was reversed back around.

Drew then came off of a screen and his turn-around shot from way behind the line awoke the crowd and tied the game at 35-all with :06 left.

After a timeout by Massac, Petty got off a pretty good shot from just inside the 3-point line that bounced off sending the championship contest into overtime.

"I am not looking forward to coaching against that young man for the next four years," said Hosman when talking about Jimmy Drew. "That kid is a player."

The extra period, which started by Fickert's shot in the lane, was nearly all Massac County.

After Drew's rebound basket tied the game at 37 with 3:07 remaining, A-J missed on six consecutive shots.

During this stretch, Rogers rebounded a Massac miss for a hoop and then Shannon hit on a drive in the lane.

Forced to foul after their missed shots, the Wildcats sent the Pats to the line.

Shannon and Petty combined to hit 3-of-6 charities to give coach Hosman another title and give Massac County a seven-game winning streak.

Fickert led Massac with 10, Shannon added nine, Petty eight and six each from Jacobs and Rogers.

A-J got a game-high 12 points from Mark Chamness, while Webb and Drew chipped in eight apiece.

"We are not quite there yet but we are getting better." said Hosman. "This is a great tournament and to win it five times at Massac, and once while I coached here at Eldorado, is very special to me."

The All-tournament team consisted of MVP Fickert and Shannon from Massac; Webb and Mark Chamness of A-J; Trent Wargel and Kyle Olham of Gallatin County; Robert Williams of Mounds Meridian; William Carmickle of Eldorado; Kyle Hines of Carrier Mills and Ryan Jones of Carmi-White County.

BENTON 72, GALLATIN COUNTY 50
The Rangers took home third place honors behind 28 points from All-tourney selection Ryan Fraulini in the win over Gallatin County.

A 22-6 spread in the second quarter by Benton (8-5) was the difference.

Justin Raby added 13 for Benton.

Gallatin County got 14 points from Josh Gill and Kyle Oldham while Trent Wargel added 12.

ELDORADO 66, CARMI-WHITE COUNTY 49
The host Eagles spotted Carmi a 15-12 lead in the first then outscored the Bulldogs 35-21 in the middle two quarters to pull away and earn the fifth place trophy.

William Carmickle led coach Greg Goodley's Eagles with 28 points including 10-of-10 from the free throw line.

Carmi got 16 points from Ryan Jones and 14 from Kevin Wolff in defeat.

MOUNDS MERIDIAN 80, WEST FRANKFORT 59
The Bobcats rebounded from an opening day loss to Carmi and rambled through the losers bracket to win the Consolation title.

Jared Staple led all scorers with 22 points.

Marcus Hines pitched home 19 while All-tourney pick Robert Williams added 14.

Mike Duff Sportsmanship Award winner Travis Easley scored 11 for the Bobcats.

Kyle Melvin's 22 points led West Frankfort.

Meridian blasted out of the gate with a 21-5 first quarter in slaying the Redbirds.