02/19/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - Coach Eric Stallman and his Christopher Bearcats checked all of the boxes in their convincing Senior Night win Thursday night.

They took care of a home conference and regular season finale, beat their long-time Franklin County rival and tuned up for the postseason while getting a bunch of players some PT.

Check, check and check.

The Bearcats broke away from Zeigler-Royalton in the second quarter and removed the drama in the beginning of the second half in their 77-39 triumph.

Christopher improved their final regular season record to 16-13, 7-5 in the Black Diamond Conference.

The statistics were as lopsided as the final tally.

The Bearcats dominated defensively, forcing the Tornadoes into 17-turnovers, eight in each of the second and third quarters, to turn the game into a rout.

A 26-6 third quarter sent the game into a mercy rule to start the final frame.

As per usual, Christopher was exceptional from behind the 3-point line.

Senior guard Landon Sveda nailed down half of the Bearcats' 12 made 3-pointers and finished with a game-best 27-points, 19 in the first half.

Classmate Gauge Schlake added 18-points, mostly getting to the rim.

Reserve senior Leo Tucker scored 10-points, all in the second half for Christopher.

Two other Bearcats; senior Trevin Skropka and senior Noah Casey, each added eight-points in the rivalry win.

The numbers weren't nearly as pretty for Coach David Russell and his club.

Z-R had just a pair of players hit for double-digits.

Senior Nolan Brown (14) and junior Kaiden Niblett (10) were the scoring leaders.

The Tornadoes fell to 0-12 in the conference, 7-24 overall.

Christopher got off to a good start and never trailed, canning four of their 12 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game.

Sveda hit two of the shots early and Skropka and Schlake added one each in a 14-3 beginning.

Z-R got as close as two-points in the quarter, getting a pair of drives to the basket by sophomore Kross VanHoorebeke and senior Carsen Longwell and a 3-pointer from Brown to cut the deficit to 16-14 with under a minute to go in the quarter.

But an assist to Casey from senior Landon Butler for points and a pair of free throws by Sveda closed the stanza at 20-14 Christopher.

The second quarter is where Sveda did his damage.

He netted 13 of his points, including two more 3-pointers and a conventional three-point play on a drive inside.

He also went coast-to-coast off a long rebound for another transition score.

(CONTINUED)

The Bearcats closed out the first half with another run.

Junior guard Tripp Fletcher got in on the act with a steal and fast break lay up before Sveda closed the second quarter with another 3-pointer.

Two more free throws in the book finished the first half at 41-24.

The hosts hit their first five field goal attempts in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach for Zeigler-Royalton.

This was part of a 14-0 second half starting scoring burst to push the advantage to 55-24.

Both Sveda and Schlake hit 3-pointers in the quarter, as did Tucker.

Tucker added a steal and fast break lay in for a 67-30 lead at the end of the third.

Sveda hit his final shot, a 3-pointer, for a 70-32 lead before the reserves ran out the continuous clock fourth quarter.

The Bearcats ended up 27-of-54 overall from the floor, 12-of-24 from the arc.

They held a 20-12 rebounding advantage, keeping the Tornadoes off of the offensive glass as they allowed only one offensive rebound, and that was in the final minutes.

Z-R ended up 15-of-38 overall, 6-of-18 from long range.

Coach Stallman's team only committed nine-turnovers compared to the 17 miscues by Z-R.

This was the regular season finally for both teams as they head into postseason play next week.

Christopher will host Trico in the Elverado Regional opener on Monday with the winner to face top-seed Waltonville on Wednesday night.

The Tornadoes will travel to Woodlawn to play the Cardinals on Monday night, part of the Sparta Regional.

“It's always nice to get a win and it's always nice to get everyone out there (playing) and getting involved,” said Coach Stallman. “We shot the ball well and it is nice heading into the postseason shooting well and we hope to continue that. They played hard defensively and it is good to get a win over your rivals. We co-op with them in multiple sports.”