EDWARDSVILLE – Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran used solid three-point shooting, hitting nine treys on the evening, and a 24-point performance from Sam Britt to defeat Southwestern 70-55 in the opening round of the 38th Metro-East Lutheran Turkey Tip-Off Classic Monday night at Hooks Gymnasium.
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The Piasa Birds had got 17 points from Carter Moore and 12 from E.J. Kahl, but couldn’t overcome the Silver Stallions’ hot shooting.
COR was hitting the three ball on a consistent basis, and every time the Birds were able to mount a comeback, the Stallions had an answer.
“They were very consistent from the arc,” Southwestern head coach Jason Darr said. “We gave up too many easy buckets, and defensively, we weren’t good enough. We’ve got to get better, we’ve got to improve, and if we don’t do that, it’s going to be a long season. We’re going to have to put in the work and get things done. So, it’s hard, with a young team coming in and try to make things happen.”
Darr also tipped his cap to COR.
“I thought their team was very athletic,” Darr said, “and did a lot of good things, pretty decent guard play, I thought, and we just struggled. We didn’t handle it very well.”
Southwestern was able to make shots early on to stay with the Stallions but got tired as the game wore on.
“Actually we made some shots early, and then late, we kind of got tired,” Durr said. “We missed some shots, everything seemed to be short, and we just kind of struggled from the arc, we struggled from the free throw line, and we didn’t attack the rim like I thought we would. Some of our scorers, the guys we thought were our scorers, got into foul trouble early, and had to come out of the game. It’s just part of coaching, man. We’ve gotta move on and figure things out. And that’s part of the deal. We graduated four seniors, and you don’t just get back on that level overnight. So we’re going to continue to work.”
The game started out even, with Britt hitting a pair of threes to get COR started, while Brady Salzman and Addis Moore scored as the quarter started with a 6-6 tie. After Britt hit another three and a pair of free throws made it 11-6, the Birds came back with a Carter Moore basket and a Addis Moore three to draw Southwestern level. The Birds took a 16-11 lead a great spin move from Addis Moore to score and a three from the top of the key by Kahl to open a 16-11 lead, but the Stallions came back to pull within two on a Zach Wuebbels as the period ended 16-14 for the Birds.
Ryne Hanslow scored to at the start of the second quarter, but consecutive threes by Nathan Ellis and Ty Reynolds gave the lead back to COR at 20-18. The Stallions went on an 8-3 run to open up their lead, but Carter Moore drilled a three to pull Southwestern back to with in two to make it 28-26, But a three-point play and another three extended the Stallions lead to eight, and the Birds came back again, with Salzman scoring off a rebound before the halftime buzzer to make it 34-32 COR at the long break.
The Stallions came out at the start of the second half by scoring the first five points on a long three and drive to the lane by Britt. Three Southwestern free throws cut the deficit to 39-35, then the teams traded baskets before the Stallions outscored the Birds 15-9 the rest of the quarter to take a 54-44 lead going into the final term.
Kahl banked home a shot to cut the lead to 54-46 at the start of the fourth, but another three from Wuebbels made it 59-48, and a layin by Haydn Johnston and free throws from Britt extended the Stallions lead, and COR was able to pull away late to make the final 70-55.
The Stallions will play Odin, a winner over Lebanon, in the quarterfinals Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m., while the Birds will play the Greyhounds Wednesday evening in the consolation quarterfinals in the auxiliary gym at 5 p.m.
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