CARROLLTON - Senior night might’ve taken a toll on the Carrollton Hawks supporters as they laid their eyes on seven players for the last time in uniform in the Carrollton gymnasium.
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This has been the largest amount of seniors on a Hawks team for almost a decade and they’ve been a part of a lot of victories, 89 to precise.
The seniors were a big reason why they got victory no. 89 last night as they bested the Brown County Hornets 67-49.
“Our intensity, shooting percentage, and overall approach were there for us tonight and that’s why we got a win,” Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumwiede said.
The shooting percentage speaks for itself as the Hawks shot 62 percent from the field.
Carrollton snapped a two-game losing streak with losses coming against Jerseyville, 50-23 and Calhoun, 73-58.
“We really needed this win to stay atop the WIVC and we got it done tonight and got one more,” Luke Gillingham said.
“The last couple of games we haven’t been playing Carrollton Hawk basketball and that was our main focus tonight,” Cole Brannan said.
Chase McAdams played perhaps his best game of the season by scoring 15 points, 11 in the first half, and snagging 13 rebounds.
“Tonight was a great night for Chase,” Krumwiede said. “The constant about Chase is the consistency offensively that he has had to work on, but tonight was a night, against their (Brown County’s) man we were able to get him the ball in some advantageous situations, and he did what he should’ve done.”
“It was good that I was able to score so much in the first half and as coach said it really opened up a lot of people,” McAdams said. “I didn’t plan on having a big game. I was hoping to clean up the glass and help other people score.”
McAdams at six foot, eight inches was able to use his superior size advantage against the Hornets, whose tallest player was six foot, two inches.
Cole Brannan has started nearly every game the Hawks have played for the last four years and Luke Gillingham has been involved for most of them as well.
It was a bittersweet evening for the two seniors.
“Just like football it came quick,” Brannan said. “It’s been an honor to play here in front of everybody, in front of the Carrollton people, and I’ll never forget it.”
“I’m going to miss it a lot. The fans are unbelievable,” Gillingham said. “It was a great time playing at Carrollton. I’ve been blessed.”
Gillingham has scored over 1,000 points in his career and Brannan has been more of distributor on offense throughout his, but tonight he outscored Gillingham 14 to 11.
Because it was senior night, Krumwiede started an all-senior lineup and all seven of them got significant playing time, while key underclassmen got a chance to observe.
“It was good for our seniors to be out there and Jerrett [Smith] and [Jeremy] Watson got to watch and learn a little bit,” Krumwiede said.
Carrollton started off well offensively in the first quarter, which is what they’ve struggled with for large parts of the season.
They ended the quarter on a 9-2 run and led 19-13.
“We’ve came out of the first quarter in the past two games and got our butts kicked,” Gillingham said. “Tonight we were the aggressor. We forced turnovers and did what we’ve doing all year long in the games we’ve won.”
McAdams recorded seven points, including an and-one in the frame, which opened up the offense surrounding him.
“He came out and we pounded it in to him and he kept scoring,” Gillingham said. “Everybody started drawing into him and it opened up driving lanes.”
The Hawks went on a 9-1 run to open up the second quarter and led 28-14, which included long possessions and high-percentage shots.
“Coach pointed out to us the last couple of games we’ve been quick in shots and just forcing stuff that wasn’t there,” Brannan said. “We decided to come out and move the ball a little bit and ended up getting shots that were easy and making them.”
The Hornets led by Tanner Sussenbach and Jack Hulvey got Brown County back into it with an 11-2 run to cut it to 30-25.
Hulvey finished as the top scorer with 16 points and Sussenbach added 10.
Carrollton though, scored seven straight points, including a steal and a layup by senior Tyler Frye right before the buzzer sounded.
The Hawks outscored the Hornets 15-8 in the third quarter, which was capped by senior Logan Kaiser’s three-pointer that banked in at the buzzer to give Carrollton a 52-33 lead.
Hawks forward Jerrett Smith played limited action last night as he is recovering from a badly rolled ankle he sustained a week ago against Jerseyville.
“It was a great opportunity to get Jerrett some more rest,” Krumwiede said. “I think we’ll rest him a lot on Thursday too and by next Wednesday I hope we don’t have him rusty. For three games in a row he gave us minutes that were gutsy on his part and showed that he’s about the team and not himself.
Krumwiede is hopeful Smith will be fully healthy by the time regional play starts for the Hawks next Wednesday.
“To have him back healthy and 100 percent next Wednesday is going to be a priority and I think we’re going to be able to do that,” Krumwiede said.
Carrollton will play either Greenfield-Northwestern or North Greene on Wednesday at the Greenfield IHSA Regional.
The Hawks have beaten both teams in the regular season.
Before that though, on Thursday Carrollton will end their regualr season against the Illinois School for the Deaf in Jacksonville.
The class of 2016 seniors will be leaving a memorable legacy with all of the wins and trophies they’ve helped garner over the past four years, but what remains is their final postseason go-around.
“What I’ve been working with them on is ever since we got upset by Pawnee at Waverly [Holiday Tournament] was what’s your legacy going to be?” Krumwiede said. “We have to change something to take a step up the ladder so that we can be a championship team. If we focus and if we’re dedicated to success then these guys can have it."
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