JERSEYVILLE - In day four's final game of the Jersey Community High School Mid-Winter Classic Boys Basketball Tournament, the Stote Reeders’ Panthers showed their packed home crowd how the game of basketball is really played.
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In four periods against the Pittsfield High School Saukees, JCHS dominated with each play, earning a 26-point victory with a score of 69-43.
“This is our second year in a row we’ve played a really good game against Pittsfield,” Coach Reeder said. “We shot it really well tonight and had three guys in double figures. When it's all said in done, you really don’t get a good lead without playing good defense.”
His opponent was very honest with the problems they faced against the winning team.
“They outmanned us in every position,” Pittsfield coach Brad Tomhave said after his team’s loss. “They didn’t let us get comfortable within our offense and they really ran efficient offense and attacked us. We didn’t come with the energy we needed with us and they made us play.”
To start off the night, senior Drake Kanallakan locked in a two-point shot. His classmate Zac Ridenhour backed him up with another basket to extend their score to four points.
Senior Quinn Leahy put the Saukees on the board in their first play after he brought in two.
Sophomore Blake Wittman locked in a three-pointer to bring the score to 7-3 early in the first. Senior Tanner Ashburn swooshed in a basket for Pittsfield before Jersey junior Jacob Ridenhour could hit an astounding three-point shot to bring the score to 10-5 in the Panthers’ favor.
A foul on senior Jesse Drone allowed him to lock in two successful free throws that ended the Saukees’ offense in the first period at seven points.
The Panthers were not finished adding those points to the board yet. Zac Ridenhour, Jacob Ridenhour and Wittman all knocked in one more basket each before the end of the period, ending the first with a score of 16-7.
Senior Jacob Witt kicked off the second period with a basket for Jersey before senior Tanner Still could score for Pittsfield. Witt then went on to toss in a great three-pointer to bring the score to 21-9 for his team.
Junior Korbyn Personett brought in his first two points of the game from a standard goal shot before Jersey was able to persist further from two back-to-back three-pointers by Kanallakan.
After a timeout, Pittsfield added six points courtesy of Ashburn and Drone. Ashburn locked in a three-point shot and drone successfully landed a basket and a free point from the goal line. The score was 27-17 with the Panthers holding a steady 10-point lead.
Much like the first period, the Jersey boys were not ready to head to the locker room at half without scoring some more points. Kanallakan added two more points to the roster before Zac Ridenhour had the opportunity to land a basket himself. Then, junior Ryan Herkert came off of the bench and produced a flawless three-pointer to close out the period with an astounding score of 34-17.
Zac Ridenhour came back from the break and brought in three points from a shot and a successful free throw.
Assisting his team and attempting to close the gap, Personett caught an opening in the Panther defense and locked in a three-pointer. The score was now 37-20.
Jacob Ridenhour and Zac Ridenhour were each allowed one point from free throws before Personett knocked in another basket. Zac Ridenhour swooshed the ball in the basket once and then was fouled upon to earn one more from free throws. After Ashburn locked in two more points for Pittsfield, the score was now 42-24 in the Panthers’ favor.
Heckert amazed both the competition and the spectators with two successful back-to-back three-pointers to bring Jersey’s score to 48. This play ended the Panthers’ offensive run in the third.
For Pittsfield, Drone was able to score one basket. His teammate and junior guard Austin Ator locked down a three-pointer after coming in off of the bench. Personette closed out the period after contributing a basket. The score at the end of the third was 48-31 in Jersey’s favor.
The fourth period was very intense for both teams. In Pittsfield’s defense, they were attempting to make a steady comeback against the offensively on-point Panthers. In reality, all that the Panthers had to focus on in the fourth was keeping the Saukees’ score becoming too much of a threat with their unprecedented offensive defensive tactics. Fortunately for Reeder and his boys, they were not even finished adding points to that scoreboard, despite the enormous lead they held over their opponents.
Zac Ridenhour landed a three-pointer before Leahy answered with a basket. On a rebound, Wittman locked in two more to allow his team to gain the 20-point lead with a score of 53-33.
Witt was able to score a successful free throw before sophomore Noah Mendenhall came off of the bench for the Saukees and scored a basket himself.
Wittman and Kanallakan each swooshed in three-pointers before Coach Reeder took the boys that had been working their tails off on the court all evening and put them on the bench to rest.
With Jersey’s clean up crew in the wings, Drone was fouled upon and landed one free throw. Then, on a rebound shot, sophomore Lucas Ross was able to contribute a basket for Jersey. He was then fouled and scored two more from the goal line.
The score was 64-36 before Mendenhall took two free points after a foul was committed on him. Drone was able to make his last basket of the game to bring the score to 64-40.
In the Panthers’ last offensive push, Cody Gibson locked in five points due to a great three-pointer and two free throw shots to finish out their scoring at 69 points.
The Saukees were only able to contribute three more points from free throws by Still and Mendenhall.
The score at the final buzzer was an astounding 69-43, a 26-point victory for Jersey.
Zac Ridenhour led the night in points with 16 earned throughout the evening. Following him with 13 points was Drake Kanallakan. Wittman locked down 10 points. Ryan Herkert brought in nine from those very memorable three-pointers and a few goal points. Both Jacob Wit and Jacob Ridenhour each earned six points each. Cody Gibson locked down five points and Lucas Ross earned four from a basket and free throws.
Jesse Drone lead the night in points for Pittsfield with 10 points. Korbyn Personett brought in a total of nine points. Following him was Tanner Ashburn who locked in seven. Noah Mendenhall kept the team alive with six points added. Quinn Leahy brought in five points. Both Tanner Still and Austin Ator brought in three points each.
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