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 Tri-City managed to get on the board first and
keep the game close as the Toppers started out having a little
trouble to get the ball to drop from beyond six feet. Michael
Lowery and Beau Collier would both hit short baseline jumpers to tie
the game at 4-4, but Tri -City quickly answered back with a three
and took the lead 7-4. Dalton Litterly entered the game and hit his
own three to ignite the team and tie the game at 7-7. Beau Collier
managed to sink one free throw to give the Toppers an 8-7 edge at
the end of one quarter of play.
The Toppers managed to pick up the pace in the
second quarter and play their running game that results in easy
baskets. Litterly, who is up and down the court and all over the
place in quick fashion, which is great to have off the bench, drove
thru the lane for a nice two to give Mount Pulaski an 11-10 lead.
Curry also had a layup and Lowery added his own easy bucket in the
lane on the steal and pass from Beau Collier to give the Toppers a
16-10 lead. Tri-City continued to run the court with the Toppers
though and make their shots. Curry changed things up a bit and
came down the court and instead of driving lane decided to pull up
and nail a three to give Mount Pulaski a 19-15 lead. Blake Collier
was also in on the second quarter scoring action as he was fouled
twice going to the basket and managed to be a perfect 4-4 on his
free throws giving Mount Pulaski the 26-19 lead. The Toppers were
able to pull away from Tri-City on layups by Lowery and Beau Collier
near the end of the half. As the teams headed to the locker rooms
it was Mount Pulaski with their biggest lead of evening so far at
31-20.
The Toppers came out firing quickly in the
third quarter as Lowery hit a two from the right block and Beau
Collier was dialing from long distance with his own three to put the
Toppers up 36-20. Litterly nailed a jumper for two and Blake
Collier, who loves driving thru traffic, had a nice layup in the
lane for two and the Toppers quickly doubled up the Tornadoes
40-20. Lowery and the Collier twins continued the scoring rampage
highlighted by Blake's three pointer from beyond the arc. Freshman
big man Peyton Taylor, who stands at 6'5", got in on the action as
well with a bank shot of his own from the paint. At the end of
three, the Toppers were up 49-29.
The Topper starters saw little action in the
fourth quarter with the bench playing a significant role. Senior
Aaron Durchholz came up huge for the Toppers scoring six points in
the fourth quarter, much to the delight of the Topper Spirit Squad.
Sophomore Eli Griesheim also added a beautiful reverse layup
contributing further evidence that the Toppers bench is deep this
year.
[to top of second column] |
At the end of the Toppers 69-40 win Coach Ryan
Deibert was pleased and said, "We've been able to get contributions
from a lot of guys, about 8 or 9 guys, that's what we need." In
fact, this win saw eleven Toppers in the scoring column. A good
night all around. Also worth noting is the fast pace the Toppers
seem to enjoy playing thus far this season, Deibert agreed and said,
"Oh and we're going to get a lot faster." The Topper fans will sure
be looking forward to that.
The Topper Turkey Tourney action picks back up
Friday night with Mount Pulaski taking on Decatur LSA at 8:00 p.m.
Also Friday night Illini Central will take on
Decatur Christian at 5:00 p.m and Porta plays Springfield Calvary at
6:30 p.m.
Toppers scoring totals
Brayden Curry 13
Blake Collier 12
Michael Lowery 10
Beau Collier 10
Dalton Litterly 8
Aaron Durchholz 6
Eli Griesheim 3
Peyton Taylor 3
Dalton Dierker 2
Lukas Aylesworth 1
Matt Amidon 1
[Teena Lowery]
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