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 It is anticipated that South Fork will be joining the Tomahawk
conference, so these two teams will be meeting in future years to
come.
In their first matchup, the Ponies gave the Toppers a run for their
money early on by jumping out to a 7-5 lead. Blake Collier's three
with 4:48 on the clock put Mount Pulaski on top 8-7. Moments later
Blake Collier would pad the lead 13-8 with another three for Mount
Pulaski. Matt Amidon's quick hands slapped the ball away from the
Ponies and he went all the way for the basket to extend the lead to
15-8. It would be Amidon again playing a key role in the Toppers
lineup just before the end of one quarter of play as he tipped the
offensive rebound into the hands of Brett Huff, who quickly tossed
it in for two points at the buzzer. Smart move on Amidon's part as
he was surrounded by defenders and quickly found the open man. At
the end of one quarter the Toppers led 18-11.
 Early in second quarter action the Toppers got buckets from Michael
Lowery and Amidon, who both used their bodies to push their way to
the basket and make it count. The Toppers lead was looking even
better after Huff nailed a three to put Mount Pulaski up 25-17.
Enter into the game number 40, Will Stewart. Oops, the leading
scorer from last night was not in the books with the correct number,
so Mount Pulaski was slapped with a technical foul. The Ponies
picked up a little momentum here as the technical foul was called
and Austin Warren made both free throws and Dylan Pop went on to
"pop" a three in the following possession to pull the Ponies closer,
25-22 with 3:20 on the clock. Lowery and Lukas Aylesworth quickly
answered back though, with baskets and Mount Pulaski's lead was
29-22. It would be Austin Warren's three just before the half to
keep the Ponies kickin' and head to the locker room trailing the
Toppers just 29-25.
Clayton Dees scored to open the third quarter for the Ponies and
again the Toppers had a barn-burner on their hands, while holding a
slim 29-27 lead. After nearly three minutes of missed shots and
turnovers for both teams, Amidon stole the ball and found Beau
Collier ahead of the pack for a layup, extending the Topper lead
31-27. Amidon's steal had a snowball effect for the Toppers in the
third quarter as Aylesworth got in on the action and his steal also
led to a pass to Beau Collier which in turn led to two more points.
The Toppers were beginning to look like thieves as Huff stole the
ball and found Blake Collier running down the court who found Lowery
wide open running towards the basket and that made for an easy two
points for the Toppers. Next up Dalton Litterly was good for
stealing the ball not once but twice and when it was all said and
done the Toppers had pulled away 47-36 at the end of the third
quarter.
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Those Ponies were not wearing down easily though and came out of the
huddle in the fourth quarter determined to make a run for it. A
three from Austin Warren did pull the Ponies closer 47-41 with 5:54
left to play. Around the 4:00 minute mark the Toppers were the ones
who just run away from the Ponies as Lowery swiped the ball and
found Blake Collier open for the easy layup, and the Toppers lead
was back to ten points, 51-41. Lowery's drive to the basket on the
next Topper possession was good for a foul and he managed to redeem
himself for the previous missed free throws and connect on both of
these, as the Toppers were beginning to put this one away, 53-41.
Beau Collier would also find Lowery lingering around the basket by
himself on the inbounds play with 2:00 remaining and his easy basket
put the Toppers in the lead 58-45. The Toppers scoring was completed
on layups by Huff and the Collier twins as the game came to a close,
64-47.
Seniors Amidon, Lowery and the Collier twins all had a respectable
showing in the scorebook on this evening as they kept their point
totals high and their fouls low. Lowery and Beau Collier each scored
12 points and Amidon and Blake Collier were close behind with 11
points each. Junior Brett Huff chipped in seven points.
The Toppers record improves to 13-9 and they will travel to
Springfield Lutheran on Friday evening to take on the number one
rated Class 1A team in the state, the Crusaders. Game time is 6:15
for the JV with the Varsity to follow.
Toppers scoring vs. South Fork:
Lowery 12
Beau Collier 12
Blake Collier 11
Amidon 11
Brett Huff 7
Taylor 4
Litterly 4
Aylesworth 3
[Teena Lowery]
Note: Senior
Brayden Curry has been suffering from a leg injury that has kept him
out of the lineup since the St. Anthony Shootout in Effingham.
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