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 Senior Beau Collier played yet another spectacular game and ended
with a career-high 20 points to lead Mount Pulaski. He was only
outdone by Lutheran's Pierson Wofford, who is 6'4 and being heavily
recruited by several colleges. Wofford ended up with 32 points. But
it was 5'10 Beau Collier who was the spark Mount Pulaski needed all
night long and he opened the scoring for the Toppers two minutes
into the game. Then as Lutheran pulled away for a 5-2 lead, it was
Beau Collier who launched a three and tied the game at 5-5. Lutheran
would regain the lead on a basket by Josh Kirby. Pierson Wofford,
sprung into action at this point and his series of layups extended
the lead to a comfortable 14-6 at the end of one quarter.
The Toppers got their first four points in the second quarter off of
free throws and it wasn't until Beau Collier hit his second three of
the game at the 5:00 minute mark that the Mount Pulaski crowd really
cheered. His trey made the game 16-13. Wofford scored on the other
end for the Crusaders, then Matt Amidon took the big guys by
surprise driving baseline and his basket allowed the Toppers to keep
pace, 18-15. See Wofford is not the only big guy for Lutheran, his
other 6'4 buddies are Aaron Copeland and Kirby. Kirby's basket for
Lutheran on the next possession gave the Crusaders a 20-15 lead.
Next Michael Lowery connected from behind the arc and the Toppers
were fighting back, 20-18 now the score.
 While the Toppers could do little to stop Lutheran from scoring in
this first half, they did manage to force a travel on one of the
Crusaders and get the ball back with less than a minute to play in
the first half. This was a key moment as it allowed the Toppers to
pass the ball around until Beau Collier was set and ready to dial it
in from downtown again. Another three from number 3 and the Toppers
headed to the locker room pleased at the 22-21 point difference,
even though it favored Springfield Lutheran.
Coach Steve Allen evidently fired his players up in the locker room
over halftime and they quickly came out and went on a 10-0 run on
the Toppers, highlighted by an alley-oop to Wofford, which really
pleased the blue and white crowd. Meanwhile, Lowery finally scored
for the Toppers with a three as 4:35 showed on the clock. This
little scoring drought would no doubt come back to haunt the
Toppers. As Wofford connected again for two more points for the
Crusaders, the Toppers seemed to be digging a hole, trailing 35-24.
But it would be Lowery and Blake Collier stepping it up and
combining to go on their own 8-0 run on the Crusaders. After they
each scored a basket to pull the Toppers closer, 35-29 with 2:15
left to play in the third quarter, the Mount Pulaski crowd was
really fired up. Then Lowery hit a crowd-pleasing three with :05
seconds left to really give the purple fans something to cheer about
and to breathe new life into the Toppers as they looked at the
scoreboard and realized 35-32 meant they were still in the ballgame.
As the fourth quarter got underway both teams knew the 8:00 minutes
left to play was important, but the pressure really wasn't on the
Toppers, it was on the undefeated Crusaders. And the big men for
Lutheran stepped up, including Wofford, who when he couldn't get
inside for a layup he was shooting threes from the outside. He
managed to knock a couple treys down and around the 5:00 mark the
score was looking good for Lutheran, 44-36. But never count the
little guys out. Amidon fought his way through for the offensive
rebound and put it up and over the big guys, while Beau Collier
found his way down the court ahead of everyone else and his layup
with 3:24 remaining made the game 44-40.
Then as Amidon fouled out of the game, Steven Cowles sank one of two
on his free throws and Lutheran led 45-40. Beau Collier picked the
perfect time here to turn one loose from 19.9 feet and it was good.
Good enough for Coach Allen to call a timeout as Lutheran held a
slim 45-43 lead with 2:35 left to play in the game.
Coach Allen would call another timeout at 1:22 to gather his team
and keep them focused.
[to top of second column] |
After Blake Collier fouled Wofford with 1:08 seconds remaining, he
went to the line and made just one, making the lead 46-43. Beau
Collier missed a three at the Toppers end and Lowery immediately
fouled Wofford as well. This time Wofford was a perfect 2-2 at the
line and the Crusaders lead was 48-43. Blake Collier got his turn at
the charity stripe with 40.8 seconds to play and he too, was perfect
at the line, making the score 48-45.
Blake Collier would foul out with :34 seconds left and Kirby made
one of those free throws to extend the lead 49-45. Mount Pulaski had
possession of the ball and just when it looked like the Toppers had
a opportunity to score, there was a loose ball on the floor and as
players scrambled for it, the referee called it a jump ball and the
possession arrow pointed in Lutheran's direction. With 16.7 seconds
on the clock the Toppers hopes were not yet beginning to fade, but
this was sure a momentum killer.
Eventually Wofford found his way to the free throw line yet again
and yes he was perfect again so the Crusaders now led 51-45. Beau
Collier was fouled as he drove to the basket with 8.5 seconds and he
made the first one but it appeared he missed the second one on
purpose. The ball ended up in the hands of a Lutheran player anyway.
One quick foul later and Kirby was at the line for Lutheran, missing
both those free throws. Now the Toppers had just 7.2 seconds left to
pull off a small miracle and as Beau Collier missed a three at the
end, the Toppers hopes of winning this game finally faded. But Beau
Collier and company had given it their best shot and against the
number one team in the state losing by only five points had to be a
pretty good accomplishment.
At the end of the contest, Coach Ryan Deibert of Mount Pulaski,
summed up the situation very well, "That's the closest anyone has
played them to this point. The boys played with a lot of heart and
even though we didn't come out with the W, tonight it's a game we
can gain confidence from. Hopefully we get to see them in the
Regional finals in a few weeks. I would rather get that one."
In the meantime the Toppers have three regular season games
remaining, all at home. Next Tuesday the Toppers host New Berlin and
then on Friday the 13th the Toppers host Illini Central. Friday,
February 20th will be Senior Night for the Toppers as Illini Bluffs
comes to town. The following week, February 23-27 the Toppers travel
to Ilini Central for the Regionals, and yes, the number one team in
the state, the 23-0 Springfield Lutheran High Crusaders will be in
that regional.
The Toppers have a long way to go, but certainly their focus will be
on a rematch with the Crusaders.
The Toppers record currently stands at 13-10.
Toppers scoring:
Beau Collier 20
Lowery 12
Blake Collier 6
Amidon 6
Huff 2
Crusaders scoring:
Wofford 32
Kirby 9
Copeland 4
Forestier 3
Bahr 2
Cowles 1
[Teena Lowery] |
