Toppers weather the Storm

[January 21, 2015]  MOUNT PULASKI —  Mount Pulaski weathered the Storm in Niantic Tuesday night and escaped with a 63-61 victory over Sangamon Valley. The Toppers knew they would have a battle on their hands going into this one, especially since Mount Pulaski defeated Sangamon Valley last year to win the regional championship. Coach Ryan Deibert said afterwards, "We knew it was gonna be a tough environment. We knew they wanted revenge from last year. We knew they were probably looking at this one on their schedule and wanted it." And indeed Sangamon Valley did want it, but in the end it was the Toppers who wanted it more.

Seniors Michael Lowery, Matt Amidon, Beau Collier and Blake Collier have all played basketball together since third grade at Zion Lutheran in Mount Pulaski and each one came up big in this win. Lowery led the scoring with 18 points, including the game winning basket with five seconds remaining, while Matt Amidon contributed 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Meanwhile, older twin Beau Collier had 12 points while younger twin brother Blake Collier's tenacious defense rattled the Storm and led to some key turnovers.

But it was the Storm who hit the court running lightening fast in the first quarter and immediately jumped out to a 17-2 lead. To be honest, it appeared the Toppers did not know what hit them in that first quarter. At the end of one, the Storm led 19-7 and it looked like the Toppers were gonna have to find shelter when this one was all over.
 

Luckily in the second quarter the Storm slowed down raining those threes and Amidon and Lowery decided to try their luck driving to the basket. Their six points apiece in a matter of minutes pulled the Toppers to within 28-21. Dalton Litterly grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter to pull the Toppers closer, 28-23. After Sangamon Valley missed their shot in the next possession it was Amidon who found Brett Huff in the middle of the lane for a soft-toss good for two and the Toppers were getting closer, 28-25. The Storm were still in control of this one though, and pulled away 32-28 at the 1:00 minute mark. Lowery's layup with just under a minute made the game 32-30. The Toppers regained possession of the ball after Sangamon Valley missed a shot and it was Amidon's turn to meet the Storm head on. Amidon drove the lane for two points with five seconds on the clock, thus knotting the game at 32-32 at the half.

Mount Pulaski had come from behind in that first half to tie the game by scoring 25 second-quarter points. Just an unbelievable comeback effort by the Toppers and thankfully they were not finished yet. If you are tracking the Storm though, they continued to be just a step ahead of the Toppers in the third quarter. A three by Beau Collier pulled the Toppers to within two points of the Storm, 39-37 with just under 5:00 minutes to play in the third. But the Storm would continue to pound the Toppers and extend the lead to 48-41 at the 3:00 mark. Baskets by Lukas Aylesworth and Litterly with under a minute to play in the third gave the Toppers a spark of hope and at the close of third quarter action the Toppers only trailed 52-50.

In the fourth quarter it would be the Toppers who took the court by storm. Lowery tied the game at 52-52 as he cut through the lane and got a beautiful pass from Litterly and gently laid it in. Then the Toppers finally got their first lead of the ballgame with 6:37 on the clock on a three by Lowery making the score 55-52. Needless to say it was the Topper fans that erupted on this basket, thus silencing the Storm. Then it was the calm and quiet Amidon who came up huge again for the Toppers. He grabbed an offensive rebound with 3:48 left to play and simply spun around and dumped the ball into the basket, good for a 57-54 Topper lead. On the Toppers next possession it was Blake Collier who found Will Stewart under the basket and his bucket extended the Topper lead to 59-54. Amidon continued to play what was probably his best game of the season and his nice little finger roll in the basket allowed Mount Pulaski a 61-56 lead with 1:50 remaining in the game.

As with any storm though there is always that chance of another one moving through and that's just what happened here in the final minute. Sangamon Valley tied the game at 61-61 with :53 seconds to play. With the clock winding down and the ball in Beau Collier's hands he would drive the basket and miss but somehow as nearly every player was fighting for the rebound the ball ended up in the hands of the Toppers once again. Following a timeout the Toppers had one last chance with the ball at their end of the court. They successfully managed to run some time off before Lowery decided to make a move from the top of the key. He simply drove to the basket and did not stop. He laid in a left-handed layup that was good for the 63-61 lead with 5 seconds left. Sangamon Valley tried to get off a last second shot but it was no good and the Topper escaped with the 63-61 win.

Coach Deibert was extremely pleased with his team's performance following the game and in particular talked about that final play that won the game. "We wanted to get the ball to Michael to begin with and have him give it up and run it down until about ten seconds left. Then get it to him at the top of the key and let him attack the basket. If they doubled him, kick it to a shooter and if not, finish it and he found his way through the lane and finished." And what a great finish it was for the Toppers.
 

The Toppers have now won eight games in a row and improve to 11-7 on the season.

Mount Pulaski travels to Delavan Friday night to take on the Panthers in what is Pink Night for Breast Cancer. The JV game starts at 6:00 with the Varsity scheduled for 7:30.

Toppers scoring vs. Sangamon Valley

Lowery 18
Amidon 17
Beau Collier 12
Litterly 4
Stewart 4
Aylesworth 4
Huff 2
Taylor 2

[Teena Lowery]