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 The Toppers did place three players in double figures in the
contest. Sophomore Peyton Taylor led the team with 16 points, senior
Will Stewart poured in 13 points and junior Lukas Aylesworth
contributed 12 points.
Mount Pulaski dug themselves into a hole early in the game, trailing
19-9 at the end of the first quarter.
At the half the Toppers were down 32-20 after struggling with both
rebounding and outside shooting, while the Lions shot extremely well
in the first half.
The Lions still controlled the ballgame in the third quarter and
right after back-to-back steals which led to back-to-back dunks by
6’3 sophomore MJ Thomas, Decatur held a commanding 40-22 lead.
With 4:18 left to play in the third quarter, Stewart went on a
scoring rampage and tossed in eight points for the Toppers to start
the amazing comeback. By the time the third quarter came to a close
the Toppers had closed the gap to a 42-32 Decatur lead.
However, quickly into the fourth quarter, Stewart picked up his
fourth foul and was forced to spend some time on the bench because
of it.
The Toppers only picked up momentum from that point as Taylor scored
in the paint and then Brandon Huff stole the ball and ran downcourt
for the layup that brought the crowd to its feet.
Finally Aylesworth finished off that little run by waiting patiently
for the pass from Taylor and then pausing for the defender to come
down from flight, and yes, the junior who emerged as one of the
team’s brightest stars this season banked it ever so carefully; and
just like that LSA was shocked to see their lead down to 45-38.
The Toppers continued to chip away and despite Aylesworth picking up
his fourth foul with 4:22 remaining, he still managed to play hard
and his drive to the basket resulted in Mount Pulaski cutting the
lead to 47-42.
Following a couple quick turnovers by both teams, LSA ended up with
the ball with 3:35 left and the five point lead but Taylor grabbed
the rebound off the LSA miss. Taylor immediately tossed the ball to
Brett Huff who fired the pass downcourt to Brandon Huff and it was
the latter of the Huff twins tossing it in for another eruption from
the Topper fans, 47-44 now, the LSA lead, and needless to say the
Lions were stunned.
Seconds later though the Toppers suffered a shock when Aylesworth
fouled out of the ballgame.
Mount Pulaski kept battling though, with Taylor leading the way. He
scored 12 points in fact in the fourth quarter and perhaps nothing
was as sweet as his hook shot on the assist from Brandon Huff that
kept the Toppers alive 50-46 with 2:17 remaining to play.
The Toppers also got a big play late in the game from Caleb
Przykopanski, who stopped Thomas from having another dunk and the
result was just a trip to the free throw line that only increased
the lead by one more point.
Then it was Taylor’s turn at the free throw line with 1:15 remaining
and the big man proved over and over again in the fourth quarter he
can sink ‘em under pressure. In fact, he was a perfect six-for-six
from the line late in the game.
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Meanwhile, his two free throws edged the Toppers closer 51-48 and
now the Lions were really sweating. They continued to perspire as
Taylor stepped to the line again with 50.8 seconds left and he sank
both of those as well.
LSA still held a 54-50 lead, though. As with any game that gets this
close so late, there is always that team that stalls while the other
team is forced to foul. In this case, Mount Pulaski’s Brett Huff
fouled out with 38.4 seconds and sent Parker Nichols to the line.
Nichols made both shots to extend the lead to 56-50.
Then Stewart fouled out with 14.7 seconds left and the score was
60-52 as Nichols tossed in two more points from the line.
Even with 5.7 seconds to play the Toppers continued to make things
exciting. Brandon Huff’s floater in the lane fell in for two points
to make the score 60-54 and then following a fight for the rebound
at Decatur’s end of the court, the referees called a jump ball that
went Mount Pulaski’s way. Taylor proceeded to score for the Toppers
one more time and with 2.1 seconds left a timeout was called with
the Toppers still down 60-56.
The Toppers just ran out of time in this one.
Przykopanski fouled Thomas within a second of play and the stellar
sophomore tossed in two more himself from the line and that sealed
the deal for the Lions, 62-56.
Although with that second left, Przykopanski did throw up one more
long shot for the Toppers and it missed at the buzzer. The final
score was 62-56 as the teams graciously shook hands at the end.
Decatur LSA will move on to face Colfax Ridgeview (no. 1 seed) in
the Regional final tonight at 7:00 p.m.
LSA was led in scoring by Thomas with 23 points,
Nichols with 19 points and Craig Austin with 14 points. Mount
Pulaski only managed to connect for one three-point shot in the
contest, while LSA poured in seven threes in the win. Certainly a
factor in the outcome.
Mount Pulaski finishes the season with 13 wins and 15 losses.
Toppers scoring
Taylor 16
Stewart 13
Aylesworth 12
Brandon Huff 8
Przykopanski 5
Brett Huff 2
Lions scoring
Thomas 23
Nichols 19
Austin 14
Allen 4
Karsten 2
[Teena Lowery]
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