Will Stewart (35) goes up strong over the Delavan defenders Friday night at the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium.  Stewart had 8 rebounds and 6 points in the Toppers loss.  Teammate Peyton Taylor (45) finished the night with 24 points and 15 rebounds. 
 

Toppers fall to Delavan on Homecoming Night
Panthers drain 15 three-pointers as they down Mount Pulaski 65-55

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[January 23, 2016]  The Ed Butkovich gymnasium was packed Friday night as Mount Pulaski celebrated Homecoming by hosting the Delavan Panthers and the evening was almost perfect until it started raining. As a matter of fact, it was raining and then it was pouring 3's by the team dressed in purple. The only downside to the evening was on this night the Panthers were the purple team that rained on the Toppers Homecoming.

Delavan (12-7) is known for their outstanding shooting and they put on quite a show from beyond the arc.

Mount Pulaski (10-9) had a show of their own that featured Peyton Taylor pouring in a career-high 24 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. After the game, the 6'7 sophomore just smiled and shook his head saying, "I couldn't miss."

The game was off to a fast start and actually looked like neither team could miss in the first quarter. Noah Jeckel scored the first three-pointer for Delavan fifteen seconds into the game, but Brett Huff matched that with his own three seconds later. Delavan held a small lead over the next couple possessions, until Taylor tied the game, 9-9, with his first points of the contest.
 


With just under a minute to play in the first quarter, Taylor made a nice little hook shot that gave Mount Pulaski an 11-9 lead. Delavan's big man, 6'6 Joey Matthews answered that with a baseline jumper that knotted the score at 11-11. Seconds later Dalton Litterly made a beautiful move towards the basket and as he cut thru the lane and lost his man he was able to get the lead back for Mount Pulaski with his bucket. But the Panthers charged right back and seconds before the buzzer sounded Jeckel knocked down his third three of the quarter and Delavan was back on top 14-13.

Brandon Huff managed to get the lead back for Mount Pulaski as he hit a three with 6:43 on the clock in the second quarter. Unfortunately for Topper fans, that 17-16 lead would be the last of the night for Mount Pulaski. The three by Brandon Huff would also be the end of the Toppers scoring from beyond the arc. But the Panthers were just getting started from 19.9. Teagan Teal drained a three to put Delavan back on top, 19-17.

The Toppers did manage to tie the score at 19 apiece around the 5:00 minute mark but then it started raining again. Teal, Jeckel, Matthews and Sam Hodges were all pouring in shots from downtown. Quite impressive actually.

Surprisingly, the three bug must of bit Mount Pulaski's Taylor, too, as he decided to swish one from downtown. However, his foot was on the line so it only counted for two points.

Before it was all said and done in the first half, Delavan had drained nine threes and held a nice 36-27 lead over the hometown Toppers.

Mount Pulaski may not have a lot of big men, but they do have a lot of men who play big and with that you can count on Lukas Aylesworth to always cause some excitement and generate some offense. He was off and running with the steal and laid it in for two points around the 7:00 mark in the third quarter to pull Mount Pulaski to within five points, 36-31.

Mount Pulaski's luck on this night just meant that for every two point basket the Toppers got, it seemed like the Panthers got a couple treys in return. A three by Matthews stretched the lead to ten points with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter, 45-35 but the Toppers continued to hustle at both ends of the court. Aylesworth won the fight for the loose ball at the 2:44 mark and he managed to make his way to the basket and fight for the two points as well.

Then Taylor decided to pop another jumper that was nothing but net and as he dropped in his 20th point of the evening the score was 45-40, still in favor of the Panthers. Still it was pretty impressive that the sophomore for Mount Pulaski had half of the team's points. As Taylor was pulling down rebound and rebound, he was also blocking shots to add to his resume. The young man was in a zone and I know I've said this before, but he was playing another one of his best games of his high school career.

Hodges, though, was continuing to knock down threes for Delavan and he, too, was having a great game. Hodges scored ten points in the third quarter and with help from Matthews, the two managed to score all of Delavan's points in the quarter. Delavan was still on top 54-42 when the quarter ended.

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Entering the final eight minutes of play, Mount Pulaski had their work cut out for them. It's not that Mount Pulaski ran out of gas, because these guys hustled all night long, but the Panthers were simply in a zone all by themselves.

Hodges continued to amaze and his nine points in the fourth quarter were just too much for the Toppers.

Mount Pulaski got just a little frazzled near the end of the game and a couple key turnovers dashed the Toppers hopes at overcoming the ten-point deficit that haunted them for much of the second half.

Finally as the game came to a close, Delavan was on top 65-55 and the Panthers had earned the Tomahawk Conference win fair and square.

Hodges led the winning team with 22 points while teammates Jeckel (16), Teal (14) and Matthews (11) also scored in double figures.

Over on the losing side, Taylor finished with a double-double, 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Will Stewart hustled his way to 6 points and 8 rebounds.

The Toppers fall to 10-9 and will travel to Riverton next Friday night for a 6 p.m. tip-off.

In the Junior Varsity contest Mount Pulaski finished a winner by the score of 48-16. Seth Huff led the way for Mount Pulaski with 10 points.

Toppers Varsity scoring

Taylor 24
Aylesworth 8
Stewart 6
Litterly 6
Brandon Huff 6
Brett Huff 5

Panthers Varsity scoring

Sam Hodges 22
Jeckel 16
Teal 14
Matthews 11
Vick 2

Toppers JV scoring

Seth Huff 10
Nate Dyer 8
Griesheim 5
Hayes 5
Farris 4
Drake 3
Scassiferro 3
Shehorn 2
Trimmer 2

Panthers JV scoring

Vannaken 8
Bell 6
Griffin 2

In other news the Homecoming Court for Mount Pulaski featured these fine young men and women who were introduced in between games:

Freshmen: Haley Humberd and Logan DeRight
Sophomores: Fikirte Mott and Hank Hamilton
Juniors: Alyssa Barger and Lukas Aylesworth
Seniors: Hannah Freer and Caleb Przykopanski, Lilly Pickett and Will Stewart, Elizabeth Siebert and Kurtis Hoock Queen Morgan Kinniard and King Sam Koehl

[Teena Lowery]

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