Mount Pulaski celebrates Senior Night with a huge crowd and a huge win over Springfield Lutheran

[February 04, 2018] 

Fans packed the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium Friday night to honor 22 sensational Mount Pulaski High School students. Six basketball players, eight cheerleaders and eight band members were all recognized along with their parents at center court in between the Junior Varsity and Varsity games.

After the introductions, three of the senior boys spoke to the crowd. Gezus Oliver took the mic first and made quite the first impression with his heartfelt speech. “Mount Pulaski fans are literally the greatest fans of all time,” said Oliver. “When I first came here the transition was rather difficult. You guys accepted me and welcomed me with open arms and for that, I am forever grateful and I am proud to be a Hilltopper. On behalf of the senior boys basketball players we would like to say thank you and we love you all.”

Seth Huff, the Hilltoppers floor general, spoke next. “I’d like to thank Coach (Jeff) Clements,” said Huff, as he started to get a bit choked up. “Coach, you’ve truly done a lot for us. You’ve done so much for us and even though I still don’t have a jump shot as good as yours, I’d like to thank you for all you’ve done and I’d like to thank all the fans.”
Clements, an assistant coach on the Hilltoppers staff and a standout on the 1976 State Champion team, sits atop the all-time points leader board with 2, 212 career points scored.

Last but not least, Peyton Taylor, who has provided a lot of excitement for fans this season with his dunking ability, not to mention his scoring of his 1,000 point, had a few words to offer.

“Coach Deibert, it’s been a blessing having you as a coach these past four years,” said Taylor. “You sacrifice a lot for this program. Whether it be giving up your summers to get us in the summer league or Thanksgiving. We wouldn’t be who we are today without you. So we got both you guys a picture of us six seniors and I didn’t want to do this but, Mr. Deibert, we got you a Cardinals pullover. So remember us when you wear it.” Taylor and his family are Cub fans, so this gesture was obviously difficult for him but the good-natured senior took one for the team.

Once the court cleared of Mount Pulaski seniors and their families, the Hilltoppers took the floor for warm-ups with the Mount Pulaski High School Pep Band playing in the background. On this special night the Hilltoppers ran through a banner held by the cheerleaders that read, “We’re All In This Together” as they entered the court. As for the starting lineups, on this memorable evening all six seniors were introduced with the lights out in the gym while “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica blared from the PA system. Huff, Taylor and Oliver were joined by fellow seniors Trevor Hayes and Nate Dyer for the tip-off with Ayden Rule being the sixth man off the bench.

Once the game got underway, it was the Hilltoppers all the way. Taylor put the Hilltoppers on the board with his shot from the paint within the first ten seconds of the game.

Then it was Oliver raining threes in the first quarter and pretty soon he was joined by Dyer. The two combined to hit a total of four three-point baskets in the first quarter.

Midway through the quarter Taylor pulled down his own rebound and put it back up for two points. After a drive to the bucket by Huff near the end of the quarter, Mount Pulaski was on top 19-12.

The second quarter went just as quick. Brandon Kretzinger entered the game and it didn’t take the sophomore long to start wreaking havoc on the court. A couple steals by “BK” and a layup to go along with a three all looked nice on the stat sheet, but even nicer on the scoreboard with the Hilltoppers up 26-16 at this point.

At the 5:05 mark Huff was standing at the top of the key clapping his hands with that “give me the ball” look in his eyes. Sure enough, he got it and drained a three to extend the Hilltopper lead to 29-16.

The Hilltoppers put together a few more nice plays to close out the quarter. After Taylor got an easy bucket in the paint, Huff managed a layup off the fast break and Mount Pulaski was beginning to set the cruise control. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Taylor found Dyer going back door and even a fan in the visitor’s crowd said, “That was nice.” Mount Pulaski’s lead at the half was 35-18.

The third quarter action can be summed up pretty easily. Taylor and Oliver each got buckets in the lane, despite the heavy traffic.

And then it was Huff rolling off seven straight points for Mount Pulaski. Huff hit another three in the quarter and drove thru the lane not once but twice, without even getting a speeding ticket. His quickness is exceptional and will come in handy as the Hilltoppers prepare for the upcoming postseason.

Senior Ayden Rule capped off the third quarter scoring with a free throw and the Mount Pulaski lead was 47-23.

In the fourth quarter Taylor would get the final basket of the final five on the court as Coach Ryan Deibert then removed the starters at the 4:53 mark.

Walking off the court to a round of well-deserved applause the seniors took the bench to cheer on the rest of the team and just simply have fun from the sidelines. The Hilltopper reserves finished the contest and the final score of the game was more than satisfactory.

Mount Pulaski 52, Springfield Lutheran 26.

Three seniors who have contributed greatly to the success of the program this year all reached double figures in their final game at MPHS. Seth Huff led all scorers with 14 points. Peyton Taylor tossed in 12 points and it was Gezus Oliver making noise with 11 points.

Mount Pulaski’s record improves to 18-5 thanks to this entertaining bunch of seniors who have taken the community on a fun ride this season. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but these seniors truly made things happen this season.

Coach Deibert recognized their hard work and dedication to the game following the win on Senior Night. “These seniors have taken some huge strides over the past four years. Their work ethic and unselfishness is a big reason why they have improved over their high school careers. These guys help set a solid foundation for a well-rounded team. They aren’t great at one thing, but they provide a little bit of everything. There is some size, quickness, shooting, ball handling and defensive toughness that can all be found in this group and each one understands their job on the floor. We have a challenging last three games on the road and I look forward to competing and using each opportunity to prepare ourselves for the post season.”

SENIOR NIGHT IN PICTURES

Hilltopper Seniors Trevor Hayes, Seth Huff, Ayden Rule, Nate Dyer, Peyton Taylor and Gezus Oliver

The Mount Pulaski Cheerleaders pose with the banner they decorated for the players to run through at the start of warmups.

The seniors let the coach's son, Landon, run out first on Senior Night at MPHS.

The eight senior cheerleaders who have cheered their hearts out all season for the Hilltoppers.

Front row left to right: Jade Stewart, Kaitlin Davis, Bayley Holmes and Faith Doerr 

Back row left to right: Emma Schoth, Marlena Smith, Olivia Letterle and Abby Howard

The cheerleaders entertained the crowd with a halftime dance performance that featured songs like “Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus, "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, “Dear Future Husband” by Meghan Trainor and “Days Go By” by Keith Urban. In perfect fashion the cheerleaders finished with “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical. A fitting send-off on Senior Night.

The man in the middle: Seth Huff led Mount Pulaski with 14 points on Senior Night. The Hilltoppers won 52-26 over Springfield Lutheran.

Senior Ayden Rule sinks a free throw for the Hilltoppers in his final game at the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium.

Coach Ryan Deibert congratulates Seth Huff on a fine performance against Springfield Lutheran.

Pictured center in the lovely red dress is pep band member Shaylyn Inselmann. The Rockford University-bound English and Theater major is surrounded by talented musicians and fellow seniors Corey Beccue, Wyatt Luckhart, Garrett Luckhart, Jordan Sanchez and John Hilliard. Not pictured are Sebastian Scassiferro and Felipe Buenrostro. These students thrive under the direction of Mr. David Helm. All year long the pep band has been spectacular.

 

Mount Pulaski will travel to New Berlin Tuesday night to take on the Pretzels in the Pretzel Dome.

JV

The Mount Pulaski JV team also defeated Springfield Lutheran Friday night in the early contest by a score of 58-33. Josh Lawson led Mount Pulaski with 15 points.

Varsity scores by quarter:

Mount Pulaski 19 35 47 52
Springfield Lutheran 12 18 23 26

Mount Pulaski (52)

Huff 14
Taylor 12
Oliver 11
Kretzinger 7
Dyer 6
Rule 1
Kirk 1

Springfield Lutheran (26)

Cowles 8
Wiegand 8
Crifasi 6
White 2
Vespa 2

JV scores by quarter:

Mount Pulaski 23 30 46 58
Springfield Lutheran 3 6 17 33

Mount Pulaski (58)

Lawson 15
J. Davis 7
Kretzinger 6
Hagan 5
Combs 5
Kirk 5
Murphy 4
Hagenbuch 4
Matthews 3
Pharis 2
G. Davis 2

Springfield Lutheran (33)

King 10
Tarr 9
Davis 7
Groth 6
Vespa 1

[Teena Lowery]