Decatur LSA takes out Hilltoppers one last time

[February 24, 2018] 

The Decatur LSA Lions took out the Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers 69-60 Friday night in the IHSA Class 1A Regional Championship. This was the fourth meeting between the two teams this season and the Lions remain a perfect 4-0 against the Hilltoppers.

With the loss Mount Pulaski ends the season at 21-8. Decatur LSA moves on to sectionals with a 25-4 record.

The gym at Decatur LSA was packed Friday night for this regional championship, with last-minute arrivals standing around the edge of the court in anticipation of this matchup. The Hilltoppers and the Lions provided fans with 32 minutes of exciting basketball inside the deafening walls of the gymnasium.

Mount Pulaski rolled out to an early 6-3 lead, with Peyton Taylor tossing in the first two Hilltopper buckets and then Gezus Oliver sinking his first two free throws.

The Lions then put together a 9-0 run on the Hilltoppers that included a four-point play. Mike Fiala was fouled sinking a three and he went on to make the free throw to ignite the Lions offense in this stretch.

Taylor finally broke Mount Pulaski’s scoring drought with a free throw at the 1:48 mark.

Drew Martin would round out the Mount Pulaski offense in the first quarter with his beautiful turn around jumper in the lane.

After eight minutes of play, the Lions were in the lead 16-9.

Second

Mount Pulaski hit the court in the second quarter at full speed and quickly tossed in two buckets to cut the LSA lead down to 16-13. Taylor would hit another bucket at the 6:41 mark and Mount Pulaski was making a comeback down just 18-15.

Oliver hit his first three of the game at the 5:52 mark and Mount Pulaski was trailing by a slim 20-18 margin.

Brandon Kretzinger, a key component of the Hilltoppers success this season, came off the bench to give Mount Pulaski their first lead since the beginning of the game. The super sophomore, who is called “BK” for short, camped out in the corner and when the time was right, he popped a three that was good for a 21-20 Hilltopper lead.

Ezra Schaal quickly answered back with a three for Decatur LSA.

Martin would tie the game at 23-23 next with another spin move in the lane. The fabulous freshman for Mount Pulaski has a nice touch in the paint. Smooth.

The score was knotted at 23 apiece until Taylor’s putback off a Martin miss would give Mount Pulaski a 25-23 lead.

The Hilltoppers grew that lead a smidgen as Trevor Hayes caught a glimpse of a speeding BK through the lane and Hayes immediately fired a pass into the sophomore and the result was a 27-24 score in favor of Mount Pulaski.

Decatur LSA took advantage of a couple Mount Pulaski misses down the next stretch of play. It would be Lions senior Cam Walls reaping the biggest benefit with a two-point field goal and then sneaking in a bank-shot three over the Hilltoppers. His offense alone allowed Decatur LSA to jump out on top 29-27.

Mount Pulaski knew this was not going to be easy. Every player in that LSA lineup is an offensive threat. Grant Karsten’s two free throws for LSA extended the lead to 31-27 with less than thirty seconds to play until the half.

But Mount Pulaski had one more trick up their sleeve. Hayes spotted Huff ditching his defender and making a mad dash to the bucket, so senior-to-senior, a beautiful pass was fired into the point guard and Huff delivered.

Mount Pulaski was getting so close. Near even 31-29 would be the score at the half as an LSA player missed a shot at the buzzer, much to the relief of the Mount Pulaski crowd.

Third

The third quarter proved to be yet another battle, with LSA winning by outscoring the Hilltoppers 18-16. The momentum was in the favor of the Lions though as they jumped out to a 10-point lead midway in the quarter.

Xavier Todd would give LSA the big lead with his field goal with 4:02 showing on the clock and the score 42-32.

The volume in the gym was just deafening at this moment but it did not bother the Hilltoppers.

Seth Huff got set behind the arc on the other end and he drained a three for Mount Pulaski. After a minute and a half of both teams failing to score, BK punched his own ticket on another three and Mount Pulaski was looking alive with the score 42-38.

Schaal continued his scoring rampage in the quarter and he hit a three with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter.

Huff showed him he could do it again, too. The sensational senior point guard for Mount Pulaski connected for a three to close the gap to 45-41.

But LSA got the best of the next minute of play and extended the lead out to 49-41.

With 25.9 seconds BK drove to the basket and made good on the shot for Mount Pulaski.

A missed shot by LSA at the other end was pulled down by the Hilltoppers and it would be Taylor using the glass at the Mount Pulaski end to close the gap again. This time Mount Pulaski cut the lead to 49-45.

Fiala would miss a last-second attempt for LSA and just like anticipated, this one was quite the regional matchup.

Fourth

Much of the fourth quarter action for LSA took place at the free throw line. And here’s a little insight into that: they don’t miss too many free throws. Early in the quarter the Lions were in the bonus at the line and their efforts from the charity stripe lasted until the final seconds. While LSA did sink two field goals in the quarter, they were 16-of-21 from the free throw line.

And Mount Pulaski struggled to get a rhythm going on the offense, all the while interrupted by foul trouble. The Hilltoppers never gave up though. And neither did the fans.

Oliver managed a three with 5:42 remaining in the game that made the score 55-51, but unfortunately the Hilltoppers could just never get any closer.

Give credit to the athletic Lions. They were even flying high to steal passes in the lane meant for Taylor. With just under 3:00 minutes to play, the Hilltoppers were dealt a tough blow as Martin fouled out.

And with 2:00 minutes showing on the game clock, Karsten extended the lead to 61-51 for LSA. Karsten, a junior, scored his 1,000 point earlier this season and he will be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Huff would also foul out of the game with 1:10 left to play and he was quickly followed to the bench by Oliver.

Oliver left the game with 58.0 seconds left, having left his entire heart out there on the court. Oliver, a great versatile team player who truly loves the game of basketball, has been a key component of the Hilltoppers success the last three years.

The last bright spot for the Hilltoppers was Nate Dyer doing what he does best. He came in off the bench and simply hit a three. He loves to do it and the fans eat it up. One last time he gave them something to cheer about.

The final numbers on the Hilltoppers final game for the season showed a 69-60 loss. Or in other words a 69-60 regional championship win for LSA.

But moments later, the two teams would gather on the court, hand in hand, led in a circle of prayer by LSA Athletic Director Kurt Younghouse. Younghouse, who was sporting a bright red sport coat, offered thanks to God for the opportunity He has given all of us through his son Jesus. It was a breathtaking moment that was certainly unexpected. The players approached each other unannounced and just held each other shoulder to shoulder or hand in hand in prayer.

Following the prayer, the consoling and congratulating continued. LSA would get the opportunity to cut down the net and hoist the regional championship plaque up high.

Mount Pulaski had not one reason to hang their heads. These players provided the fans with some of the most exciting basketball all season long. Thank you, guys.

For one last time this season, Peyton Taylor led the team with 15 points. Brandon Kretzinger tossed in 13 points and Gezus Oliver contributed 12 points.

Mount Pulaski’s season ends at 21-8.

Decatur LSA was led by Ezra Schaal with 21 points.

Looking ahead to next season for Mount Pulaski, several bright spots appear. Freshmen Drew Martin and Grant Davis saw minutes on the Varsity court that will come in handy next season.

Sophomores Brandon Kretzinger and Dustin Murphy will no doubt continue to work hard and be huge factors next season as well.

Throw in a healthy Zac Hinds and newly-recovered from ACL surgery Jonathan Shehorn and the Hilltoppers add height and speed.

Round that out with fan favorites Nolan Kirk and Joey Davis and the future looks good for the purple and gold.

Not overlooked are the rest of the members of the JV team, who sported a winning record as well. See you next season!

Sidebar: Decatur LSA and Mount Pulaski will join forces on the football field next fall. It will be the first co-op between the schools.

Scores by quarter:

Mount Pulaski 9 29 45 60
Decatur LSA 16 31 49 69

Mount Pulaski (60)

Peyton Taylor 15
Brandon Kretzinger 13
Gezus Oliver 12
Seth Huff 8
Trevor Hayes 5
Drew Martin 4
Nate Dyer 3

Decatur LSA (69)

Ezra Schaal 21
Cam Walls 13
Mike Fiala 11
Grant Karsten 10
Xavier Todd 9
Tanner Heick 5

[Teena Lowery]