Mount Pulaski hosts the Bill Rucks Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament - MP falls to Illini Central in season opener

[November 20, 2018] 

Hilltopper basketball is back. Mount Pulaski is hosting the Ninth Annual Bill Rucks Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament in the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium. The action kicked off Monday night at 5 p.m. as Springfield Calvary defeated Tri-City 67-50 in the opening game of the tournament.

In the 6:30 p.m. contest, PORTA (who co-ops with A/C Central in basketball) defeated Edinburg 86-36.

Illini Central kicked off their 2018-19 season in the Bill Rucks Tournament at Mount Pulaski.

In the final game of the evening Illini Central beat Mount Pulaski 60-53.

With the tip-off of the final game just minutes after 8 p.m. it was Mount Pulaski sending starters Brandon Kretzinger, Grant Davis, Jonathan Shehorn, Drew Martin and Zac Hinds to center court while Illini Central’s starting five consisted of Max May, Jake Rose, Cole Wherley, Race Damm and Alex Marshall.

The Cougars wasted little time striking first as Jake Rose sank a corner three and the boys in black were on the board. With 6:39 on the first quarter clock Grant Davis stopped and popped from the free throw line for the home team and his field goal would be the first points of the 2018-19 season for Mount Pulaski. Max May extended the Cougars lead with a three, making the score 6-2.

Zac Hinds, a 6’6 junior for Mount Pulaski, nailed his first three from the top of the key to bring the Hilltoppers closer at the 3:16 mark. Another Hilltopper three, this time by Grant Davis, would give Mount Pulaski an 8-6 lead with just under two minutes to play in the quarter. The Mount Pulaski lead would hold as time ran out in the first quarter.

Max May, a Cougar name that’s been in the lineup for several years, tied the score immediately into the second quarter with his field goal and the score would stay knotted 8-8 for quite a while. May connected for a free throw at the 3:47 mark to break the scoring drought and give the Cougars the lead back.

Hinds reclaimed the lead for Mount Pulaski with his field goal and this back and forth game of horse would be the story of the second quarter. With around a minute left until halftime the score was tied at 15-15 and while each team was not shy about tossing the ball towards the basket, both sides were struggling to sink shots in this opening game of the season. To each team’s credit, there were practically more “In-N-Out” baskets in the gym on this first night than one could find in Southern California, you know, as in the burger joints. Anyway, finally Illini Central took the 17-15 lead on a drive to the basket by Max May. Mount Pulaski’s Kretzinger would just miss a long shot attempt at the buzzer and the halftime score was set.

Mount Pulaski had a strong third quarter behind the scoring of five guys. Five Guys? How did they get thrown into this? Now it’s a battle of the burgers. Back on track, it was the Hilltoppers getting buckets from Grant Davis, Joey Davis, Lane Murphy, Zac Hinds and Brandon “BK” Kretzinger. Not even gonna go there. The five combined to score 19 points for Mount Pulaski.

Freshman Lane Murphy scored his first varsity points of his career on a three at the 2:41 mark in the third quarter. Many more to come from this young man who scored over 1,000 points in his junior high career.

Grant Davis gave the Hilltoppers the 32-31 lead as he launched a long three that hit nothing but net just under the 2:00 minute mark.

Mount Pulaski stripped Max May of the ball on the next Cougars possession and it was Lane Murphy on the nice layup through the lane on the sweet pass from Grant Davis.

Illini Central closed out the third quarter scoring on a layup by Blake Boehm. Mount Pulaski held the slim 34-33 advantage heading into the final quarter.

A layup by Drew Martin to start the fourth quarter extended the Hilltoppers lead to 36-33 but the quarter quickly belonged to Illini Central.

Mount Pulaski takes a timeout late in the game versus Illini Central.

The Cougars scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, with Alex Marshall held accountable for 11 of those points. The Cougars caught fire and that ignited the offense in a big way. After Cole Wherley’s two free throws for Illini Central, the Cougars had the biggest lead of the night, 48-38 with 3:19 left to play in the game.

The Hilltoppers never gave up and a corner three from Grant Davis was proof.

But on this night, the Cougars had an answer every time. Alexander Entwistle sank a three to extend the lead back to 51-41. Max May just kept on punishing the Hilltoppers defense and his drive, through traffic in the lane, gave the Cougars a nice 53-41 lead.

Mount Pulaski chipped away at the lead and with less than a minute to go Lane Murphy hit another three from the corner and the Hilltoppers hopes were alive and well with the score 56-50.

Cole Wherley sinks a couple free throws for Illini Central down the stretch.

Cole Wherley was 2 out of 4 on free throws down the stretch and the lead grew to 58-50. A long three from Zac Hinds pulled the Hilltoppers to within a five-point lead, 58-53, but it was just a little too late. The more experienced group from Illini Central got the best of the Hilltoppers.

It was 6’4 senior Max May with the final two free throws in the last seconds to seal the 60-53 Cougar win.

Max May would finish with a game-leading 20 points for Illini Central. Alex Marshall was a spark plug the team needed with 13 points for the Cougars.

Zac Hinds would have an impressive night for Mount Pulaski, tossing in 16 points for the Hilltoppers.

Grant Davis contributed 11 points and it was Lane Murphy good for 8 points for Mount Pulaski.

Illini Central head coach Tony Wherley gives a pep talk to Race Damm.

For the Cougars, getting the win was emotional, as long-time Cougars coach John Giesler died last April following a heroic battle versus pancreatic cancer. Current Cougars head coach Tony Wherley served as an assistant under Coach Giesler and was on the bench when the team won the Class 1A State Championship in 2013.

Following the win, Coach Wherley was undoubtedly proud of his team’s effort on opening night and he was obviously coaching with more than just the game on his mind.

“It was really an emotional night for us,” began Wherley. “We’ve talked a lot about Coach Giesler and his passing. I’ve been thinking about it since the first summer game knowing it’s going to be different not having him to lean on and go talk to and just the emotion of that part of it. He texted me almost every game night last year. I was getting a text from him every night and he was telling me positive things. Here’s this person battling pancreatic cancer, been told he has eight months to live and he’s trying to build us up. He’s worried about what we’re doing. You know to know you’re not gonna get that text tonight but still knowing he was here. He was with us the entire time. That’s what I told the boys. They did a great job of battling back at the end of the game, not giving up and playing as hard as they could. I guarantee you he was fist-pumping the whole time. I can guarantee you he was. He meant so much to all of us and I am proud of the boys for playing just the way he would have wanted them to play.

"It was a good night and Mount Pulaski is going to be really good. Ryan’s got some young guys and he’s got some big people to replace. He’ll get them replaced. They’re gonna be really good.”

Finally, looking down at the new Hilltoppers gym floor that features the big painted footprints of Bill Rucks in front of the scorer's table, Wherley smiled and said, “I gotta get a picture of that before the end of the week. It’s always a great tournament here and Coach Rucks was a great guy.”

The tournament resumes tonight with this schedule:

5 p.m. Edinburg vs. Delavan
6:30 p.m. Calvary vs. Illini Central
8 p.m. Porta vs. Decatur LSA

Scoring

Illini Central 60

Max May 20
Alex Marshall 13
Race Damm 7
Cole Wherley 6
Alexander Entwistle 6
Jake Rose 3
Blake Boehm 3
Jay Thomas 2

Mount Pulaski 53

Zac Hinds 16
Grant Davis 11
Lane Murphy 8
Brandon Kretzinger 6
Drew Martin 6
Joey Davis 4
Dustin Murphy 2

[Teena Lowery]