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The Hilltoppers defeated the Knights by a final
score of 74-61.
Mount Pulaski was quick from the tip-off, jumping out to a 19-9
first quarter lead as every starter and the sixth-man poured in
buckets.
The second quarter was impressively the “Zac Hinds Show.” The
6’6 senior poured in 16 points in the quarter and chose to use
the entire half-court area to do so. Hinds tossed in his first
two buckets from the paint quickly into the quarter to stretch
the Mount Pulaski lead to 23-9. A couple minutes later Hinds
decided to step back for a three and he connected to make the
score 28-15.
Following a bucket by Lane Murphy, the Hilltoppers doubled up
the score on the Knights 30-15. On the next Mount Pulaski
possession, the Hilltoppers found Hinds open on the outside
again and he tossed up another three. This time he hit the front
of the rim from the top of the key and got the bounce to go in
his favor, up in the air and slowly through the net, putting
Mount Pulaski on top 33-17.
Hinds was far from done having fun. He camped in the corner the
next go-round and had no trouble hitting nothing but net for a
three. Mount Pulaski was cruising 39-13 at this point with Hinds
in the driver’s seat.
Showing no signs of hitting the brakes, the ball ended up in
Hinds’ possession again and after a little look around to see no
one near, he launched the ball one more time. Never mind the
fact that he was about four feet off the three-point line. Hinds
drills the long three to give the Toppers a 39-19 lead with 2:24
left in the quarter. That bucket brought his total to 16 points
in the quarter and it was evident the senior was feeling as good
as the singer Lizzo at this moment.
Hinds’ supporting cast kept pouring in the points, too. Before
the crowd even stopped clapping at Hinds’ performance, Dustin
Murphy’s layup off the Toppers quick steal put Mount Pulaski out
front 41-19.
The Toppers finished out the final two minutes of the half with
five points from Brandon Kretzinger and a basket from Lucas
Kuhlman.
At halftime Mount Pulaski was in front 48-26 and the Hilltoppers
crowd was loving what they witnessed in the first half.
The Hilltoppers kept pouring in the points in the third quarter,
although the Knights never gave up. Kretzinger picked up where
he left off and scored the first points on a layup.
Then it was sophomore Aidan Schneider, who has really picked up
his game and played solid basketball throughout the month of
December, draining a corner three to make the score 53-30.
The Knights went on a 10-0 run from here, but a bucket by Todd
Kelly finally put the Toppers back in the scoring column.
With just under three minutes left in the third quarter, the
Knights cut the lead to ten points before the Toppers were
forced to turn on the afterburners.
It was Drew Martin choosing to take flight first and lead the
Toppers on a 6-0 run. Martin’s one-handed dunk at the 2:25 mark
was a pleasant surprise out of the 6’2 junior. Give credit to
Kretzinger on the steal and getting the ball to Martin up court
quickly.
Kelly followed that move up with his own bucket off the fast
break next. Not a dunk but the baseball player still has hops.
Martin completed the run with a rim-rattler next time down the
court, as he took flight again much to the delight of Topper
fans.
By the time the end of the third quarter came around, Mount
Pulaski was in control with a 61-48 lead.
The fourth quarter was just a matter of Mount Pulaski staying in
control and they did. Joey Davis started the quarter off by
scoring the first three Topper points and after brothers Dustin
and Lane Murphy each scored two points, Mount Pulaski was
pulling away with a 68-51 lead.
Martin was good on the fast break midway through the quarter and
with a 70-53 lead and the Toppers clicking on all cylinders
against the Knights, fans had little doubt who would be taking
home the third place trophy. Mount Pulaski finished the scoring
from the free throw line and shook hands with the Knights after
the 74-61 win.
After the win, Hilltoppers head coach Ryan Diebert was pleased
with his team’s 3-1 tournament record and third place finish.
“It was nice to finish the tournament on a balanced team win,”
said Diebert.
“The boys played with a lot of confidence and did a great job of
getting out in transition and getting some easy baskets. We had
some let downs defensively in the second half, but overall I was
pleased with their effort. To finish up the tournament 3-1, and
do that without Grant (Davis, who is still out with a hand
injury) says a lot about this group stepping up his absence.
"Aidan (Schneider) has done a solid job in the point guard role
since Grant’s injury, and Zac (Hinds) is slowing getting
stronger.” Hinds had off-season hip surgery.
“We don’t play now until January 7th, so we’ll have plenty of
practice time to get set up for a strong second half of the
season,” Diebert concluded.
The Hilltoppers finished the game with four players in double
figures: Zac Hinds (16), Brandon Kretzinger (12), Drew Martin
(10) and Aidan Schneider (10).
Mount Pulaski improves to 8-6 on the season.
The Hilltoppers play at Raymond Lincolnwood on January 7, 2020.
Mount Pulaski returns home on January 10, 2020 to host
Hartsburg-Emden.
Mount Pulaski 74
Hinds 16
Kretzinger 12
Martin 10
Schneider 10
J. Davis 7
D. Murphy 7
L. Murphy 6
Kelly 4
Kuhlman 2
ALAH 61
Plank 13
Romine 8
Hilligoss 8
Rocke 7
Waldrip 7
Edmonds 5
Weakley 5
Feagin 5
Baker 3
Fun Fact: Mount Pulaski senior Zac Hinds will attend Illinois
State University next fall and he’s already got a job lined up
within the ISU Men’s Basketball organization as a team manager
for the Redbirds. Hinds has overcome his share of injuries,
surgeries and setbacks throughout his high school career. He’s
met these adversities head on and worked hard to get back on the
basketball court this season. He’s an intimidating force on the
court when healthy. He can dominate the game from the inside
paint as well as possess a smooth touch from long-range. In
addition to all that, behind his quiet demeanor is just a
fun-loving likable kid. Congratulations, Zac!
[Teena Lowery]
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