2023 Game 6 Recap: Macomb 78, Brown County 32

Macomb has made a statement.  The message:  We aren’t just the hosts of this tournament…we also want to win the whole thing.  In an incredibly impressive wire-to-wire win, they handed the Hornets of Brown County a 78-32 loss in Game 6.  The Bombers started the game on a 22-0 run and didn’t let up.  Macomb had 27 points off turnovers and shot 57.1% from the floor.  The second half was much closer than the first half, as Brown County reigned in their play and cleaned up their turnovers.

Macomb was led by Ian Case’s 18 points and five rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting.  Braden Holthaus added 10 points, five assists, and five steals.  In a complete effort, the Bombers won the turnover battle (17-7), points in the paint (48-22), and fast break points (20-6).  Four other players had at least eight points (Dion Doyle, Drew Watson, Jake Hobson, and Za’Rian Penn).

Brown County had a duo of eight point scorers in Angel Duarte and Drew Markert.  Markert also led his team with five rebounds and Jagr McGath dished three assists.

Macomb (11-3) will play the Tornadoes of Abingdon-Avon in Game 15, Friday evening at 8:00pm.  Brown County (3-10) will instead play Pittsfield in Game 11, which will be played Friday afternoon at 1:00pm.

2023 Game 7 Recap: Camp Point Central 47, Southeastern 36

Despite a late scare from Southeastern, the top seeded Panthers of Camp Point Central held the lead from wire-to-wire to take Game 7 of the first round by a score of 47-36.  Though many of the counting stats were rather close, Central led second chance points 10-4 due to 11 offensive rebounds.  This game didn’t appear it would be very close after the first period, a quarter won by the Panthers 17-4.  But the Southeastern Suns battled back and outscored Central 32-30 in the remaining three quarters to make it a close and respectable contest.

Camp Point’s leading scorer was Drew Paben, who scored 20 points.  Paben’s effort is so far the second highest output in the tournament on Day 1.  Gavin Blewett added 16 points.  Paben, Blewett, and Elijah Genenbacher all tied for the team-high in rebounds with six.  Kadin Niekamp grabbed five boards as well.  Central took care of the ball, as they only coughed up six turnovers in this one.  Fresh off a 1A state championship in football, Central looks just as strong in basketball thus far.

The Suns of Southeastern had two double-digit scorers (Mason Fry with 11 points and Griffin Tippey with 10).  Aiden Akers had a game-high seven rebounds and three assists.  Southeastern only played six total players and the only bench player played just six minutes.  The fact that they were in the game late with the same players all game is a nod to their conditioning.

Camp Point (9-0) advances to play the winner of Monmouth-Roseville and Illini West.  They will play in Game 16 on Friday night at 9:30pm.  Southeastern (5-8) will instead play the loser of Monmouth-Roseville and Illini West, set to play Game 12, Friday afternoon at 2:30pm.

2023 Game 8 Recap: Monmouth-Roseville 43, Illini West 36

Down by seven at halftime, Monmouth-Roseville Titans stormed back and outscored the Illini West Chargers 26-12 in the second half to take Game 8 by a score of 43-36.  In what can very easily be called a tale of two halves, the Titans mustered just 17 points in the opening half headlined by poor shooting, as evidenced by a 1-for-9 clip from beyond the 3-point arc.  But their defense stepped up, forced turnovers, and held Illini West to just 5-for-18 (27.8%) shooting in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  The 4th quarter was all Titans, as they took the frame 17-6.  Points in the paint and points off of turnovers were nearly dead even, but Monmouth-Roseville did have a decisive advantage off of fast break points, 16-4.  Illini West’s Colby Robertson fouled out with 3:12 left in the game, with the Chargers still ahead 34-32.  The Titans would then score six straight points and never relinquished the lead.

Monmouth-Roseville had a balanced attack, getting 11 points (Ayden Almaguer), 10 points (Darrion Smith), 10 points (Tyler Finnicum), and nine points (Nico Avendano) from four players.  Those four combined for all but three of their total points.  Avendano finished with a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high three blocks.  Smith also swiped three steals.

The Chargers were led in scoring by Colby Robertson and Haydon Rankin, who each had eight points.  Wesley Robertson had a game-high nine rebounds in the losing effort.  Ethan Carlisle led both teams with four steals.

Monmouth-Roseville squeaks into the second round and will be rewarded with a matchup with #1 seed Camp Point Central in Game 16, Friday night at 9:30pm.  Illini West falls into the consolation bracket where they will meet up with Southeastern in Game 12, at 2:30pm Friday.