UNLIKLEY CHAMPION - Fifth Seed Waterman Wins Title

 

Newark edges Malta for third place

 

 

SOMONAUK 62, LELAND 53

 

The Bobcats led 16-11 after one quarter and 34-28 at halftime.  Senior Bill Johnson sparked SHS early in the second half with six of his 13 tallies and a 15-point run from the end of the third period into the fourth pushed the Somonauk advantage to 22 points.  The Panthers scored 14 of the games last 16 points, but had dug to deep of a hole to catch the Bobcats.

 

Senior Robin Voss led the Bobcats with 20 points and junior Jerry Adrian adds 17 points.  The Panthers are paced by senior Bevin Wold and junior Ed Hill who score 13 points each, senior Gary Skinner chipped in 12 points.

 

SERENA 67, PAW PAW 37

 

The Huskers led 11-9 after the opening eight minutes and 24-19 at the intermission.  Serena started the second half with an 11-point run.  After a pair of Bulldog free throws, the Huskers scored 18 straight points to led 65-33 and all but put the game away.

 

Junior Bill Matison, despite an ankle injury, came off the bench to lead the Huskers with a game-high 22 points, while fellow junior Jerry Lagilan added 12 points.  Paw Paw senior Scott Torman was tops for the Bulldogs with 12 markers.

 

(Note: Tuesday’s games were postponed because of a snow storm that hit the northern Illinois area.)

 

WATERMAN 58, HINCKLEY-BIG ROCK 49

 

The clubs were tied early at 6-all before the fifth-seeded Wolverines sank 10-straight points.  The Royals, the No. 4 seed, were able to close the gap to 18-12 after the opening eight minutes.  Waterman led at halftime 32-17 as they hit 16-of-31 shots from the field, while H-BR was just 7-of-30 (2-of-15 in second period).

 

The teams played a relatively even third frame as WHS led 45-30.  The Royals were now forced to employ a full-court press; they forced numerous Waterman turnovers and started to chip away at the disadvantage.  A pair of free throws by H-BR’s Don Willret with 1:46 remaining cut it too six point Wolverine led, but a free toss by WHS Vern Monsess was followed by a hoop from Jeff Johnson in the final minute put a halt to the Royals comeback.

 

Waterman was led by Jerry Larson (20 points), Monsess (13), Johnson (11) and Chuck Leifheit (10).  Senior Mike Serrurler led the Royals with 16 points, junior Randy Loring had 11 and Dene Jacobson added 10.  Waterman out-rebounded the Royals 43-20 and H-BR had defeated the Wolverines twice that season before their LTC Tournament match up.

 

SHABBONA 77, EARLVILLE 54

 

Indians leading scorer Rod Fultz scored 10 first quarter points to help his club to a 27-13 lead.  He then tallied all ten of his team’s second quarter points and Shabbona had a 37-26 advantage at halftime.  Kent Johnson (16 points) took over the hot hand from Fultz in the third quarter as he hit 4-of-4 shots and the Indians, who hit 34-of-62 shots from the field, extended the lead to 55-37 entering the final eight minutes and weren’t threaten there after.

 

Fultz led all scorers with 26 points, while junior Mike Miller paced the Red Raiders with 20 points, junior John Bauer added 10.

 

(Fultz was coming off a school record 54-point performance in a 101-74 victory over Elgin Academy just days earlier)

 

MALTA 61, SOMONAUK 48

 

 It was Malta’s first LTC Tournament win after dropping their openers in 1968 and 1969.  The Mustangs led 13-10 after one quarter, and a 7-0 second quarter run gave them a 26-18 halftime cushion.  Senior Bill Wright (14 points) and junior Barry Melton (13 points) scored seven points each in the third period for MHS to push the led to 46-28 heading to the fourth.  The Bobcats would be unable to cut the disadvantage to under double digits before the final horn.

 

Malta also received nice all-around games from senior Everett Lunn (12 points) and senior Marlin Anderson (10 points).  Somonauk was led by 14 points from senior Gary Robinson and 11 points from Robin Voss.  The Mustangs held a 43-36 advantage in rebounds in the game.

 

NEWARK 69, SERENA 37

 

The Norsemen led 14-0 after one quarter as Serena was 0-for-9 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times.  The Newark lead was 22-2 before the Huskers made their first hoop after missing 13 straight to open the contest.  NHS led 33-12 at halftime and cruised in the second half.

 

Senior Rich Clausel led Newark with 14 points, while Jerry Lagilan paced Serena with 11 points.

 

(Newark had defeated Serena two weeks prior, although the Huskers led at halftime)

  

SEMIFINALS

 

WATERMAN 55, MALTA 54

 

Waterman’s Jerry Larson hit the first free throw of a one-and-one with nine seconds left to break a 54-all tie and advance the Wolverines to the title game.  Malta had one last chance, but Bill Wright’s shot bounced off the rim with four seconds left and WHS grabbed the final rebound.

 

The Wolverines led 13-12 after one period and 25-22 at intermission and stayed op top until Malta’s Everett Dunn scored to tie the score at 33-all with 2:50 left in the third frame.  A Larson bucket late in the period put Waterman on top 38-36 entering the final frame.

 

Malta knotted the score at 38, but Larson sparked a 8-0 run with six points and Brian Leifheit added two free throws and it was Waterman ahead 48-40 with 3:11 left.

 

The Mustangs roared back and after John Lynch’s hoop at 2:07 it was WHS holding a slim 50-49 lead.  Larson added a basket and a trio of free tosses, the final at 1:17.  Barry Melton scored for MHS second later and Martin Anderson tallied three points, the last two coming with 13 seconds left to tie the score at 54-all.

 

Larson led Waterman with a game-high 23 points, senior Mike Mitchell added 11, Vern Monsess 10.  Wright and Melton paced Malta with 12 points each, Dunn had 11, Anderson 10.

 

SHABBONA 56, NEWARK 55 (3 Overtimes)

 

In what probably ranks as one of the top all-time games in tournament history, it was Shabbona star Rod Fultz driving basket a minute into the third overtime that put his club on top for good as they defeated Newark to move into the title game.

 

The Norsemen led 22-18 at halftime and led 31-23 in the third period before Fultz led the Indians back with a 9-2 run, including his basket that put SHS up 34-33.  It was the Indians first lead since early in the second frame, but NHS was able to grab back the lead at 37-34 entering the fourth.  Fultz, who scored 32 points in the game, was 4-of-11 in the first half from the floor and sank 6-of-10 attempts in the third quarter only.

 

The teams see-sawed back and forth throughout the fourth quarter and the game was tied in the final seconds.  Shabbona set up for the final shot, but an errant pass caused an over-and-back call giving the ball to NHS with one second left.  The Norsemen were unable to get a shot off and the teams moved to overtime.

 

In the first extra period Newark’s Steve Moe’s two free throws and a Dave Toftoy basket were matched by a pair of Fultz hoops.  The Indians again had a chance to win the game in the final moments, but Fultz’s shot at the buzzer caromed off the rim.

 

Newark controlled the tip to open the second overtime, but Shabbona picked up a quick steal and proceeded to hold the ball for the rest of the extra period until Fultz again misfired on a potential game winner at the buzzer.  In the final overtime, Fultz’s basket opened the scoring and was followed by David Miller lay up and a pair of free tosses by Don Wood to make it 56-50 with 1:17 left.  NHS hit three free throws and then a rebound basket with seven seconds left, but ran out of time to regain the ball.

 

Senior Kent Johnson backed Fultz with 14 points, while Rich Clausel (15 points) and Toftoy (10) paced Newark in the contest.

 

(Shabbona Mike Cardine {one of their big men} suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and didn’t return to the game)

 

THIRD PLACE GAME

 

NEWARK 57, MALTA 44

 

Malta led 29-27 at halftime, but only scored two points in third quarter and Newark led 41-31 heading to the fourth period.  The Norsemen then out-pointed the Mustangs 16-13 in the final eight minutes to take home the third place hardware.

 

Rich Clausel scored a game-high 22 points for the Norsemen, while senior Keith Brown added 14.  Barry Melton was the only Mustangs player in double figures, scoring 10 points.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

 

WATERMAN 77, SHABBONA 55

 

Head coaches Bob Fuller of Shabbona and Junior Overmyer of Waterman were both third year head coaches.  Fuller’s clubs were 6-0 over Overmyer’s teams in that time, but as far as the 1970 LTC Tournament championship game goes for Waterman, change is a good thing.

 

The fifth-seeded Wolverines scored the final six points of the first half to break a 19-all tie and went on to crush third-seeded Shabbona 77-55.  It was Waterman’s first LTC Tournament title since 1949.

 

After his team’s win over Malta in the semifinals, Overmyer said his team would need to work the ball inside to have a chance against the Indians and that’s just what they were able to do.

 

Waterman’s junior big men, Jerry Larson (23 points, 20 rebounds) and Jeff ‘Nubbs’ Johnson (16 points and 15 rebounds) dominated the paint the entire game as the champs led the rebound battle 48 to 19.  Junior Vern Monsess (16 points) as helped the cause by holding high scoring Indian Rod Fultz to just 10 points through three quarters.

 

WHS led 10-9 after the opening eight minutes and after five ties in the second, but two free throws by Larson put them up to stay.  Late first half hoops by Monsess and Larson gave Waterman a 25-19 halftime lead.  Larson’s late third quarter hoop made it a 10-point (41-31) advantage and an 8-1 run to begin the fourth made it 49-32 and the game was all but over.

 

Fultz ended with a team-high 20 points for Shabbona, while David Miller added 13.