Published: January 06, 2009 11:15 am      

Jets take fourth in Illinois basketball tournament

The Cumberland County High School Jets completed a successful road trip to the Southern Illinois Orthopedic Center Holiday Tournament in Carbondale, IL, with a 2-2 record for a fourth-place finish in the after-Christmas tournament.

“It was a great trip. We got a lot better. A 2-2 record is very impressive. We played phenomal defense,” said Jet Coach Scott Eggleston, whose team improved to 5-8 on the season.

CCHS opened the tournament with a 55-36 loss to Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) on Dec. 27, as Caleb Parsons chipped in 11 points. Rounding out the scoring was Brandon Cole (five points and five rebounds), Andrew Cravens (two points and five boards), Joseph Blalock (four points, six rebounds), Spencer Rogers (two points), Robbie Poore (seven points), Derrek Hankins (three points) and Terryl Bowen (two points).

Jeremy Jacobs and Matt Johnson also contributed in the loss.

Zaccheus Mason paced CPA with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

“He can play. They have two other kids who shoot it (well). We got off to a slow start,” said Eggleston.

The Jets rallied from a 28-11 halftime deficit to defeat Memphis Bartlett 56-49 to advance into the consolation bracket semi-final round.

“We played awesome defense and outrebounded them 41-23. We held them to 36 percent shooting from the field. They lost to three nationally-ranked teams earlier in the season,” the Jet mentor added.

Cole and Johnson each had 13 points, followed by Parsons (eight points), Jacobs (six points), Cravens (nine points), Blalock (two points) and Hankins (five points). Cole and Johnson had 10 and eight boards, respectively.

Johnson’s putback basket at the buzzer gave the Jets a 46-44 win over White House to earn a berth in the consolation bracket finals. 
”Jeremy shot, with Matt getting the offensive rebound and falling backwards, while putting up the shot,” added Eggleston, whose team was down 31-20 at the half and 36-29 after three quarters. “We outscored them 17-8 in the fourth quarter and played good defense.”

Cole led the Jets with 19 points, including eight of 11 from the field, with six rebounds, followed by Johnson (eight points), Jacobs (seven points), Blalock (six markers), Cravens (four points and eight rebounds) and Parsons (two points).

The Jets lost to defending Illinois Class 4-A state champion H.L. Richards 66-38 in the consolation bracket finals.

Hankins led CCHS with eight points, followed by Parsons (five points), Jacobs (six points), Cole (five points and five rebounds), Cravens (six points), Blalock (three points and five rebounds), Johnson (four points) and Poore (one point).

•Midway Holiday Tournament: The Lady Jets were beaten 57-56 by Van Buren County on Tuesday, Dec. 30, in the Midway Holiday Tournament at Midway High School.

CCHS trailed 28-27 at the half, took a 44-38 lead after three quarters; however, Van Buren County would outscored the Lady Jets 19-12 in the final eight minutes to secure the victory.

Mandy Moss led CCHS with 17 points, followed by Taylor Williams (10), Kelli Hyder (11), Brandi Green (6), Taylor Vaden (6)) and Jaclyn Reagan (6).

•Make-up date: The resumption of the suspended game at Monterey will be played Saturday, Jan. 31, at 4 p.m., followed by the boys contest.