ALAH boys fall in LPC tourney after beating Heritage
The ALAH varsity boys’ basketball team played hosts to LPC foe the Blue Ridge Knights on Tuesday, January 20. Here on defense at the beginning of the game for ALAH are from left to right, Coye Grant, Marcus Otto, Jayden Parsons (24), Will Hilligoss (1), and Cooper Shoemaker. The defense held Blue Ridge to 26 points in the game.
By Mike Monahan
DELAND – The Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond boys basketball team, one that had lost six straight, snapped the losing streak on January 20 with a convincing 58-26 Lincoln Prairie Conference win over Blue Ridge. In the LPC tournament last Friday at Heritage the Knights pulled off a 67-60 win, but Saturday ALAH fell to Cerro Gordo/Bement 44-32 at DeLand. Saturday’s game was moved up an hour due to the prediction of snow.
The Knights, 4-16 overall and 1-3 in the conference, played Villa Grove Tuesday in the conference tournament and a win means they play at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the consolation semifinals.
Cerro Gordo, 14-7 overall and 4-1 in the LPC, good for second place, played Sullivan in the LPC tournament semifinals at Blue Ridge and if they win they play in the title game set for 8 p.m. Friday. Cerro Gordo got by Okaw Valley 50-48 on January 20 at Okaw Valley. Further information was unavailable. The Broncos have won five of their last six games.
Cerro Gordo/Bement 44, Arthur Lovington
Atwood Hammond 32
Cerro Gordo led 8-4 after the first quarter and it remained a four-point lead at the half, 14- 10. The Broncos opened up a 32-23 lead entering the final quarter and outscored the Knights by three in the fourth to win by 12.
Twins Will and Luke Fuson led the Broncos with 14 points each, while the Knights were led by Cruz Hale with 10 points, including eight in the second half. Luke Fuson had 12 in the second half, while Will Fuson had 10.
Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 67,
Heritage 60
In a high-scoring game Heritage jumped out to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter and both teams scored 14 in the second as the Hawks led 35-23.
The Knights took a 42-41 lead after three quarters and outscored Heritage 25-19 in the fourth to win by seven.
The Knights were helped by 13-of-17 (.765) free throws compared to 5-of-7 (.714) for Heritage. The Knights also had eight three-pointers, including four by Coye Grant, who hit three in the final quarter (entered the game with only one three-pointer) and came off the bench to score 16 points, 13 in the second half. Will Hilligoss made 5-of-6 free throws in the fourth and finished with a team-high 22 points. Hale had 11 points, including eight in the second half and Otto also had 11 points.
Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 58,
Blue Ridge 26
In the battle of the schools with the nickname Knights it was Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond that jumped out to a 15-3 lead over Blue Ridge after the first eight minutes. ALAH outscored Blue Ridge in every quarter for the 32-point win, which was the largest margin of victory this season.
Marcus Otto led the way for Arthur with 19 points, all in the first three quarters.
Saturday Lincoln Prairie Conference boys tournament at Deland-Weldon
ALAH 4 6 13 9–32
CGB 8 6 18 12–44
ARTHUR LOVINGTON ATWOOD HAMMOND: Hilligoss 2-4-8, Brennon Hutson 2-0-4, Otto 0-1-1, Hale 3-4-10, Parsons 3-0-6, Grant 1-0-3, Shoemaker 0-0-0, Totals 11-9-32
CERRO GORDO/BEMENT: Will Fuson 5-3-14, Luke Fuson 5-3-14, Corpus 0-3-3, Benson 3-2-9, Carver 2–0-4, Totals 15-11-44
3-point goals: Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 1 (Grant 1), Cerro Gordo/Bement 3 (Will Fuson 1, Luke Fuson 1, Benson 1). Free throws: Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 9-14 .643, Cerro Gordo/Bement 11-19 .579
Friday Lincoln Prairie Conference boys tournament at Heritage
ALAH 9 14 19 25–67
Heritage 21 14 6 19–60
ARTHUR LOVINGTON ATWOOD HAMMOND: Hilligoss 7-8-22, Bentley Hutson 2-0-4, Otto 4-0-11, Hale 5-1-11, Parsons 1-0-3, Grant 4-4-16, Shoemaker 0-0-0, Vanausdoll 0-0-0, Totals 23-13-67
3-point goals: Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 8 (Grant 4, Otto 3, Parsons 1) Heritage 6 (Roland 2, Jones 3, White 1) . Free throws: ALAH 13-17 .765, Heritage 5-7 .714
Jan. 20 Blue Ridge at Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond
Blue Ridge 3 8 8 7–26
ALAH 15 17 17 9–58
ARTHUR LOVINGTON ATWOOD HAMMOND: Hilligoss 2-5-9, Grant 2-0-6, Otto 8-1-19, Shoemaker 2-1-5, Parsons 1-0-2, Reed 4-0-8, Brennon Hutson 0-1-1, Bentley Hutson 0-0-0, Lieb 0-0-0, Hale 2-0-4, Warrior 0-0-0, Vanausdoll 0-0-0, Burket 2-0-4, Totals 23-8-58
3-point goals: Blue Ridge 3 (Clark 1, Clevenger 1, Wrestler 1), Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 4 (Grant 2, Otto 2), Free throws: Blue Ridge 5-11 .455, ALAH 8-11 .727
JV: Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 64, Blue Ridge 12
Seventh Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament
Friday, January 23 through Friday, January 30
(seeds and record and in parentheses)
Friday’s games
Game 1: Okaw Valley (8, 2-14) 62, Villa Grove (9, 7-11) 39
Game 2: Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond (10, 3-15) 67, at Heritage (7, 8-12) 60
Game 3: Tri-County (6, 9-12)113, Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon (11, 0-17), 37
Saturday’s games
Game 4: Unity Christian (1, 18-3) 79, Okaw Valley 33.
Game 5: Arcola (4,9-9) 51 Argenta-Oreana (5, 7-12) 38
Game 6: Cerro Gordo/Bement (2, 13-7) 44, Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 32
Game 7: Sullivan (3, 11-8) 55, Tri-County 52
Tuesday’s games at Blue Ridge unless noted
Game 8: Villa Grove vs. Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond, 5 p.m. at DeLand-Weldon HS
Game 9: Heritage vs. Tri-County, 6:30 p.m. at DeLand-Weldon HS
Game 10: Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon vs. Okaw Valley, 8 p.m. at DeLand-Weldon HS
Game 11: Unity Christian vs. Arcola, 6 p.m.
Game 12: Cerro Gordo/Bement vs. Sullivan, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s game at Blue Ridge
Game 13: Winner of game 8 vs. Argenta-Oreana, 6 p.m.
Game 14: Winner of game 9 vs. Winner of game 10, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s games at Blue Ridge
Game 15: Winner of game 13 vs. Winner of game 14, 5 p.m., consolation championship
Game 16: Loser of game 11 vs. Loser of game 12, 6:30 p.m. third place game
Game 17: Winner of game 11 vs. Winner of game 12, 8 p.m. championship game
Total record for all 11 teams prior to the tournament: : 87-130 .401
