MASSAC COUNTY, RED DEVILS ADVANCE
BY SCOTT LAMBERT
THE SOUTHERN
METROPOLIS -- It will be Murphysboro against Massac County in the championship game of the Massac County Superman Classic at 8 p.m. tonight.
The two teams advanced to the title game in very separate ways.
Massac County trailed by 12 three minutes into the fourth quarter, then rallied to top Wheaton Academy, 51-49, in the opener. In the nightcap, Murphysboro ran out to a 9-0 lead and then played even in a 80-67 win over Caruthersville.
The two teams will meet for the second time this year on Massac County's floor. Murphysboro comes in as the decided favorite.
"Of course they are," said Massac County coach Joe Hosman. "But weirder things have happened. That's why you play the games."
"We'll try to come here and take care of business," said Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy. "The kids came here with one goal in mind, to win the tournament.
"We know Massac County will play us tough on their home floor though."
Massac County made a great run to work its way into the title game. The Patriots trailed Wheaton 39-33 after the first three quarters.
Wheaton went on a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter and appeared to be pulling away, leading 45-33.
Then Michael VanVleet drilled a 3-pointer to get the Patriots back under double digits.
Josh Burnham scored a bucket, then hit five straight foul shots to cut the lead to 45-43.
After a pair of Wheaton Academy free throws, Massac County went to Burnham again. His 3-pointer off a set play was good and the score was 47-46.
"Whenever we run a set play for him, he always seems to score," said Hosman. "He's the third in a line of Burnham's and all three of them have made big shots for us."
Massac County took the lead when VanVleet drilled a 12-foot turnaround jumper with 1:08 left.
But Wheaton Academy's Mark Aloisio scored down low for the Warriors to make the score 49-48.
Massac came back down and looked for Burnham again. His 3-point attempt rimmed out but Zach Dearmon was there to grab the rebound and score. He was fouled in the attempt and his foul shot was good to put the Patriots up 51-49.
Wheaton Academy final shot was no good and Massac County (12-7) advanced to the title game.
"It was a real good win for us," said Hosman. "We had a lot of different kids step up and make some big plays for us.
"And our defense was very good. We held them to four points in the final four minutes of the game."
Burnham led Massac County with 15 points. Ten of those points came in the final quarter. McDearmon added 12 points and VanVleet finished with 10 for the Patriots.