Osgood Journal Sports
March 10, 2009

Eagles are in the air - Let the chips fall where they may

Gary Franklin, Sports Writer

Coach David Bradshaw and his #1 state ranked Class 1A Jac-Cen-Del Eagles earned the right to the second round in the South Decatur HS hosted Sectional #60 with an opening night win on Tuesday, March 3, over the Oldenburg Academy Twisters, 70-38. They allowed no Twister to reach double digit scoring during the game.
They progressed to the championship round in stage two of Sectional #60 action by defeating the Rising Sun Shiners on Friday night, March 6, by a final score of 76-55.
Sectional #60's second night action, Friday, March 6, slated a game between the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles and the Rising Sun Shiners followed by the Shawe Hilltoppers vs the hosting South Decatur Cougars.
Jac-Cen-Del vs Rising Sun
The opening tip was controlled by the Eagles, but was rejumped when the game clock didn't start, allowing the Shiners to gain first control.
Early in the game a double foul was assessed to senior Gerald Hardesty of the Eagles and senior Shiner Zeph Vaughn? The Eagles gained control and carried a 20-13 lead into the second quarter.
In second quarter action, the Eagles stretched their lead to 15 points at the half time break, 37-22 and 17 points at 59-42 by the end of quarter three. JCD mastered a 21 point win by game's end with a final score of 76-55.
One of the four largest threats to the Eagles was Shiner senior Logan Jackson. Jackson put together a productive game for 29 points, earning high scorer honors of the evening's battle. Eagle senior Matt Gehl scored 26 while sophomore teammate Trevor Arnet added 17.
A solid defensive effort by JCD kept all but one Shiner in single digit scoring for the entire game. The team's strong efforts also allowed the entire Eagle bench force to participate in the game during quarter four action, if not before.
Score by Quarter
JCD 20-13 RS
JCD 37-22 RS
JCD 59-42 RS
JCD 76-55 RS
Jac-Cen-Del Eagles 76
Matt Gehl 26
Trevor Arnett 17
Blake Sutton 11
Tim Arnett 10
Shane Adams 6
Gerald Hardesty 4
Ethan Harmeyer 2
Non-scoring Eagles: Spencer Purdy, Derek Lunsford, Brandon Wilhoit, Daniel Harlemert and Dalton Garnett.
Rising Sun Shiners 55
Logan Jackson 29
Michael Lovern 9
Tyler Banschbach 6
Nathan Adams 5
Alex Dennis 5
Matthew Keith 1
Non-scoring Shiners: Zeph Vaughn, Isaac Crouch, Zach Smith, Jordan Walton, Chris Kaesar, Ryan Lozier, Tyler Jones and Josh Uhlmansiek.
Shawe vs South Decatur
The opening game of the evening in a battle between the Shawe Hilltoppers and the hosting Cougars of South Decatur, senior Cougar Chris Scheidler scored 32 points in their 59-51 win, to advance SD to the championship game on Saturday.
Score by Quarter
Shawe 17-9 SD
Shawe 27-27 SD
Shawe 39-38 SD
SD 59-51 Shawe
South Decatur Cougars 59
Chris Scheidler 32
Andrew Pittman 10
Tyler Mote 9
Ryan Mote 5
Kyle Powers 3
Non-scoring Cougars: Lincoln Hacker, Dylan Graham, Jordan Clark, Chris Dickson, Taylor Wilkerson, Alex Helms and Jordan AmRhein.
Shawe Hilltoppers 51
Jacob Sanders 13
Nick Hall 13
Brandon Scroggins 9
Michael Kring 9
Nico Mingione 7
Non-scoring Toppers: Peter Bump, Dakota Jones, Matt Armstrong, Campbell Higbie, Eric Grote and Doug Totten.
Sectional #60
Championship Game
On Saturday night, March 7, the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles would finally truly get the opportunity to earn what they had truly deserved in last year's Sectional #60 battle, hosted at South Decatur High School. For a whole year they had to deal with the bitter taste of a defeat in that gym, by the SD Cougars, even though they outplayed the Cougars in every aspect of the contest.
Tonight, would history repeat itself? Or would the Eagles truly get the job done. By game's end, the latter would be the case as the Eagles won decisively over the Cougars, 74-62.
Two teams played earnestly with every intention of moving on. The Cougars with desire to protect the home turf and play the role of repeat offenders to a great JCD season, and the Eagles with desire to settle the question as to wehether they could actually move on to higher ground from SDHS.
Eagles vs Cougars
JCD controlled the opening tip, leading to the first score of the game by Eagle senior Matt Gehl. The Cougar answer came quickly in the form of a three pointer shot by Cougar senior Tyler Mote, followed by SD senior Andrew Pittman's FG to take a 5-2 lead. Not to fear Eagle fans, Gehl converted the old fashioned three point play with a FG and the FT combo, tying the score for the first time at five to five.
Eagle senior Tim Arnett broke the tie with his first FG followed by senior teammate Gerald Hardesty's first FG to lead nine to five. Cougar Ryan Mote scored a FG, followed by a six point run by the Eagles, with Gehl scoring two FG's and Tim Arnett one. Cougar senior Lincoln Hacker scored a FG, Eagle sophomore Trevor Arnett scored his first FG and Cougar senior Chris Scheidler scored his first FG of the contest, ending the first quarter with JCD up 17-11 over SD.
QUARTER TWO
Second quarter scoring found the JCD lead cut to just four points at 25-21 near the mid point of the period, after Cougar Pittman drilled a long range three pointer. Eagle Gehl answered in kind with a trey restoring JCD's lead to a seven point margin that they maintained yet at the halftime break, JCD 37-30 SD.
Cougar scoring in the second included:12 points by Pittman, three by Scheidler and two each by Tyler Mote and senior Kyle Powers. The Eagle scoring for the quarter came from Tim Arnett and Matt Gehl with eight points each and four by Eagle junior Shane Adams.
QUARTER THREE
In the early going of the third quarter, JCD stretched their edge to 12 points off senior Eagle Blake Sutton's first three pointer and teammate Gerald Hardesty's FG. During the quarter the Eagles led by as many as 15 and by as few as eight, ending the period up 12, 55-43.
Scoring for the Cougars in the third were: Scheidler with five, Powers four, Tyler Mote three and Pittman with one. Scoring for the Eagles were Blake Sutton with eight, Gehl at four, and the trio of Gerald Hardesty, Tim Arnett and Trevor Arnett each adding two apiece.
Champion naming time -
QUARTER FOUR
Holding a 14 point lead early in the fourth quarter, near the six minute mark, Eagle junior Trevor Arnett was fouled out of the game. With three and a half minutes remaining, Eagle senior Blake Sutton was fouled out. The team responded to take their largest lead of the contest at 16 points, 67-53. Trailing by 12 points with a minute left in the game, Cougar junior Ryan Mote acquired his fifth called foul and left the contest. The final score was Jac-Cen-Del 74-62 South Decatur.
The presentation of a game ball was made to the SD seniors as the runner-up and the game ball and Sectional #60 trophy was presented at center court to the Eagle seniors. Players, parents, coaches, cheerleaders, student body and fans scurried onto the floor to congratulate their champions prior to the traditional cutting down of the nets.
Celebration @ JCDHS
With hundreds of supporters, the Eagle celebration continued at the JCDHS gym upon the teams fire department escorted return from SD. Eagle AD Mark Meyer opened the festivities, joined by Principal Johnny Budd who then turned the floor over to Coach David Bradshaw.
Bradshaw acknowledged his team members individually as he spoke of the pride and respect he has for them and their hard work over the season, noting special leadership the seniors have given. Each player, cheerleader, and coach spoke of gratitude toward each other and the fans as did senior "video technician" Ethan Hess. All emphasizing that this was just one small step toward the ultimate goal of the Class 1A State Championship Title.
Score by Quarter
Jac-Cen-Del 17-11 S. Decatur
Jac-Cen-Del 37-30 S. Decatur
Jac-Cen-Del 55-43 S. Decatur
Jac-Cen-Del 74-62 S. Decatur
JCD Eagles 74
Matt Gehl 31
Tim Arnett 18
Blake Sutton 13
Gerald Hardsety 4
Trevor Arnett 4
Shane Adams 4
Non-scoring Eagles: Spencer Purdy, Derek Lunsford, Ethan Harmeyer, Brandon Wilhoit, Daniel Harlemert and Dalton Garnett.
SD Cougars 62
Chris Scheidler 22
Andrew Pittman 15
Tyler Mote 13
Kyle Powers 6
Dylan Graham 2
Lincoln Hacker 2
Ryan Mote 2
Non-scoring Cougars: Jordan Clark, Chris Dickson, Taylor Wilkerson, Alex Helms and Jordan AmRhein.