HS boys’ basketball: Carlinville defeats Pawnee and Athens

 

By TIM TARTER
Edited by Jackson Wilson

The Carlinville High School boys’ basketball team picked up two non-conference victories over Pawnee and Athens last week.

Carlinville 66, Pawnee 48

The Cavaliers returned to the Big House on West Main for the second time in three nights and they took advantage of the home court picking up their second victory of the week as Sawyer Smith had 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots to lead CHS to a 66-48 win over Pawnee.

Coming off a win over Springfield Lutheran, Carlinville rode that momentum as the Cavaliers won all four quarters.

It was senior Dom Alepra who got the Cavaliers off to a hot start, scoring seven of his 10 points in the first quarter as CHS took an 11-7 lead after the first eight minutes.

The Indians fought back in the second quarter as they went on a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 16-13 before Alepra drained a three from the right corner to knot things up.

Carlinville would finish the half on a run of their own as they outscored the Indians 12-4 to take a 25-20 halftime lead. Triston Thompson had five points, including a steal and a layup and one in the midst of the Cavaliers’ run.

CHS would score the first 8 points of the third quarter to take a 33-20 lead before Pawnee climbed back into the game with a 13-6 spurt to cut the lead to six points at 39-33 with 1:56 left in the quarter.

The Cavaliers would score the final four points of the quarter as Tate Duckels got a rebound basket and then a driving layup to give Carlinville a 43-33 lead after three quarters. Thompson had eight points and Duckels six points in the quarter as CHS outscored Pawnee 18-13.

Carlinville would leave little doubt in the fourth quarter as Smith dominated the paint scoring 10 points in the quarter as the Cavaliers pulled away. Duckels, who made eight of 10 field goals, also joined Smith with 10 points in the final eight minutes as CHS got to the rim at will.

Smith had an electrifying dunk in the fourth quarter as he scored on a breakaway with 5:10 left to give the Cavaliers a 53-35 lead.

Carlinville would lead by as many as 22 points before settling for the 18-point margin.

In addition to Smith’s heroics, Duckels finished with 18 points and four rebounds. Thompson had 15 points with four assists and Alepra finished with 10 points and two assists.

The Cavaliers made 29 of 53 field goal attempts for 55 percent. From two-point range, Carlinville shot 63 percent while making 26 of 41 attempts. The Cavaliers were three of 12 from the arc and made five of eight free throws.

Carlinville had 14 assists as a team and had 7 steals while turning the ball over just 11 times. CHS had 28 rebounds.

Carlinville 68, Athens 43

The CHS boys basketball returned to the Big House on West Main and won their third straight home game with a 68-43 victory over Athens.

Playing its fourth game in five days, Carlinville got off to a hot start and never looked back as Alepra set the tone by draining four triples in the first quarter to lead CHS to a 19-9 lead. Smith also drained a three-ball and Duckels dished out three assists.

Alepra continued his assault on the Warriors in the second quarter hitting two more treys and adding a pair of free throws as Carlinville outscored Athens 16-10 to take a 35-19 halftime lead.

Athens, coming off a hard-fought loss to state-ranked Auburn, tried to get back in the game in the third quarter as Cody Tobias hit a pair of threes for the Warriors, but Carlinville was having nothing to do with any comeback.

Duckels and Smith took turns trading assists and points and Carlinville continued its torrid shooting and passing to outscore Athens 19-14 in the third quarter.

Duckels scored three field goals off assists from Smith and then found Smith for a layup. Duckels’ athleticism was on full display as the junior made six two-point field goals and a three while scoring 15 points. Duckels also dished out seven assists and had four steals with a blocked shot.

Alepra hit his seventh triple of the game in the third quarter and Duckels had eight points with Thompson and Smith dishing out 3 assists apiece as Carlinville’s lead swelled to 54-33 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers continued to play solid in the fourth, leading by as many as 25 points at 64-39 before both teams cleared their benches with just over three minutes left in the game.

Smith had another double-double as he had 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five assists and four blocked shots. Thompson added nine points with seven assists.

As a team, the Cavaliers dished out a season-high 22 assists on their 26 made field goals. They turned the ball over just 12 times and had 6 steals.

But shooting was the story on this night. Carlinville was lights out hitting 26 for 46 field goals for 57 percent. The Cavaliers made 10 of 21 threes for 48 percent and made 64 percent of their two-point field goals (16 of 25). CHS was also six of eight at the free throw line.

Carlinville is 9-12 overall.