BOYS HOOPS: Hawks survive, Pirates sink

One local boys basketball team advanced while another suffered season-ending defeat in regional tournament action Wednesday night.

Gibault topped Red Bud at the Class 2A Pinckneyville Regional, advancing to Friday’s final against the host Panthers.

Valmeyer fell to Lovejoy at the Class 1A Okawville Regional, ending its season at 15-15.

The Hawks (10-19) built a 22-13 lead at halftime against the Musketeers, who struggled to muster much offensively in the early going. Karson Huels scored 10 straight points in the second half to help Gibault pull away late in the 47-35 win.

Huels scored 15 points, as did teammate Logan Doerr. Josh Besserman added 13.

The Pirates led 12-6 after one quarter against Lovejoy, bolstered by a 9-0 run. Lovejoy increased its defensive pressure in the second quarter and took a 27-21 lead into halftime. Valmeyer capitalized on Lovejoy’s foul trouble to end the third quarter on a 10-0 spurt and led 40-38 entering the final frame.

The key play was when Lovejoy’s Jeremiah Perry rebounded a teammate’s miss, made the layup and was fouled. He connected on the ensuing free throw to give Lovejoy a 52-51 lead with just more than two minutes remaining. Lovejoy held on to win, 59-55.

Michael Chism scored 29 points to lead the Pirates in his final game. Chism finished his high school career with 1,456 points. Philip Reinhardt added 10 points.

Valmeyer shot 51.4 percent from the floor but committed 15 turnovers.

For more on hoops action from earlier this week, click here.

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Corey Saathoff

Corey is the editor of the Republic-Times. He has worked at the newspaper since 2004, and currently resides in Columbia. He is also the principal singer-songwriter and plays guitar in St. Louis area country-rock band The Trophy Mules.
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