Upset Central
Lightning wasn't going to strike twice for Jim Tucker
As a junior varsity head coach in a game late last season with Thompsonville, the now Norris City-Omaha-Enfield head coach drew up a play that he now regrets.
On Thursday night, Tucker had a chance to draw up the same play and he didn't think twice about doing it.
Coming out of an inbounds play after Eldorado's Aiden Whitlock sunk two free throws to give the Eagles a 56-54 lead, Cardinal sophomore Joe Melton nestled himself in the left hand corner of Duff-Kingston Gymnasium, took the pass and drilled a 3-pointer as time expired to give NCOE the upset win over No. 5 seeded Eldorado Thursday night at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament.
The see-saw battle saw five ties and the lead change nine times in the second half.
NCOE, who held a 52-51 lead with 1:30 to play in the fourth quarter after CJ Richardson made a pair of technical free throws, gave up the advantage after Joe Mayberry went coast-to-coast on a steal and got the hoop and harm on the Eagles' end, giving the host school a 54-52 lead with 1:03 to play.
Melton then tied the game at 54-all, before Whitlock made his two free throws with 8.6 to play.
The Cardinals had 10 3-pointers on the night and Melton led the charge with a team-high 15 points for NCOE. Brandon Skaggs also had 12 points for NCOE.
Balanced scoring filled out the rest of the stat sheet for NCOE as Jack Riggs scored six points, while three players, Ty Money, Trey Simmons and Richardson all finished with five points. Jaden Barton, Houston Money and Colton O'Neal all had three points.
Mayberry led all scorers with 21 points, while Whitlock tacked on 12 points and Ladayyea Shewmaker tossed in 11 points.
Jace Jenkins and Hunter Sizemore each finished with four points, while Nolan Milligan and Bryant Byrd each had two points.
On a day when morning games went for the way of the top seeds, it was much different in the nightcap.
After NCOE's stunning upset of No. 5 seed Eldorado, Harrisburg turned the same trick, knocking off No. 4 seed Gallatin County on nearly the same play that worked for the Cardinals.
Harrisburg sophomore Andrew Bittle settled in the same spot that Melton hit his game-winner and delivered a big blow to the Hawks, drilling a 3-pointer with just under five seconds to play, giving the Bulldogs a 46-45 win Thursday night.
The Bulldogs had just five first half field goals (one in the first quarter) and only trailed by three, 16-13 at halftime.
Gallatin County outscored Harrisburg 18-15 in the third quarter, but Harrisburg barked back in the final eight minutes behind eight points from Will Gibbs, who finished with a team-high 15 points.
Jesse Lawler tacked on 13 in the win for Harrisburg, while Bittle scored six points.
Will Sanders finished with four points, Kaden Sanders and Connor Phalin each had three points and Zayne Hayes tossed in two points.
Gallatin County was led by 15 points from Dawson Hish, while Audie Gobel tacked on 12 points and Garrett Rushing finished in double figures with 10 points.
Robbie Prince finished with four points for the Hawks, while Brock Seely tacked on two points. Connor Kiesecoms and Lucas Reeder each tossed in a free throw.
Eldorado will now play Gallatin County at 11:30 a.m., while NCOE will take on Harrisburg at 8:30 p.m.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.