Northern Illinois Sports Beat: Not Enough Left in Braves' Tank

By Cody Cutter, NISB Publisher
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PEORIA (Mar. 14) � Performance output can be both positive and negative.

In the case of Annawan's Class 1A State third place game against Lewistown, most of Annawan's output came in the previous day's near comeback against Macon Meridian.

The Braves started this game off on a high note, but didn't have enough energy to maintain their 12-6 first quarter lead. Lewistown won 50-35, giving Annawan the fourth place trophy.

�We just didn't have enough legs,� said Annawan coach Ryan Brown. �And that's probablt my fault, especially when you play as few players as we do.�

Having just 12 varsity players, all five starters (Alex Coppejans, Heath Rakestraw, Mackenzie Chapman, Sean Walker and Matt DeDecker) averaged three-and-a-half quarters today.

DeDecker hit a three-pointer and a two-pointer to give Annawan a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes. Rakestraw gave his team a lead of eight points with a jumper to make it a 12-4 game.

Lewistown came back with a three-point shot by Zach Duncan to close the gap to three points with 7:05 left in the half. They would take advantage of crucial Annawan turnovers the rest of the second quarter to gain a 19-17 lead at halftime. Brent Burrows hit a three-point shot to close the gap to 15-14, and regained possession after Coopejans traveled for Annawan's sixth turnover against Lewistown's two. The Indians gained the lead with a pair of free throws by Quinton Hatfill with 3:44 left. A minute later, Burrows stole the ball from Walker in Brave territory and made an old-fashioned three-point play for a four point lead.

�I thought we were just a little sluggish on offense today, and gave up too many rebounds,� said Brown. �They ended up beating us pretty good in rebounds.�

After both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter, Lewistown held the Braves to just six points against their own 19. Duncan extended the Indian lead to four with an offensive rebound putback, which was the start of a seven-point run that brought the lead to 38-29. Duncan added another putback in that run.

�We got a couple of turnovers and a couple of layups,� said Lewistown coach Brad Hatfill. �We had a couple good offensive rebounds into putbacks that turned it from a four-point game into an eight-point game.�

At the same time, Lewistown started to rebound aggressively, especially after Annawan misses from three-point range.

�The key was we out-rebounded them by 11 in the second half,� Hatfill said. �We told them we could win the game if we could fix the rebounding problem we had in the first half.

�It's nice to win on this floor,� added Hatfill, whose team finished in fourth place last year. �It's great to be in the final four, win or lose - obviously we want to win the whole thing. There's only two teams that can end with a win.�

No Annawan player reached double figures in the game. Coppejans was held to under ten points (seven) for the second straight game. Rakestraw led the Braves with nine points, DeDecker had eight, Walker five, Chapman four, and Steve DeMay two. Coppejans led Annawan with nine rebounds.

Burrows led Lewistown with 13 points while Scott Parrish had 12. Joseph Jugovic led the Indians with 10 rebounds.

The Braves hovered under the Class 1A radar almost all season: they didn't win conference, the conference tournament, the Orion Tip-Off Classic, or the Warkins Cardinal Classic in Erie in December. They began the year 2-3 in their first five games, and 6-4 in their first ten games. They beat Class 2A regional champion Morrison in Warkins' pool play and 1A regional champion Princeville during the conference season. The senior group of Coppejans and Rakestraw is Brown's first four-year group.

�It's all because of the commitment and determination of our seniors - all rising to the occasion and just playing great basketball when we needed to,� said Brown. �For us, it wasn't an all-season thing. We started playing great when it mattered the most. That's what I'll always remember about this group; the incredible run we got by just playing unstoppable basketball.�

Brown said the players didn't win a lot of games in junior high.

�To be able to have these guys for four years, and to have it all come to a head, where you make it - That just gives me shivers thinking about it.�