Defense, group effort keys to El Paso-Gridley victory in sectional semifinals
CLIFTON — For the second time this season, El Paso-Gridley was able to keep Ty Pence in check. And for the second time this season, the Titans came away with a victory over St. Joseph-Ogden. The difference in the two matchups was that Wednesday's battle ended the Spartans season and EPG moved on in postseason play.
The Titans, who set a program record for wins, posted a 45-32 victory over St. Joe-Ogden in the second semifinal game of the Class 2A Clifton Sectional. The victory, No. 28 on the season, moves EPG into Friday's sectional title tilt opposite Monticello, a 37-25 winner over Herscher on Tuesday.
“We went into this game just trying to go 1-0. It's a huge atmosphere, everybody going crazy, a loud gym,” said EPG senior Luke Ihlenfeldt. “We struggled offensively tonight, especially from the start. But later we locked it up and had a lot of defensive intensity.”
The EPG defense was solid from the start and it caused problems for the Spartans, especially for Division I prospect Pence. But, the Titans were having trouble taking advantage on the offensive end, that is until Ihlenfeldt started heating up.
Ihlenfeldt got the Titans on the board after EPG spotted St. Joe-Ogden a 4-0 lead. Ihlenfeldt hit a 3-pointer and scored on a spin move in the paint with 2:04 to go in the first period to give his team the lead for the first time, at 7-6.
“Right from the start we were getting a lot quick shots up and not moving the ball around the horn,” Ihlenfeldt said. “We started moving it side to side, started getting ball reversals and that kind of sealed the deal.”
Freshman Micah Meiss scored and then hit Jake Funk on a break to push the EPG lead to 11-6. The Titans led 11-8 after one period.
St. Joe-Ogden tied in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter but Meiss buried a 3-pointer to give the Titans a 14-11 lead. The Spartans went up 15-14 after a free throw 3:03 to go in the first half, but Funk followed his missed free throw with a put-back and El Paso-Gridley did not trail the rest of the way.
One factor that might have contributed to tempered play was having two of the top players coming into the contest sitting on the bench for a good portion of the first half. Pence was sitting with three fouls while EPG's Asa Smith was sidelined with two personals.
“When you had Asa sitting and Ty Pence sitting in the first half, we had to have some other guys step and I think our guys did a great job of stepping up,” said EPG head coach Nathaniel Meiss.
“(Ihlenfeldt is) a good leader and he stepped up right when we needed him to, we needed some baskets and Luke was the guys who got them. We have a lot of different guys who can get baskets and tonight Luke came through and got them in the first half when we needed them.”
EPG took an 18-15 lead into the break after a Micah Meiss basket off a Chanceaye Maxon feed.
Smith was back in the lineup in the late moments of the second quarter and made his presence felt in the third. Smith's first points of the night came in the paint with 5:33 to go in the third period. It put EPG up 20-18 and the Titans led the rest of the way.
What might have been the biggest factor for El Paso-Gridley in the second half was Smith and Funk taking over as the lead grew to 31-24 as the duo scored all of EPG points in a 13-6 run.
Ihlenfeldt scored on a pass from Maxon while cutting the basket to give the Titans a 33-25 lead heading into the final frame. El Paso-Gridley led by at least five points the rest of the way.
“I think (Smith) was pressing a bit in the first half. I think a number of guys were pressing,” Coach Meiss said. “It's an intense situation out there, the crowd's on top of you. We got to play free and loose against these guys the first time in the Shirk Center. Here, it was a little bit more of an adverse situation. I thought the guys responded, I thought Asa responded in the second half and did a great job.”
A concern many coaches might have coming into such a contest was the overconfidence factor. EPG had defeated the Spartans at Christmas in Bloomington. A little overconfidence could have been in the cards. Meiss took care of that issue before the tournament started.
“I told them on Saturday morning that Tolono (Unity) had beaten them two weeks before the regional championship by 24 points, and then lost to them by eight on their home floor,” Meiss said. “We tried to dispel any myths about we're going to stomp their face in again. I think the guys were focused and I think defensively we were locked in. To hold Ty Pence to zero field goals on the night, I'm really proud of them.”
Smith and Ihlenfeldt paced El Paso-Gridley (28-2) with 13 points apiece. Smith did all his scoring in the second half. Funk collected 12 points and 11 rebounds while Micah Meiss tossed in 7 markers. Ben Klein came up with 6 boards as the Titans won the rebound battle 335-23. EPG also turned the ball just seven times.
Logan Smith led St. Joseph-Ogden (23-10) with 11 points. Evan Ingram added 7 while Pence finished with 6 points — all from the free throw line.
El Paso-Gridley, which set a program record for wins (breaking Gridley's 27 wins set in 1976), will face another Illini Prairie Conference team in Monticello Friday night for the sectional title. The winner punches a ticket to Springfield for a supersectional matchup against the winner of the Olympia Sectional, which pits Central Catholic against Quincy (Notre Dame).
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Defense, group effort keys to EPG victory in sectional semifinals
