Postseason runs for El Paso-Gridley comes to an end with sectional loss

CLIFTON — Ben Cresap is the face of Monticello basketball. The senior guard has earned the accolades he has received for his prowess on the hardwood and he made his presence felt Friday night as the Sages faced El Paso-Gridley in the title game of the Class 2A Clifton Sectional.

But it was a group of other players who seemed to make the big plays that allowed Monticello to advance to the next level with a 51-46 victory over the Titans at The Crater.

“These guys have a lot of heart,” said Monticello head coach Kevin Roy. “It's advance or go home and they don't want to go home yet.”

The Sages move on to the Springfield Supersectional against Central Catholic on Monday. This will be the third Illini Prairie Conference team MHS will face in the postseason.

“They prepare us every single night for postseason,” Roy said.

Playing teams such as Prairie Central, Pontiac, BCC and St. Joseph-Ogden helped push Monticello, and the team it faced Friday was no less a difficult foe even though the Titans come from the Heart of Illinois.

The battle of these two strong defensive clubs was evident from the early going and showed throughout. There were seven lead changes and six ties in this contest. Also, neither team was able to lead by more than six points until the final minute of the contest.

It was a tribute to the discipline and demeanor of each squad as neither could gain much of an edge.

“They're so similar to us,” Roy said. “They're so well disciplined, take pride on the defensive end. It was just a battle back and forth the whole way.”

Where the big difference came for the Sages was in getting the little breaks, such the lucky bounce or getting the key loose ball.

“I think Monticello makes those things happen, they're such a good tea,” EPG head coach Nathaniel Meiss said. “We fought them and we made it interesting in the end. They just made more plays than we did.”

The Titans got off to a fast start as Micah Meiss scored on a layup off the opening tip, giving EPG a 2-0 lead just three seconds into the contest. But each of the following five scores either created a lead change or a tie. And, each side traded scores until after the official timeout in the second period.

The game was knotted at 9-apiece after the first quarter and the Titans led 15-14 after Jake Funk dropped a free throw with 4:41 to go in the second period.

Tanner Buehnerkemper (pronounced benny-kamper) was fouled on a 3-point attempt and sank all three tosses to give the Sages a 17-15 lead with 3:38 left in the first half. Monticello then snapped the trading of scores string when Triston Foran followed his own miss a minute later.

Buehnerkemper scored again with 1:53 remaining to give Monticello a 21-15 advantage. Meiss quickly called a timeout in an effort to stop the surge.

Asa Smith tallied a deuce on a flier in the paint for the Titans, but the Sages got another Buehnerkemper basket to take a 23-17 lead into the break.

“They buckled down on us and made every possession difficult for us,” Meiss said. “I think we go frustrated at times but we battled through that.”

The Titans finally put a scoring runs of its own together in the second half. Luke Ihlenfeldt took a feed from Funk and Smith hit from the baseline as EPG scored the first four points of the third quarter.

El Paso-Gridley scored eight straight later in the period to regain the lead for a moment. Funk converted a three-play play and added a trey before Micah Meiss hit two charity tosses to give the Titans a 29-27 lead.

Monticello responded with a 3-pointer from Dylan Ginalick and a two from Trevor Fox at the horn to put the Sages up 32-29 when the period concluded. MHS got the ball to start the final frame and Fox scored again to push the lead to 34-29.

EPG was able to rally to tie it at 37-37 (on an Ihlenfeldt layup off a Smith feed), and at 39-39 on a pair of Smith free throws with 3:22 remaining in the game.

Monticello ripped off six straight points to take the lead for good.

“We played our guts out, I'm proud of them,” Coach Meiss said. “You always want to win the next one, you're not happy if you don't win the next one. I'm super proud of what they accomplished this season, they've got a lot to look back on and be proud.”

The Titans finished with a 28-3 mark, which set a new standard for wins in a season by any EPG, El Paso or Gridley boys' basketball team. The senior group led by starters Asa Smith, Luke Ilhlenfeldt, Jake Funk and Ben Klein have raised the bar for teams to try to reach.

“The senior class is a humongous loss for what they've done for the program, the success they've had in the program. They've raised expectations of the program,” Meiss said of his seniors.

But the cupboard isn't bare with a couple of freshmen and a sophomore seeing key minutes this season, including Friday night.

Smith led El Paso-Gridley 17 points and Funk contributed 16 points and 7 rebounds. Ihlenfeldt had 9 points and Meiss scored 4.

Monticello (31-3) was paced by Buehnerkemper with 13 points while Cresap collected 11 points and 9 boards and Fox tossed in 11 markers. Ginalick chipped in 9 points.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Titans postseason run ends with sectional final loss