As the regular season came to an end, the Illinois Valley Central boys looked to fine tune their skills for Regional, but faltered in the second half at Canton Feb. 16, losing 58-43.
The Ghosts started the game clicking on offense, thanks to junior Alex Koch barreling through defenders to attack the hoop.
“The first quarter we played really well,” coach Jim Thornton said. “Canton is a really good team.”
Senior Chris Martin helped IVC to overcome the Little Giant defense by backing down defenders to score in the low-post.
Canton’s offense, however, also found an early rhythm and established a 17-14 lead after the opening quarter.
IVC’s defense awoke in the second quarter and forced turnovers by pressuring the ball handlers.
On offense, junior Brock Adcock used his versatility to score both by knocking down mid-range shots and by driving to the hoop.
IVC was able to cut Canton’s lead to 25-24 at halftime.
The Ghosts came out in the third quarter cold on offense.
IVC was unable to set up its offense and was plagued by poor shot selection and careless turnovers.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well in the second half, and they did,” Thornton said.
Canton used its accurate outside shooting to take a 45-32 lead after the third quarter.
The Ghost offense did not awaken in the fourth quarter, and Canton went on to win.
IVC closed the regular season by beating North Central Illinois Conference rival Spring Valley Hall, 55-28, Friday on the road.
The Ghosts opened the game by taking a 2-0 lead when Koch knocked down two free throws.
Hall’s offense attempted to slow the game down and keep the ball away from IVC’s offense by dribbling and passing time off the clock.
The full-court press of Hall was able to disrupt the Ghost offense enough to send the teams to the second quarter tied at nine.
IVC’s offense began to click in the second quarter when junior Trever Black drove through defenders to score.
Martin’s low-post defense and the speedy outside defense of senior Keegan Horack helped the Ghosts to keep the Red Devils off the board for the quarter.
As time wound down, sophomore Jordan Seele softly shot in a close-range basket to give IVC a 22-9 halftime lead.
Hall’s offense played smoother in the third quarter and committed less turnovers.
IVC’s offense, however, did not slow down and continued to knock down shots.
