PHS Indians Capture Regional Title
Advance to Sectional in Hardin
2008 2009 Team Record & Stats at Maxpreps
2008 2009 Varsity by Mark Strawn
2008 2009 JV Team by Mark Strawn
Appeared in Pawnee Post: For the third time in four years, Pawnee is a Regional champion after defeating Nokomis48-44 Friday for the 1A title at Girard. Team members are, front (L-R): Michael Shepherd,Drew Thompson, Chris Day, Jordan Day, Jonathan Schrage, Will Cohen, Zach Haney; back: Coach Josh Johnson, Coach Jeff Seiler, Seth Nelson, Alan Mundhenke, Travis Simpson, Jordan Seibt, J.D. Vandenberg and Head Coach Dan DeWerff.
Pawnee made 13 of 19 free throw attempts in the fourth period to seal the championship of the Girard Regional with a 48-44 win over Nokomis.
After a low-scoring first half that Pawnee led 15-14 at haltime, the Indians outscored Nokomis 14-9 in the third period to take a 29-23.
Travis Simpson led Pawnee with 19 points. Jordan Seibt had 13 and Alan Mundhenke netted 11. Pawnee made 23 of 31 free throw tries.
Troy Kimbro paced Nokomis with 11 points.
Regional Game #2 Monday February 25, 2009
Simpson's 31 Points Lead Pawnee to Victory
GIRARD — Travis Simpson led all scorers with 31 points to help fourth-seeded Pawnee High School to a 64-57 upset victory over top-seeded Raymond Lincolnwood on Wednesday night in a Class 1A Girard regional semifinal game.
Jordan Seibt chipped in 14 points for Pawnee (17-10), followed by Alan Mundhenke with 10. Pawnee outscored the Lancers 28-16 in the middle quarters. The Indians play second-seeded Nokomis, which beat third-seeded Girard 50-39, for the championship on Friday.
Pawnee’s Alan Mundhenke scoots downcourt, leaving Lincolnwood’s Shane Convery in his wake.
Pawnee's Jordan Seibt lines up a shot.
Chris Day shoots and scores for Pawnee.
Jordan Day dribbles the ball down court helping Pawnee defeat Lincolnwood.
Travis Simpson celebrates the hard-fought victory over Lincolnwood.
Regional Game #1 Monday February 23,2009
GIRARD — Jordan Seibt scored 31 points as No. 4 Pawnee downed No. 5 Kincaid 61-44.
The teams were tied at 14 after the first quarter and Pawnee led by only two points at halftime. In the second half, Pawnee outscored Kincaid 36-21.
Travis Simpson added 10 points and Alan Mundhenke tallied nine for Pawnee (16-10).
Shane Lucas netted 18 points, including two 3-pointers, to lead Kincaid (18-12).
Pre-Sectional Article Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Pride on the Line for Pawnee
Dewerrf's Motivational Move Ignites Indians at Post Season
But when several approaches failed during a late-January slump by DeWerff’s Pawnee Indians, he decided to challenge a very basic aspect of his players’ mental makeup.
DeWerff challenged their pride — especially that of the four senior starters.
“During the Lincolnwood game, he took us (the starting five) out and put another five in,” said Pawnee senior forward Alan Mundhenke, recalling a 22-point loss on Jan. 27 at Raymond.
“The guys he put in played pretty well. After the game, he told us they’d be the starting five unless we proved in practice that we deserved our starting spots back. It was a wake-up call for us. We weren’t ready to play, and we were going through the motions.
“I don’t think we grasped that this was the last year for four of us. We needed something to click.”
By the end of the second practice after the defeat at Lincolnwood, the Indians’ original starters had regained DeWerff’s confidence. Pawnee has won nine of 10 games since then, including last week’s victories over Kincaid, Lincolnwood and Nokomis in the Class 1A Girard Regional.
It’s been a well-timed ascension for a team that’s ridden a roller coaster throughout the season. The Indians, who started 1-5 and were 9-9 after the defeat at Lincolnwood, have rebounded to carry an 18-10 mark into tonight’s Hardin Calhoun Sectional semifinal against Lovejoy (17-10). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“The biggest thing in the regional was, we didn’t get rattled,” DeWerff said. “At other points in the season, if a couple of things went bad, things just snowballed and we’d be out of it.
“But in the regional, the guys kept their heads. They could have caved, but they showed the mental toughness they didn’t have before.”
Pawnee had shown its potential earlier in the season, winning the consolation title at the Waverly Holiday Tournament and upsetting Auburn 43-42 in the Sangamon County Tournament quarterfinals.
Then came narrow county losses to Pleasant Plains and Williamsville, followed by a blowout loss at Auburn, where Mundhenke watched from the sidelines because of an ankle injury.
Travis Simpson, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, said it took DeWerff’s challenge — and the realization that there would be no “next years” — for the team to snap out of its funk.
“We really didn’t show up for that Lincolnwood game,” Simpson said of the Jan. 27 defeat. “The next two days, (DeWerff) was like, ‘OK, you guys have to earn your spots back.’ It made us mad, but we knew we hadn’t played like we could have.
“I feel more focused right now. As a senior, you know every game could be your last one. We have to bring whatever it takes.”
Simpson responded in the Girard Regional, where he scored 31 points in the semifinal win over Lincolnwood and 19 in the title victory over Nokomis. Jordan Seibt, a 6-4 senior, had 31 in a quarterfinal victory over Kincaid.
Chris Day, a 5-8 guard, is the fourth senior in the lineup. His brother, 5-9 junior Jordan Day, is the lone non-senior among the starters.
“Simpson’s on a tear right now,” Mundhenke said. “It’s fun to watch him play because he’s so confident right now. We really feel like we can win every game now. Our attitudes have changed since the beginning of the year.”
DeWerff credits his players for the turnaround, although he’s the one who lit the fuse.
“It’s nothing I did; they just decided to play,” DeWerff said. “I just tried to light a fire under them.” Dave Kane SJR Journalist
Game 1 Sectional
Lovejoy pulls away from Pawnee in Overtime
HARDIN — Pawnee High School held Lovejoy’s high-scoring Dwayne Hamiel in check for most of the second half Tuesday night. But when the Indians couldn’t seal the deal at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, Hamiel took over in overtime and sent the Wildcats to the Class 1A Hardin Calhoun Sectional boys basketball title game.
Pawnee made just 6-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter (and 10 of 20 for the game) to help Lovejoy stay alive. Hamiel, a senior guard who averages almost 30 points per game, then scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the four-minute OT as Lovejoy pulled away for a 76-67 semifinal victory.
“I told Dwayne with a minute or so left in the game, we needed the ball in his hands, but don’t be afraid to pass it to an open teammate,” Lovejoy coach Kenny Stanley said. “He did that a couple of times, and we got layups from (Freddie) Tilmon and Dominic (Sanford) one time.
“We kind of followed the game plan in the second half, and then Dwayne did the job in the overtime.”
Lovejoy, the second-smallest public school in the Illinois High School Association, will take an 18-10 record into Friday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game. The opponent will be the winner of tonight’s 7:30 semifinal between West Central (26-3) and Jacksonville Routt (20-12).
West Central edged Routt 80-75 in overtime on Feb. 3 at Routt.
Pawnee, which bowed out at 18-11, led Lovejoy 59-56 after the Indians’ Jordan Day made 1-of-2 free throws with 24.1 seconds left in regulation. Instead of going for a tying 3-pointer, Lovejoy tried for two and Sanford hit a rebound basket to cut it to 59-58 with :16 left.
Pawnee’s Alan Mundhenke was fouled with :13.9 to go and, with both teams in the double bonus, made 1 of 2 charities for a two-point Pawnee edge.
Hamiel then missed a shot, but teammate Leroy Jones put in the rebound basket with :02 left to tie it. Time ran out, but Pawnee had called timeout and 1.4 seconds was put back on the clock.
“We gave them a lot of offensive rebounds,” Pawnee coach Dan DeWerff said. “We were concentrating on (Hamiel) a lot, pinching down on him. He was able to either dish off to somebody, or he’d miss a shot and someone would be there for the rebound.”
The Indians’ Jordan Seibt tried a long, off-balance 3-pointer that was off the mark, and the game went to OT.
Stanley said he decided to go for a quick two points when his team trailed by three with :24.1 to go.
“We felt they would try to defend the trey,” Stanley said of the Indians. “I believe if you shoot the trey in that situation and miss, then you have to foul and maybe the three-point lead becomes a five-point lead and that’s basically the game.
“We decided to take the ball to the hole, get a layup or something and then foul immediately. It’s one of the few times we did exactly what the coach said.”
Pawnee scored the first overtime basket, but the Wildcats scored seven unanswered points to open a 69-62 bulge with just over a minute left. Mundhenke, who picked up his fourth foul with 2:45 left in overtime, later fouled out while guarding Hamiel with 1:31 to go.
Hamiel hit two free throws for a 67-62 lead at that point. Mundhenke finished with a team-high 19 points, while Jordan Day had 16 and Seibt scored all 11 of his points after halftime.
Jones added 22 points, while Tilmon came off the bench for 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“We almost did it in regulation,” Mundhenke said. “The free throws hurt. Early, we had to adjust to their game style. We came out a little flat, on our heels. Then we found out what we had to do; the back door play was open all day.
“It was still a good season. We have nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t think a lot of people out there thought at the beginning of the year we’d be here. We showed we have the toughness to do that.”
NOTE: In the pregame 3-point shootout, Raymond Lincolnwood’s KYLE SNYDER, Mount Olive’s GARTH GARRELS, Edinburg’s T.J. EDWARDS and Lincolnwood’s SHANE HERSHELMAN advanced to the sectional finals Friday night.
Dave Kane can be reached at 788-1544.
AT HARDIN
Lovejoy 18 15 11 16 16 – 76
Pawnee 13 17 12 18 7 – 67
Lovejoy (76) – Dwayne Hamiel 8-20 10-12 27; Leroy Jones 9-13 4-6 22; Freddie Tilmon 6-10 5-8 18; Dominic Sanford 3-4 0-0 6; Demond Miller 1-3 0-0 2; Mario Agnew 0-2 1-2 1; Justin Atkins 0-0 0-0 0; Derrick Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-52 20-28 76.
3-point goals: 2-5 (Freddie Tilmon 1-1, Dwayne Hamiel 1-4). Rebounds: 27 (Freddie Tilmon 12, Demond Miller 5, Dominic Sanford 5, Leroy Jones 3, Mario Agnew 1, Dwayne Hamiel 1). Fouls: 18. Turnovers: 13.
Pawnee (67) – Alan Mundhenke 7-14 5-8 19; Jordan Day 6-13 1-3 16; Jordan Seibt 5-12 1-4 11; Travis Simpson 4-11 1-2 9; Chris Day 3-6 2-3 8; Drew Thompson 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 27-58 10-20 67.
3-point goals: 3-13 (Jordan Day 3-7, Chris Day 0-2, Travis Simpson 0-2, Jordan Seibt 0-2). Rebounds: 29 (Jordan Seibt 10, Travis Simpson 9, Alan Mundhenke 5, Chris Day 3, Jordan Day 1, Drew Thompson 1). Fouls: 22 (Alan Mundhenke, Travis Simpson fouled out). Turnovers: 13.
Officials: Todd Brooke, Tim Tolle, Dan Smith.
Records: Lovejoy, 18-10. Pawnee, 18-11.
*Articles from State Journal Register
2009 County Tournament at LLCC
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