Chiefs to take on Evansville in regional semifinal
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
If there ever was a good time for the Big Foot boys basketball team to put things together, it was Tuesday night.
That’s just what the Chiefs did, and they extended their season in the process.
Big Foot outscored host Clinton 4-2 in overtime and came away with a 44-42 victory in a WIAA Division 3 regional opener.
The win improved the Chiefs to 5-18 overall, while Clinton, which beat Big Foot by a combined 32 points in two games this year, ended its season at 13-10.
“We finally played a complete game on the defensive end, and we kept it close,” Big Foot coach Mike Dowden said Wednesday morning. “We knew we had to do that and then see what happens at the end.”
Big Foot trailed by five points at 39-34 with less than four minutes to play before a 10-3 run through regulation and into overtime gave them the lead for good.
Sophomore Beau Cary continued his solid first varsity season with a team-high 14 points to lead the Chiefs.
“He continues to play well,” Dowden said. “I continue to be happier with him on a nightly basis.”
Chandler Hehr added 11 points, while Nico Tovar had eight.
Not only did the win extend Big Foot’s season at least one more game, it also showed Dowden what his team could accomplish.
“Overall, I was really happy with how our team handled the situation,” he said. “It is a good win for us against a team that trounced us twice earlier in the season.”
Next up for Big Foot is a regional semifinal contest Friday night at second-seeded Evansville.
Big Foot lost to Evansville back in early February, and Dowden knows his team needs to be at the top of its game. Evansville is led by Brennan Banks, who averages 21.2 points per game.
“We will have to play our best game of the year, defend their offense, which is very good, and try to take Banks out of any rhythm,” Dowden said.
Chiefs fall in finale
The visiting Chiefs fell behind 19-9 after the first quarter at Palmyra-Eagle last week and never recovered in a 53-42 Rock Valley Conference loss.
Big Foot finished the conference season at 3-13.
Nothing much went right that night, Dowden said.
“They came out ready to play and we didn’t,” he said. “Their offense and defense troubled us, as we didn’t handle their slow down game very well.
“They packed in the lane and forced us to shoot from the outside, and we didn’t do well.”
After the rough start, the Chiefs played Palmyra nearly even the rest of the way, but couldn’t overcome the early 10-point deficit.
“Overall, it was a very disappointing night for us,” Dowden said.
Cary led the way with 11 points, followed by Anthony Williams with seven and Tovar with six
