CATLIN — A year after shocking the field at an IHSA Class 1A regional, the Schlarman Academy boys basketball team almost did it again.
The Hilltoppers hung with St. Thomas More throughout Friday’s regional championship at Salt Fork High School, but the Sabers were able to get the lead for good in the fourth quarter to get a 49-43 win.
“St. Thomas More has a lot of talent. If you go down their roster, they have a 6-6, 6-5 6-4, 6-3 and they are physical,” Schlarman coach Zach Patterson said. “We had turnovers and missed free-throws and that’s tough to win. Our defense was bad and that took the first half from us and I hope that St. Thomas More does well in sectionals.”
Early in the game, both teams struggled with turnovers, but the Sabers had a 25-19 lead at halftime.
In the second half, both teams would trade leads early, but St. Thomas More was able to get the lead and hold it to a two-possession game most of the way.
But in the fourth quarter, Patterson brought in Jerrius Atkinson. The senior had been out for most of the season except for a stint in the last home game of the season for Schlarman.
“We were not expecting Jerrius to play until next week, but he said he was good and we tried it out,” Patterson said.
“Coach told me in the locker room that I might play, but I didn’t expect to play,” Atkinson said. “It was probably more from the crowd. We were down and we had to do some extreme measures to try to come back.”
Atkinson did have a 3-pointer in his time on the court, but the Sabers continued to answer back and hold Schlarman at bay.
“We were trying to out-physical them and it didn’t go our way,” senior Miles Crosby said. “I feel that losing our two point guards messed us up and we still went to the championship and that’s more than anyone expected us to do.
Even with the defeat, the fact that the Hilltoppers were able to get to this moment was not lost on Patterson and the players.
“I am still proud of my team even though we lost,” Crosby said. “Nobody expected us to make it this far with losing Jerrius and losing Will (Fowler), I feel that the only reason we are here is because of the team comradery and we came together as a team and worked hard. We got beat by them by 20 last game and we came out hard and there was nothing better that we could have done.
“We gave it our best shot. We had seven players that played their hearts out,” Junior Noah Fowler said. “We had a good run and no one expected us to make it that far and we did. We wanted to set the tradition and set back to back regionals. We are going to come back stronger and win the regional next year.”
The game was the last game for seniors Crosby, Atkinson, Mark Lehmann, Liam Billings, Jamie Rapier, Jack Barber and Jaiden Chirayll.
“I love each and everyone of them. It will be hard to see them go,” Fowler said. “I wish they can stay one year longer for my senior year, but high school moves fast.”
“Mark and Miles are the horses, Jamie Rapier came out to play this year and Jack Barber does a lot of things for us,” Patterson said. “It was a lot of fun in being in tight games and the championship. We just have to keep building for next year. I like that our younger group went out and made plays in an environment like this. We host sectionals and I hope they can see the environment there and want to keep going farther in the state tournament.”
Fowler had 17 for Schlarman, while Crosby had 12 and freshman Marquan Pinkston had nine points.
“He’s been building confidence all year and he has been working hard,” Patterson said. “He attacks hard and his confidence is sky high. We had our other freshman (Will Fowler) hurt so that took a tool for us. Chemistry is a toll because we haven’t had a consistent starting five all year and that is what helps in offense and it frustrates when you don’t have five guys who know what they are doing.”
For the seniors, they are happy about the program’s direction in the last two seasons, which saw those that didn’t even have the chance to play in a regional championship before to get an opportunity for the last two seasons.
“The last two years were very special to me,” Crosby said. “I barely played in my freshman year and I didn’t play my sophomore year. They asked me to come out for my junior year and I worked hard. I didn’t know what to expect but I came out with a regional championship and some brothers. So it has been a fun ride.”
“I played freshman year under Keith (Peoples), I sat our my sophomore year and I came back under Zach,” Atkinson said. We had upper classmen and a lot of IQ on the team and we made a phenomenal run last season. This year, we lost a lot of upperclassmen and we gained a lot of younger kids, so we had to work on them and they are going to come out and be good next year.”
With players like Noah Fowler, Will Fowler and Pinkston returning and an influx of newer players, Patterson said the chance for an improvement on this year’s 14-16 record and a return to another regional title game could happen.
“We have a lot of point guards and that’s going to only help Noah,” Patterson said. “We have his brother, we have Jalen Chirayll, who is Jaiden’s brother and loves basketball. We have kids who wanted to be part of something great, but wasn’t basketball players and now we will have basketball kids coming in.”
“We will have a solid team next year and we will be back to start a run,” Noah Fowler said. “The future is bright and I am ready.”