Pleasant Plains nets another OT win to come away with fourth straight County title

The Pleasant Plains boys basketball team feels right at home in overtime.

The plucky Cardinals reeled off their fourth straight Sangamon County Tournament title with a thrilling 48-41 OT victory over Auburn at Cass Gymnasium on Friday.

It was their fifth OT win of the season. That also includes a 52-43 OT win over Effingham St. Anthony for third place in the Effingham/Teutopolis Holiday Tournament in late December.

“We're kind of comfortable in overtime at this point,” Plains senior guard Tristen Gleason said. “We've been in it a lot this year.”

Game-tying layup from Houser

Plains senior guard Evan Houser forced overtime with a soft touch off the glass.

His left-handed layup knotted the game 35-all with 25 seconds remaining and Gleason preserved the tie with a jump ball on the defensive end.

“I just saw there was one-on-one action on me and I saw the clock winding down so I was like, 'Let me just take this shot, drive in, do a spin move and try to get the layup,’” Houser said.

The Cardinals (13-3 overall) were elated to say the least.

“We were high because we sent it to overtime,” Gleason said. “It was just a great feeling we had that momentum going in.”

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Houser assisted to star senior forward Zach Powell in the post to begin OT and sophomore guard Cooper Schallenberg drilled a key 3-pointer in the corner for a five-point lead.

“We do pretty good in overtime I'd have to say,” Houser said. “It's definitely a good offensive play there for Zach and for him to finish that bucket (with the foul), that was huge for us to start the overtime like we always do.”

Plains picks up defensive intensity

That ultimately fueled an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of overtime. Gleason also wreaked havoc with a couple of steals in that span.

Auburn (14-5) committed four turnovers in OT and finished with 15.

“He's got quick hands,” Plains coach Kyle Weber said of Gleason. “He's long and he gets his hands on some, gets some deflections. That was huge.

“I thought our defensive intensity, we dug deep and kind of picked it up late in the fourth quarter, and it just kind of carried in overtime especially after Powell made that bucket to start overtime then Cooper's huge 3 in the left corner and then all of a sudden we had a lot of energy that we were playing with at that point.”

A couple of Nathan Barth 3-pointers kept the Trojans close, however.

The senior point guard led Auburn with 13 points, including seven points in the first quarter for a quick 11-3 advantage. Junior guard Sawyer Smith followed with nine while Kellen Davis had six.

Auburn, which was vying for its first County title since 1986, remained ahead 17-14 at halftime.

“The growth we had this week was unbelievable,” Auburn coach Seth McCoy said. “We dropped one to South County right before this, and I'm sure all the doubters were there. But I got tough kids — backs against the wall and they responded all week long and really proud of them.”

Primetime performers

Powell carried Plains with 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.

“Once we got into OT, I was thinking that we just had this thing in the bag, so we came out here and got it done,” said Powell, whose senior class won all three County appearances. The COVID-19 pandemic nixed the 2021 tournament. “I'm proud of all of the guys on the team. We had a rough first half but came out there and got it done in the second half and that's what important.”

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Gleason, who tweaked his ankle in the second quarter, sparked the Cardinals with two consecutive 3s at the start of the third. He had 11 points while Houser had 10.

Schallenberg scored all of his five points after regulation.

Senior forward Benton Collins chalked up eight rebounds, including one pivotal offensive board that set up Schallenberg’s big trey in OT.

“We've got players who make big-time plays in big-time situations, and they stay together,” Weber said. “With the schedule we've played, we've been in a lot of tough games before where we've been down. They've been in that experience before and they trust one another and then just keep battling each and every possession.”

Other games from Friday

New Berlin, ranked No. 8 in Class 1A by The Associated Press, won the third-place game, 37-33 over 2A No. 7 Williamsville.

New Berlin junior forward Gannon Dodd converted a layup in transition and added a pair of free throws with under a minute remaining to cement the narrow victory.

Dodd scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and hauled in seven rebounds. Junior teammate Lucas Bixby totaled 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Pretzels (14-4) were coming off a lethargic 48-34 loss to Auburn in the tournament semifinals.

“We kind of lacked energy and passion this week,” New Berlin coach Blake Lucas said. “We had a good talk Wednesday. At the end of the day, it's just high school basketball. But if you're going to do something, you better do it to the best of your ability and we had a good talk.

“We said high school basketball comes down to a mindset. Every team is good, every team practices, so when you step on the floor, you've got to expect to win the game. And so I thought our kids played with confidence but knowing these kids are also humbled, so I'm just really proud of the kids.”

Williamsville senior guard Jake Seman attempted a contested layup for the lead with a minute left but the miss wound up into a fast break for Dodd.

Senior center Jacob Finley led the Bullets (13-3) with nine points and seven rebounds.

“Jake had a good look shooting a four-footer,” Williamsville coach Nick Beard said. “We'll take that all day. Unfortunately it didn't go down and they came down and capitalized.

“They're a good team. We knew they were going to come out hungry after what happened the other night and they just made more plays than we did down the stretch.”

In the consolation final, Calvary (16-6) thumped Riverton 65-43. Amari Anderson and Ben Crowder led the Saints with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

The all-tournament team included Auburn’s Carter Hunley, Jackson Kern and Nathan Barth; Pleasant Plains’ Zach Powell, Cooper Schallenberg and Evan Houser; New Berlin’s Gannon Dodd and Ben Hermes; Williamsville’s Jacob Finley; Calvary’s Connor Brown; and Riverton’s Antonyo Davis.

Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA boys basketball: Plains wins County title, New Berlin takes third