Trailing 23-20 entering the fourth quarter, Ben Cresap had back-to-back steals propelling Monticello to a 9-0 run to begin the final frame and the Sages rallied past the Herscher Tigers for a 39-25 win in a Class 2A Sectional semifinal matchup from Clifton Central High School Tuesday night.
In action heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Cresap stole the inbound pass to start the fourth quarter in the backcourt and hit Joey Sprinkle for a layup to make the score 23-22. Then he took away the dribble from Trey Schwartzkof and hit Sprinkle again in transition to give Monticello the lead for good 24-23.
Cresap later grabbed an offensive rebound on a Dylan Ginalick miss and found Tanner Buehnerkemper who finished another layup for the Sages to go up 26-23 with 6:24 to play.
A quick shot was missed by the Tigers, Cresap grabbed the board and on the following possession hit a three in the corner to make it 29-23.
Another Sprinkle layup made it 31-23 with 3:21 left and Monticello held on from there after things got briefly chippy late.
Things were a physical slugfest early as Herscher led 8-7 after the first quarter.
Monticello held Herscher to just one point through the first 7:55 of the second quarter but Herscher finished the half on a 4-0 run. Carson Splear made two free throws with 5.5 seconds left and after an errant pass by All-State quarterback Sprinkle turned it over with 4.8 seconds left, Joe Holohan made a free throw line jumper as time expired to tie the score at 13-13 going to the half.
Cresap was the Piatt/DeWitt County ServPro Player of the Game and finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Surprisingly, the sure-handed senior did not record an assist. Sprinkle finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Sages shot just 39-percent for the game, but after a 25-percent shooting percentage in the first half, they went 9-for-17 in the second half.
The Tigers shot just 2-for-17 from three and 25.6-percent for the game.
Monticello outrebounded Herscher 27-23 and dished out 11 assists on its 13 field goals.
Heading into a matchup with either St. Joseph-Ogden or El Paso-Gridley, the Sages have won 10 straight improving to 30-3 overall.
Game time for the Sectional title Friday night is 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.
Class 2A Sectional action Tuesday:
At Olympia
Auburn 46
Bloomington Central Catholic 58
Class 1A Sectional scores Tuesday:
At Abingdon-Avon
Peoria Christian 57
Lewistown 48
At Effingham St. Anthony
Tuscola 51
Effingham St. Anthony 48
At Watseka
Lexington 69
Decatur LSA 61
Class 3A Sectional Scores Tuesday:
At Danville
Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 58
Champaign Centennial 50
At Highland
Centralia 38
Chatham-Glenwood 42
At Bradley University
Metamora 70
Rochelle 42
Class 4A Sectional Scores Tuesday:
At Pekin
Normal Community 61
Moline 44
Class 1A Sectional semifinal action tonight:
At Effingham St. Anthony
Farina South Central 7:00pm
Meridian
At Watseka
Decatur St. Teresa 7:00pm
Milford
Class 2A Sectional semifinal action tonight:
At Clifton Central
El Paso-Gridley 7:00pm
St. Joseph-Ogden
At Flora
Pana 7:00pm
Mt. Carmel
At Olympia
Maroa-Forsyth 7:00pm
Quincy Notre Dame
Class 3A Sectional semifinal action tonight:
At Danville
Mahomet-Seymour 7:00pm
Decatur MacArthur
At Bradley University
Rock Island 7:00pm
Peoria Manual
