Trojans Fall Hard to Sesser-Valier
Bruce Marsan, Marion Daily Republican
The Crab Orchard Trojans had no answer for Sesser-Valier standout center Justin Matyi and were nearly outscored by one player in a season-ending loss to the Red Devils in Thursday's semifinal game of the Crab Orchard Class 1A Regional.
Matyi poured in 31 points in just three quarters of play to lead Sesser-Valier to a 69-36 romp of the Trojans to advance to Friday's championship game against rival Waltonville.
"It was a frustrating night," said Crab Orchard coach Jon Brown. "We had a poor shooting night and they beat us off the dribble a lot. We couldn't stop their penetration."
Matyi had 13 points in the opening period, when Sesser-Valier took a 19-13 lead, then added 10 more in the second quarter — when the Red Devils had a 10-0 run — as the lead swelled to 41-24 by halftime.
Matyi's other eight points came in the third, when a 12-0 run pushed the advantage to 58-33 going into the final period.
Without Matyi in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils still outscored the Trojans, 11-3.
"They got caught in between trying to either front him or play behind him," said Sesser-Valier coach Chip Basso. "He really did a good job of finishing strong in the paint."
As for the Trojans, sophomore center Ben Kissing was the only player in double figures with 11 points. Adam Perry had nine, while Drew Johnson had seven and Lorence Killen five.
No other player reached double figures for the Red Devils, although T.J. Eubanks passes the 1,000-point mark for his career while adding seven points.
Crab Orchard's season ends at 26-5.
Sesser-Valier (21-9) takes on Waltonville (22-6) for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
