Solid first half key in Streator victory over Herscher

STREATOR — In a conference season that is 14 games long and features a home and away format, it's not uncommon for the eventual champion to have one or two losses.

The Streator Bulldogs — already with a pair of league setbacks — entered Tuesday night's Illinois Central Eight Conference tilt against Herscher here at Pops Dale Gymnasium looking to build off Saturday's triumph over St. Bede while also staying within striking distance in the loop standings.

Streator (10-5, 4-2) used a rock-solid first half to build a 36-18 lead, and then after Herscher (10-7, 4-2) closed within eight points early in the fourth quarter, slammed the door in the final three minutes to earn a 64-53 victory.

Bulldogs' junior sparkplug Payton Benning came off the bench to score 10 of his team-best 17 points in the opening half while also posting five assists and a trio of steals. Sophomore Jack Haynes provided the home team with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Mason Benning chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.

Jack Holohan led Herscher with game-highs in points (23) and rebounds (12).

"Herscher is a very good team that came in here tonight with 10 wins, only one loss in our league, had beaten some really good teams in close games and has a coaching legend in (Ron) Oloffson," said Streator coach Beau Doty. "We did a lot of good things in the first half and really had a ton of momentum. Payton was a huge spark and really played the way he is capable of ... he had an injury at the beginning of the year and is just now getting caught up.

"We needed him, and we don't win without him tonight, but I really thought from starters to the bench, we put together a solid effort."

Payton Benning netted five points in the opening period as the hosts clung to a 14-12 advantage. The Bulldogs led 22-16 with 4 minutes, 45 seconds left in the second when Haynes scored off a Payton Benning assist to begin an 11-0 run over the next three and a half minutes.

"I was just trying to play my game," said Payton Benning. "I was focused on doing what I could to help the team. The third quarter didn't exactly go like we wanted it to, but we were able to stick together and won as a team."

In the spurt, Mason Benning canned a triple, Haynes and Jack Starkey scored via layups, and Max Baker finished things off with a rebound hoop. Baker then brought the home crowd to its feet with a fantastic rebound basket off his own miss at the intermission horn.

"We were up 18 at half, and that's not a bad place to be, but it was how are we going to handle that situation," Doty said. "I thought Herscher did a really good job of speeding us up in the third quarter, and we put ourselves into some spots where we were a little shaky with the ball."

The Tigers, who hit only 7 of 27 from the field in the first half, sank 7 of 15 in the third quarter — including treys from Camden Berns and Joe Holohan — to outscore the Bulldogs 18-9 and cut the margin to 45-36 heading to the fourth.

However, a lay-in from Jimmy Tredway and 3-pointer from the left corner by Haynes in the first two minutes helped push the Streator lead back to double digits. Jack Holohan had 11 points in the fourth, his free throw at 1:54 cutting the hosts lead to 59-53, but two free tosses by Haynes and Starkey, plus one from Payton Benning, closed the door on the Herscher comeback hopes.

"We didn't play nearly as hard or as focused as we needed to in the first half, and we fouled too much," said Oloffson. "We also didn't shoot the ball very well the whole game and missed some really key free throws in the fourth quarter.

"We have been a second-half team all season ... in fact we've only led after the opening quarter twice all year. This is a tough place to play, and we just put ourselves in a tough position there in the first half. I'm happy with our effort, but not so much with our execution."

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At Pops Dale Gymnasium, Streator

Streator 64, Herscher 53

(Key: FG-FGA FT-FTA TP)

HERSCHER (53) — Berns 2-4 0-0 6, Jackson 2-9 0-0 5, L. Lunsford 1-6 3-7 5, Jo. Holohan 3-8 2-2 10, Ja. Holohan 10-18 3-9 23, C. Lunsford 2-5 0-2 4, Schwarzkopf 0-4 0-0 0, Kukuck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 8-20 53.

STREATOR (64) — Bedecker 1-4 0-0 2, Ford 1-4 2-2 5, M. Benning 3-10 2-4 10, Haynes 6-9 2-2 15, Tredway 2-2 0-1 4, Starkey 2-6 3-5 7, P. Benning 4-6 7-11 17, Baker 2-6 0-0 4, A.J. Benning 0-0 0-0 0, Williamson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 16-25 64.

Herscher (10-7, 4-2) 12 6 18 17 — 53

Streator (10-5, 4-2) 14 22 9 19 — 64

3-point goals — Herscher 5-20 (Berns 2-4, Jackson 1-5, L. Lunsford 0-1, Jo. Holohan 2-5, Ja. Holohan 0-2, Schwarzkopf 0-3); Streator 6-17 (Bedecker 0-2, Ford 1-1, M. Benning 2-7, Haynes 1-2, Starkey 0-2, P. Benning 2-2, Williamson 0-1). Rebounds —Herscher 29 (Ja. Holohan 12); Streator 42 (Haynes 10, M. Benning 7, Tredway 6, Baker 6). Assists — Herscher 6 (C. Lunsford 2, Schwarzkopf 2); Streator 15 (P. Benning 5). Steals — Herscher 8 (Jo. Holohan 3); Streator 6 (P. Benning 3). Blocks — Herscher 0, Streator 6 (Tredway 3). Turnovers — Herscher 12, Streator 14. Total fouls (fouled out) — Herscher 22 (C. Lunsford); Streator 16 (Bedecker, Tredway). Technical foul — Tredway.