Coal City boys notch 20th win in romp over Gardner-South Wilmington

COAL CITY — Defense was the name of the game for Coal City’s boys basketball team Friday night in a 56-25 nonconference win over Gardner-South Wilmington.

The Coalers forced the Panthers into 20 turnovers in the first half alone and used the extra possessions to fashion a 33-8 halftime lead. Twenty was a big number for Coal City, as the Coalers (20-10) also notched their 20th win of the season.

“It was great to get the 20th win,” said Coal City senior Zander Meents, who led all scorers with 14 points, including shooting 4 of 4 from 3-point range. “That was one of our goals for the season. We’ve been trying to get it the last couple of weeks, but we were struggling.

“It was good to have a game like this before the postseason starts and get some confidence back. We also get to play the regional at home and we play a lot better on our own floor.”

That was certainly evidenced Friday.

Meents hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the early going to boost Coal City to a 10-2 lead. After a basket by GSW’s Cole Hampson, Coal City went on a 9-0 run including a pair of baskets by Carter Nicholson, who finished with 10 points. The Panthers (6-25) got single free throws by Hampson and Holden Grimes, who had a game-high nine rebounds, to make it 19-6 at the end of the period.

Another 10-0 Coal City run started the second quarter, sparked by three points from Dylan Young, who added a team-high five rebounds and five from Meents, including another 3-pointer. GSW stopped the run with a basket by Jarrek Hinch before Coal City scored the final four points to take a 33-8 lead into halftime.

The Coalers came out on fire in the third quarter, hitting their first four 3-point attempts to move out to a 45-13 lead. Meents, Dane Noffsinger, Gabe McHugh and Nicholson all hit triples for the Coalers in the stretch. Nicholson also added another 3-pointer in the quarter as Coal City led 56-15 entering the fourth.

“We challenged the guys at halftime to try and hold them scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half,” Coal City coach Joe Micetich said. “They were almost able to do it.

“Defense was big for us all game. We were able to get out and run and get some easy baskets. This was what we needed. We had lost three of our last five and we needed to get back on track heading into the postseason. This gives us something to build on with the playoffs coming up.”

Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter with the running clock invoked and GSW outscored Coal City 10-0, including five points from Brad Costelli.

“This wasn’t the way we wanted to end the regular season,” GSW coach Allan Wills said. “We didn’t come out with much energy. This is a rivalry game. The schools are close together and the kids know each other, so I would have liked us to come out stronger.

“We turned the ball over too many times and Coal City was making their shots. That’s not a good recipe. We didn’t have one of our starters tonight, but someone needed to step up for us. Give credit to Coal City, though. They played well.”