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COAL CITY – In the winter, Coal City’s proud year-round athletic tradition is usually shown the most on the wrestling mats, and while the defending two-time Class 1A dual-team wrestling state finalists are continuing their great grappling this season, they’re finding a shared spotlight in boys winter athletics this year.
Behind a balanced scoring effort that saw five different players score at least 10 points, the Coalers used a mammoth run to end the first half of Friday’s home clash with Dwight to fuel a dominant second half that led to a convincing 63-35 win over the Trojans.
The Coalers move to 11-3 on the season, while the Trojans fall to 9-6.
After an early back-and-forth battle that saw the Coalers lead 13-11 when Collin Bachan buried a 3-pointer for the visitors a minute into the second, the hosts found their footing, scoring 18 of the last 23 points of the first half to turn what had looked like a tight matchup early on into a running-clock victory.
“I think once we cracked their [defense] in the first half, we just found a way to get around it and get our own buckets,” senior Gabe McHugh, who was one of those Coalers' double-digit scorers with 10 points, said. “Our ball movement was really good, and that really helped us, along with getting rebounds, loose balls, stuff like that.”
Much like it’s been for a good chunk of the early season, a balanced offensive approach – led by 13 points from Gavin Berger – allowed Coal City to attack the Dwight defense in a variety of ways. Coalers head coach Joe Micetich credited that scoring depth as a primary factor in the team’s early success.
“We’ve got five starters, that any one of them can go off for double digits,” Micetich said. “Tonight we had five guys in double figures, so it makes it nice that not one guy has all the pressure or has the best defender on them every night.
“It’s basically just balanced scoring and balanced defense that gives us a chance every night.”
Micetich also said a team goal to start the season was to reach the 20-win mark, something they hit the halfway point to when they finished third at the Seneca Shipyard Showdown last week. While it would be the program’s 20th-ever 20-win season, only five of those have come in the past 50 years.
For McHugh, it’s that chemistry they especially show at the offensive end that has he and his teammates convinced that goal can be met as they prepare for the second semester and grind through the Illinois Central Eight Conference season.
“We’re definitely turning the program around this year, trying to get to 20 [varsity] wins this season and 50 wins as a program,” McHugh said. “I think with how much we like this team and how much we play for each other, we’re going to do it.”
Although Saturday may not have indicated it, the start to the season in Dwight’s also been a positive one, as a young Trojans team won their last three games at Seneca last week to start to really turn a corner. While head coach Jeremy Connor has seen his Trojans move the ball and shoot from deep as of late, he also saw that they “couldn’t buy a bucket” Friday.
Still, their ability to use their speed to their advantage and create fast-break looks – as well as some nifty offensive rebounds and solid defense early on – are some of the positives Connor and the Trojans can take away.
“There’s always something good to get out of a game like this,” Connor said. “But [Coal City is] a tough, strong, physical team, and our guards weren’t ready for that.”
Berger’s 13 all came in the first three quarters. Dylan Young was second on Coal City with 11 points, followed by McHugh, Dylan Cunningham and Julian Micetich with 10 points each.
Luke Gallet and Tristan Larkin had seven points apiece to pace Dwight. Wyatt Statler added six points..