Morrison shoots lights out, thumps Boilers

Kewanee’s Senior Night turned into a red-hot shooting night for the Morrison Mustangs.
The Three Rivers Conference team shot 70 percent from the floor on its way to dismantling the Boilers 93-64 Saturday night at H.F Brockman gym.
Prior to the varsity contest, all seniors participating in winter extra-curricular activities were introduced. When the game started, the show belonged Morrison’s Jason Smith and Travis McBride.
The duo combined for 60 points — Smith 35 and McBride 25 — on 23 of 28 shooting from the floor. As a team, the Mustangs were 37 of 53 on the night, including an efficient 4 of 6 from the 3-point line.
Kewanee Coach Tony Ramos heaped the most praise upon Smith — who went 13 of 15 from the field, 3 of 4 from the 3-point line and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
“He’s probably the best player we’ve seen all year,” said Ramos of the Morrison senior. “He can do it all.”
Even with Morrison shooting lights out, the Boilers were within striking distance entering the fourth quarter.
Smith scored eight straight points — highlighted by a reverse layup that resulted in a three-point play and a 3-pointer — for the Mustangs in the opening quarter to lift the visitors to a 15-6 lead.
The Boilers closed the first frame with a bucket from Angel Astorga and three-point play from Albert Fields to trim the deficit to 22-18.
The Mustangs scored the first seven points of the second quarter to stretch the lead to double digits, 29-18, but a nine-point flurry by Terry Mercer and a pair of Brandon LeSage free throws pulled the Boilers within 37-33.
Mercer also scored the final bucket of the half as Morrison led 44-37 at the break.
Smith opened the second half with a three-point play, but Kewanee continued to hang around, cutting the deficit to five points on two occasions. McBride scored Morrison’s final six points of the third quarter to give the visitors a 62-52 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
That’s when Smith and the Mustangs delivered the knockout punch. Morrison scored the first 10 points of the final frame, seven coming from Smith, to stretch its advantage to 72-52. The Mustangs hung 31 fourth-quarter points on the Boilers as Kewanee’s lone highlight in the period came on a 3-pointer from reserve Kyle Lunghofer.
“We scored enough points to beat most high school teams, but we couldn’t stop the barrage of amazing shooting from a pretty good Morrison team,” said Ramos.
Morrison’s high-powered offense consistently beat the Boiler defense in transition for easy buckets and when Kewanee did manage to slow the frenetic pace, the Mustangs simply answered by sticking their perimeter shots.
“It was like which poison do you want to take,” said Ramos.
Eleven Boilers scored on the night, led by Mercer with 17 points and Fields with 13.
The Boilers, now 9-16 overall, have three regular-season games remaining — at Rock Falls Friday, the NCIC Shootout Saturday and the finale at Princeton Feb. 20 — before the postseason arrives.
“I just keep telling these kids we have to keep our heads up and our eyes on the prize,” said Ramos.
The Boilers are the second seed in the five-team Class 2A Rockridge Regional Feb. 23-27. Monmouth-Roseville is the top seed, followed by Kewanee, Sherrard, Rockridge and Knoxville.
“That regional is wide open and we’re definitely one of the contenders,” said Ramos. “We’ll be ready.”

Riveters fall — Morrison also prevailed in Saturday’s fresh-soph opener, topping the Riveters 71-61.
Kewanee led 33-28 at the half, but the Mustangs went on a 24-9 tear in the third quarter to take control. Jordan Hart was the lone Riveter in double figures with 13 points. Morrison’s Nick Volokmann and Dylon Smith led all scorers with 17 points each.

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