Tornadoes advance to regional semifinals

February 19, 2023 at 3:00 am April Michele Hurst-Fronick

GRIGGSVILLE, Ill. — The (3) Griggsville-Perry Tornadoes picked up their first win of the postseason with a 51-29 win over the (13) Western Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. The Tornadoes will face (7) Triopia in the Class 1A Regional Semifinal on Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Coach Garret White said he was pleased with the his team’s overall execution on Saturday against their Pike County rival.

“It was a lot different game than the first time we played Western earlier in the season,” White explained. “Coach [Curtis] Stout has his team very prepared and those kids from Western left it all out there. They really came to play and I knew they would, and I tried to preach that to my kids. This is the postseason. It’s win or go home.”

He added that Western played like they had nothing to lose and their game plan was able to frustrate some of his boys.

“It was a closer game for a long time than our players probably expected.”

White noted that Wyatt Lipcamon and Michael Myers stepped up offensively in the second and third quarters to help secure the victory.

Griggsville-Perry’s Dayne McCallister and Western’s Mason Smith square off to tip off the opening round game of the Class 1A Regional game on Saturday afternoon.

“We made things not so easy for them offensively and I was happy with the way we were able to build that lead and take care of business,” he remarked. “At the end of the day, it’s survive and advance. That’s the name of the game in the postseason.”

The Tornadoes held Western to just two field goals from sophomore Casen Tobias in the first quarter as they outscored the Wildcats 10-4. In the second frame, Wyatt Lipcaman drained 11 points including three treys. Western’s Mason Smith notched a pair of three-pointers for the Wildcats. The Tornadoes took a 26-14 lead into halftime.

Smith had six points in the third quarter, but Griggsville-Perry’s Michael Myers netted 10 in the period to extend the Tornadoes lead to 18 going into the last frame. The Tornadoes were 6-9 from the charity stripe in the fourth.

Smith led the Wildcats with 16 points before fouling out of the game in the fourth. Other scoring for the Western: Tobias, 6; Blane Miller, 4; Max Koeller, 2; Damien Orr, 1. The Wildcats were 4-25 for the season. Western will lose seniors Zach Rucker, Andrew Wilson and Jaxen White, along with Koeller and Miller. Sophomores Smith and Tobias look to return next season along with several other juniors.

Wyatt Lipcaman led the way for the Tornadoes with 21 and Myers had 16. Other scoring for Griggsville-Perry: Lane Lipcaman, 7; Flint Kirk, 4; Dayne McCallister, 2.

Western’s Zach Rucker, Mason Smith and Max Koeller clamp down on defense as Lane Lipcaman looks for an opening with help from Garrett Woodward.

The Tornadoes will take on (7) Triopia in the Class 1A Regional Semifinal on Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. This will be the third time the teams have squared off this year.

“Any time you play a team three times, you get pretty familiar with each other. We know their kids very well. We were in their tournament. We played them in summer action. They know our kids really well so there’s not many secrets going into it. It’s just going to be two good teams and it’s going to come down to who executes more and makes more shots and makes less mental mistakes. It should be a good game and a good atmosphere. We’re going to have to be ready to go.”