By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
The boys’ basketball season ended Tuesday night for Mahomet-Seymour, which was playing its second regional tournament game in as many nights.
The Bulldogs dropped a 65-56 decision to the top seed at the Rantoul Class 3A site, Champaign Central.
A buzzer-beating three-pointer by the Maroons lifted them into a 27-20 halftime lead.
“We challenged the kids at halftime to revert to the game plan and they came out on fire emotionally (in the third quarter),” M-S coach Ryan Bosch said.
“We had short stretches tonight where we played some of our best basketball of the season.”
The Bulldogs cut their deficit to a single point, 43-42, entering the final period.
“It took everything we had,” Bosch said. “We tightened the rotation and didn’t go to the bench as much. I felt we ran out of gas.”
Central opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and M-S was unable to catch up.
Grant Coleman led the Bulldogs with 23 points and five rebounds.
Kobe Essien scored 13 points and also grabbed five rebounds.
Jordan Veldman scored 12 points and made the team’s only three-pointer. Cole Lener had a team-high four assists.
Central made nine shots from three-point range.
The Bulldogs (12-17) reached the semifinal game against Central (16-12) by virtue of a 61-55 conquest of the host Eagles on Monday.
“The record is not reflective of the team we were capable of being and that we were at times,” Bosch said. “There were a lot of highlights.”
One was the team’s collective attitude.
“Our kids never gave up, and kept putting in work, improving and being coachable,” Bosch said.
M-S scored the game’s final seven points against Rantoul, going ahead 56-55 on two free throws by Lener in the final minute.
Coleman led M-S with 29 points and four steals.
Lener added 10 points. Essien and Braden Finch each scored seven points.
Essien hauled down a team-high seven rebounds. Coleman grabbed six rebounds.
Dawson Finch led all players with five assists.
Rantoul (13-17) led 19-16 after one quarter and 26-25 at halftime. The Bulldogs held a 39-37 lead after three quarters.
M-S nailed 16 of 21 free throws. Rantoul was 5-for-10 from the free throw line.
The Bulldogs swept the season series from Rantoul, 2-0. M-S won the first meeting, in the season-opener, 56-42.
M-S’ seniors were Dawson Finch, Ben Greenberger, Connor Kamphaus, Jack McHale, Connor Thomason, Lucas Turner and Veldman.
Bosch said it was a good nucleus.
“The seniors really created the work ethic and culture for those guys to have success,” Bosch said. “They will be missed.”
As for the future, Bosch said there are some areas to address.
“We’ve got to develop some resiliency on the defensive side,” Bosch said. “Our offense dictated our defense too much.
“We have to find some consistency.”
Four of M-S’ starters in the postseason finale were underclassmen: Coleman, Essien, Braden Finch and Lener.
“There’s a lot of reasons for optimism with the way the younger guys stepped up to the challenge,” Bosch said. “They played well as a group.”
Coleman scored in double figures in 26 of the Bulldogs’ 29 games, including 17 games with at least 20 points.
