Lener and Coleman lead Bullodgs to Regional Championship game
By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Grant Coleman continued to do what he has been doing.
Cole Lener continued to do what he has been doing.
And, as a result, Mahomet-Seymour’s boys’ basketball team continued to do what it has been doing.
The Bulldogs won their 10th consecutive game on Tuesday, a 52-49 decision over Champaign Central in a semifinal game of the Class 3A Rantoul Regional Tournament with what M-S coach Ryan Bosch called, “one of their hardest-fought games of the year.”
The victory advances M-S (21-10) into Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game against the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal contest between Urbana and Centennial.
Lener – entrenched as the Bulldogs’ defensive stopper this season – hounded Central’s sharp-shooting three-point marksman, Pryce Punkay, and kept the senior scoreless from three-point range until he hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Coleman, meanwhile, scored a game-high 21 points and broke the school record for points in a season.
The previous record was 645 set by Brett Melton in 2000. Coleman has scored 666 points entering Friday’s game.
Earlier in the season, Coleman set the single-game scoring record (44 points) and, in February, he shattered Melton’s mark for free throws made in a season. Coleman’s current free throw record is 150. Melton netted 123 in 2000.
The Bulldogs and the Maroons were tied, 12-12, after one quarter with M-S pulling into a 23-22 edge at halftime.
“We were up by eight (in the first half), but had a bad two or three minutes and let them back in the game,” Bosch said. “Points were real difficult to come by for both teams and it was hard to shake away from Central.”
Besides scoring 21 points, Coleman just missed a double-double by pulling down nine rebounds. Lener ended with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“We missed a lot of free throws early, but made the ones we had to make late to keep it a two-possession game,” Bosch said. “For the last three or four minutes, we kept it a two-possession game.”
To reach Tuesday’s semifinal game against the Bulldogs, Central (16-16) outscored Rantoul 90-35 on Monday. Punkay tallied 27 points and Khailieo Terry had 12 points.
Those two were the players the Bulldogs geared up for in the first meeting of the season between the schools.
“We put Braden Finch on Terry, and Cole Lener on Punkay and he did as well as I’ve seen anybody do on him this year,” Bosch said. “Those two were exceptional and Grant Coleman was special off the ball blowing things up.
“(Lener’s) ability to limit Punkay’s clean looks shifted the offensive load to Terry. Finch did an excellent job staying between Terry and the basket, and we had plenty of help defense to meet him in the paint.
“As a team, the kids executed the game plan defensively, never letting Central get comfortable.”
Punkay ended 1-for-9 from three-point range. He scored 11 points. Terry finished with a team-high 13 points.
The Bulldogs held a 36-34 rebounding advantage. Kobe Essien grabbed eight boards, Lener had seven and Luke Koller six to support Coleman’ effort on the boards.
“Kobe and Luke got clutch rebounds,” Bosch said. “They are about the hardest team to get defensive rebounds against as there is.”
Finch registered four steals.
Bosch credits the Bulldogs’ schedule for having the team prepared for the rigors of tough postseason games.
“With our non-conference schedule, we try to give our kids a challenge,” said Bosch, who is not surprised by how a team that was five games under .500 last year is 11 games above .500 this season.
“I thought we had the guys, if we would buy in, to make this team be real special. It was up to them to give the effort and be coachable.
“The guys bought into their roles and figured it out.”
The possible Friday opponents include Urbana (16-14), which M-S beat by 24 points last month, and Centennial (17-13), which beat the Bulldogs by 14 points in the season-opener.
“All we want right now,” Bosch said, “is the opportunity to survive and advance.
“We try to go 1-0 each night now.”
Coleman has climbed to fourth on the all-time M-S scoring chart. Melton had 1,872 points. Craig Buchanan totaled 1,653. Cory Noe ended with 1,615 points. Coleman currently has 1,525 career points. In last week’s regular-season finale, he passed Phil Knell, who made 1,499 points.
