Hornets optimistic about future despite feeling some growing pains in loss to Cougars

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — It’s been said that yoga pants and small children do not lie.

Neither do scoreboards.

Winchester West Central’s 63-39 boys basketball victory over Brown County was every bit as decisive as the final point spread might indicate.

So why wasn’t Brown County coach Jeff Bottorff upset? He admitted Friday night he feared his young club was nearing an early season wall after playing seven games in 10 days.

Brown County is arguably one the most interesting teams in the area, with 10 of its 14 varsity players either freshmen or sophomores. Its future should be mighty bright, especially considering its 5-2 record after those first seven games.

While youth will eventually be served in Brown County, there will likely be a few black eyes along the way. This week has been a perfect case in point. The Hornets’ two losses have come in back-to-back fashion. The first setback came on Tuesday night when Griggsville-Perry stopped Brown County 61-60 in triple overtime.

Bottorff, however, remains unfazed.  

“I am thrilled right now,” Bottorff said. “We’re 5-2 and have split two games with the defending state champs. Everyone is growing and competing, but tonight I think we hit the wall.

“All of those games we have played the last two weeks finally took a toll. We only were able to have two practices in that time.”

West Central (5-1) is the defending Class 1A state champ Bottorff spoke about, and the Cougars are still a solid entry. Their only loss came to Brown County 55-50 in the recent Beardstown tournament, but on Friday evening West Central managed some revenge.

West Central jumped to a 10-0 lead, but Brown County was down by just 22-20 at halftime.

And then the tsunami hit.

West Central’s tidal wave of points saw it outscore Brown County 27-3 during the third quarter and several minutes of the fourth. The Cougars outpointed Brown County 41-19 in the second half.

West Central’s Nick Hamilton (19), Carson Brown (16) and Ryker Ford (11) combined for 46 of the Cougars’ points. Cameron Sievers (9) and Brown (8) led all rebounders as West Central punished Brown County on the boards 39-21.

Sophomore Jackson McNeff and freshman Michael Kassing each scored nine points to lead Brown County. McNeff, who did all of his scoring in the first half, also led the Hornets in rebounding with five. Brown County underclassmen scored all but nine of the Hornets’ points.

West Central coach Ryan Sichting, who is 179-44 in his seven-plus seasons at the Winchester/Bluffs co-op, said there were some noticeable differences in the two early season games the Cougars and the Hornets have played.

“I thought we were much better this time handling the play of their guards and (overall) defensive pressure, and our own defense was much better than what we played at Beardstown,” Sichting said. “We’re at our best when we are able to get out and run.”

Sichting, whose program is now 10-3 against Brown County, anticipates quite a rivalry developing in the coming years. 

“We lost some key people from our state championship team, so we’re still growing and trying to find our identity, and Brown County has some great young athletes,” Sichting said.

Another of those talented, young Brown County athletes Sichting praised was sophomore guard Carter Havens, who was held out of Friday’s game after sustaining an ankle injury against Griggsville-Perry. The playmaker is expected back later this month.

“He rolled an ankle against (Griggsville-Perry) and we did not want to take a chance,” Bottorff said. “We figured by resting him (against West Central) and having (11 days) off until our next game he should be ready to go.”

Brown County returns to play Dec. 17 at Havana (2-3). Havana was beaten Friday night by Petersburg PORTA 71-40.