Panthers unable to chop Alvey, Tigers down to size in suffering sectional championship setback

ABINGDON, Ill. — Size eventually won out, no matter what the Camp Point Central boys basketball team did to negate it.

The Panthers neutralized Illini Bluffs’ height advantage — 6-foot-9 Hank Alvey towers above most Class 1A post players — for the better part of the first half Friday night in the Class 1A Abingdon-Avon Sectional championship game.

In the second half, the Panthers struggled offensively and saw the Tigers pull away for a 47-35 victory. It is the second consecutive season Alvey and Illini Bluffs have ended Central’s season in the sectional title game.

Central (25-9) trailed 22-15 with 3:40 remaining in the first half before closing on a 10-0 run to take a 25-22 into the break. 

Senior forward Gavin Blewett bookended the run, scoring off a left-handed bank shot to start it and finishing it with a reverse layup off a baseline drive. In between, Panthers senior guard Nick Moore buried a pair of 3-pointers as he scored 12 points in the first half.

In the second half, the Panthers struggled to score. They went 5 of 21 from the field, missed all six 3-point attempts and missed six free-throw attempts.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were efficient. Illini Bluffs went 9 of 15 from the field in the second half with Alvey leading the charge. The Lehigh University signee finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while going 10 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Moore led the Panthers with 18 points, while Blewett finished with eight points and Elijah Genenbacher had seven.

Illini Bluffs (33-3) advances to the Class 1A Jacksonville Super-Sectional, where it will face Winchester West Central at 7 p.m. Monday. The Cougars (33-3) advanced by beating Calhoun 64-61 behind a 33-point effort from Zach Evans.