Zeigler-Royalton won its second straight Turkey Tournament title Saturday night by remaining calm, cool and collected.

It watched an 8-point lead dwindle away to nothing in the fourth quarter, then fell behind twice in overtime. The Tornadoes regrouped each time Sesser-Valier got close, though, and went on to a 60-59 win.

“The last two minutes of the game ... we came close to a meltdown,” Z-R coach Jamie Moyers said. “I called a timeout and told them they had a chacne to pass a big test. I was proud of how they regrouped and kept their composure.

“We were down one and (Sesser) had the ball in overtime and they didn’t let that bother them either,” he continued. “It was just a great team win.”

The title is the fourth in school history for Z-R. It won the title in 1978, when Moyers was a player on the team, in 1981 and in the last two seasons.

This title was not easy.

With Red Devils junior Kendall Gibson hounding high-scoring Z-R guard Tyler Mitchell and center Kyle Fitch in early foul trouble, the Tornadoes needed others to step up. And they did.
Z-R led just 6-4 after one period, but both teams picked up the pace on offense before halftime.
A free throw by Gibson and a bucket by T.J. Eubanks tied the game 7-7 early in the quarter, but the Tornadoes would not be tied or trail again until overtime.

Most of the damage was done without Sesser center Justin Matyi or Fitch on the court — both picked up two fouls in the first quarter. In fact, Matyi didn’t even play in the second  period.

Gibson carried Sesser’s offense for a while, scoring seven points in the quarter while T. Eubanks added five.

Zeigler got three huge 3-pointers in the period. Two came from Bradford Hargraves, who had eight of his 17 points in the quarter.

“They were really hounding Mitchell and I told the kids that somebody was going to have to step up and Hargraves did,” Moyers said. “He hit some big shots tonight.”

Zeigler led 27-22 at the half.

The Red Devils stayed within striking distance in the third quarter. Matyi returned to the floor and converted a three-point play and T. Eubanks followed with a post-up hoop and a long 3-pointer to pull Sesser within 37-34.

Zeigler ended the period with two big baskets — one by Kyle Ferguson, the other by Hargraves — to lead 41-34 as the fourth quarter began.

Two things happened in the fourth period that allowed Sesser to get back in the game. One, Mitchell picked up his fourth foul and was sent to the pine with 7:40 left. The other was the Tornaodes’ poor free throw shooting.

In the quarter, Fitch was sent to the line eight times, but he hit just two of the tosses and couldn’t pad the lead.

Fitch made 1 of 2 to give Z-R a 44-40 lead and Hargraves buried his third triple for a 47-40 lead, but Seser ended the game on a 12-5 run to force overtime.

Jordan Kirk hit 1 of 2 at the line for a 47-41 game, but Fitch answered with 1 of 2 himself for a 48-41 lead.

Antonio Smith and T. Eubanks scored on rebound baskets for a 50-45 game and Dane Eubanks picked up a steal and layin to cut the lead to 50-47. Kirk then picked up a steal, but Smith missed and Chase Fann hit Fitch with a long pass for a 52-47 Z-R lead with a minute left.

Gibson then came up with a huge three-point play with 30.9 ticks left to pull Sesser within 52-50. It got a golden opportunity to tie the game when the inbounds pass was bad. The Devils moved the ball around until Gibson scored with 10 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Gibson continued to make big plays in overtime, hitting T. Eubanks for an easy hoop and Sesser’s first lead of the game, 54-52.Fitch answered with a three-point play, but D. Eubanks scored for a 56-55 S-V lead.

That would be the last lead for the Devils, as Jimmy Stevens scored with 1:25 left to swing the lead back to the Tornadoes. After a Sesser turnover, Hargraves threw in a dagger, knifing down the heart of the lane for a finger-roll and a 59-56 lead with 53 ticks left.

Fann added a free throw with 6.8 seconds left. T. Eubanks threw in an off-balance 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left, but Z-R inbounded the ball and Stevens was fouled to seal the outcome.

“We had opportunities,” Sesser coach Dan Kirk said. “The bottom line was they made big shots when they needed them and we didn’t. They made plays when they needed them.

“When we got the lead I thought we might be able to get it done, but I didn’t think we executed well on offense,” he added. “I was pretty happy with our defense, Gibson did a real good job, but Matyi maybe got to play a quarter with foul trouble. Hats off to (Z-R), some of their kids really stepped up and we didn’t quite get the job done.”

T. Eubanks had 17 and Gibson 16 to lead Sesser, while Hargraves had 17 and Fitch 13 to lead the Tornadoes.