Varsity basketball ends season with another close loss

Annika Pepper

Seniors Evan Courville and Philip Schultheis on defense against McIntosh players. Starr’s Mill, the No. 7 seed in the region, played McIntosh, the No. 2 seed, in the opening round of the region tournament hosted at Griffin High School. McIntosh ended the Panther season with a 35-33 win.

Abby Carter, Editor-in-Chief
February 11, 2022

Earlier this week, Starr’s Mill went head to head with McIntosh in the first round of the region tournament, losing 35-33.

Senior Levi Stratton guards junior Brandon Cheri while he scans to make a pass. “[Levi’s] been that hustle guy,” head coach Joshua Reeves said. “He’s a little under-sized for the position he plays, but he makes up for it with how hard he works every single time. We’re just really proud of how far along he’s come and how he’s been able to contribute offensively and defensively.” (Annika Pepper)

Senior Phillip Schultheis was the leading scorer on the night with 12 points, all from three-point baskets. Seniors Levi Stratton and Evan Courville each added five points.

“I love these guys. They earned their spots,” head coach Joshua Reeves said. “Obviously we had a different look going into last year, and some guys transferred, and the guys that had really been working hard behind the scenes were the ones that stepped up and moved into those spots this year and did it extremely well.”

Senior Emekah Iloh stepped out as the leading scorer for the Chiefs with 13 points. Junior Brandon Cheri added 11 points, nine of which were from beyond the arc. Sophomore Landon Dolhancyk contributed nine points. 

Starr’s Mill crashed the boards hard from the start, especially junior Jeremiah Williamson. The Panthers were held scoreless for the first four minutes and thirty seconds until Schultheis hit his first three-pointer of the night. 

By the end of the first half McIntosh had taken a lead thanks to a 7-0 run, and headed into halftime leading 17-15. 

“Tyler [Glover is] a force offensively and sometimes Jeremiah is too,” Reeves said. “So they just bring us a lot of points and bring us really stellar defense on the back end.”

Schultheis moves the ball up the court. Starr’s Mill and McIntosh played their final game as region rivals. Starr’s Mill will move down to AAAA next season while McIntosh will remain in AAAAA. (Annika Pepper)

Heading into the second half junior Tyler Glover and Stratton played great defense against the Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Panthers only managed three points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter.

The battle really came down to the fourth quarter. With less than four minutes to play, the teams were locked at 32 points apiece. Then it was all defense. McIntosh led 35-33 with 9.6 seconds to play and one final chance for the Panthers. With 1.4 seconds to play, a three-point shot from Schultheis came up short, ending the season for Starr’s Mill. 

Despite holding McIntosh to their lowest score since their 29-21 loss against Mt. Zion to begin the season, the Panthers lost another close game. It was the team’s sixth loss by six points or less in the final 10 games of the season.

Starr’s Mill ended the season on an eight-game losing streak and finished 3-21 overall.