Fast start powers Coal City to regional crown

COAL CITY — A basketball team always wants to get off to a good start, especially if the game is a big one between two evenly matched teams.

No one, however, could have expected to start Coal City had Friday night in the Class 2A Coal City Regional championship game.

The Coalers made 8 of 9 shots from the field in the first quarter, including 3 of 4 from three-point range, and led Pontiac 19-8 at the end of the period.

Coal City (20-11) needed every bit of that start to hold off a determined Indians club, and the Coalers came away with a 70-68 win for just the ninth regional title in school history and first since 2013.

The Coalers began the game by making their first seven shots. Jack Bunton and Austin Pullara each scored before Payton Hutchings hit a three-pointer for a 7-1 lead with 4:48 to play in the first. Kyle Burch then scored off an assist from Pullara and Jarod Garrelts scored on a lob off an inbounds play from Bunton. Bunton followed that with a three-pointer, and then assisted on a basket by Burch to put Coal City ahead 16-5. After finally missing a shot with :15 left in the quarter, Pullara ended the period with a three-pointer.

"We can do some things well," Coal City coach Glenn Pacek said. "The trouble is, when you come out that hot, the law of averages says you are going to cool off. At the end, Pontiac was making a lot of shots, but our kids' hearts kept them in the game and they came through."

Pullara finished with a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, while Burch came off the bench to add 17 points and seven rebounds.

"This is the first time in a long time that we have started like that," Pullara said. "It was nice to have that big lead, because we knew Pontiac wasn't going to quit.

"It feels awesome to win a regional on our home floor."

Burch, meanwhile, enjoys his role as the catalyst off the bench.

"I am kind of like a spark plug," he said. "Coach likes to hide me a little bit, but when I come in, it's just electric. We were definitely feeling it tonight and we were more comfortable than we have been all season."

Cade Mueller also came off the bench to give a spark in the second quarter, as he hit a pair of three-pointers. In fact, four of the Coalers' five made baskets in the second were from behind the arc, as Garrelts and Pullara each also hit a triple. The three-point barrage, plus some solid defense, helped the Coalers take a 35-22 lead into halftime.

The Coal City lead reached 44-29 early in the third quarter when Pullara banked in a three-pointer, but Pontiac began to chip away. The Indians pulled to within 50-44 on a basket by Carter Dawson, who led all scorers with 27 points. Dawson displayed some hot shooting of his own, going 9 of 12 from the floor in the second half. A late basket by Burch gave the Coalers a 54-47 lead entering the fourth.

Pontiac kept it close in the fourth, but a three-point play by Burch with 1:49 remaining gave the Coalers a 67-60 lead. A three-pointer by Dawson and a free throw by Ryan Weir (20 points) pulled the Indians to within 67-64, but Hutchings made a pair of free throws with :25 left for a 69-64 Coal City lead. Pontiac's Max Gschwentner (15 points) scored to make it 69-66 before Hutchings made 1 of 2 free throws with 10 seconds left. Dawson scored on a putback for Pontiac as time ran out, giving the Coalers the regional crown.

"Austin Pullara stepped up for us," Pacek said. "We lost him to fouls late, but the other kids did a good job of holding on. Kyle Burch, I told him early in the season that, with his length and shooting touch, he can be a heck of a basketball player. He really makes a difference for us offensively, and when he plays at the top of our zone defense.

"When we have a balanced scoring attack, we can be hard to guard."

Coal City plays Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Class 2A Pontiac Sectional against Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, which defeated St. Joseph-Ogden 38-28 in the St. Joe Ogden Regional title game.