Published on January 30, 2026 7:34 am
Last Updated on January 30, 2026 10:53 am
BY MILLIE LANGE
ALTAMONT — The upset of the evening at the National Trail Conference Boys Basketball Tournament came Thursday as top-seeded Cumberland fell to No. 4 Altamont, 54-50.
The game quickly took a controversial nature when Cumberland Coach Justin Roedl was given a technical foul as he questioned the referee and then a second technical foul came pretty quickly after the first and Roedl had to leave the game and won’t get to coach his team in the next contest.
Altamont ran out to a 12-6 opening quarter lead as Kade Milleville and Cooper McManaway went to work. Milleville hit a basket and three free throws while McManaway connected on two baskets and a free throw for five points each.
The lead stood at 28-20 at halftime. McManaway put in two three-pointers and Blake Berg nailed a far off shot and the Indians led 28-20.
Cumberland’s Chase Stewart connected on two three-pointers and the Pirates were four of four at the line to remain in contention.
But Cumberland couldn’t make up ground as both teams scored 13 points each in the third quarter. Zaine Miller and K. Milleville put in two baskets each for Altamont while Miller also hit two free throws.
Cumberland’s Cameron Roedl kept the Pirates going with five points while Isaac Venatta scored four.
Cumberland then mounted a comeback in the final period, outscoring Altamont 17-13 but couldn’t get over the hump. Venatta tallied six points while Roedl put in four and Kade McMechan hit a three.
Altamont, meanwhile, went to Miller as he put down a basket and was four of six at the free throw line. Jacob Johnson added four points.
Altamont moves into the championship game Saturday and will take on either St. Anthony or Dieterich at 7:30 p.m. Those two teams play today at 7:30.
This was Cumberland’s first appearance at the National Trail Conference Tournament as the Pirates are joining the league next season. Cumberland drops into the third place game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. meeting the loser of the St. Anthony vs. Dieterich contest.
In the opening game of the evening Thursday, St. Elmo/Brownstown edged Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, 50-46.
SEB took the early 13-10 lead as Graidon Wilhour scored four points and Kyle Seabaugh put in a three-pointer.
That lead was pushed to 29-21 at halftime. Four players connected for baskets as G. Wilhour added to his total with a three-pointer and two of two at the line and Jayden Hughett nailed a three and a regular basket for five.
The Bobcats came out of the locker room at halftime and went on a 16-10 run to pull within 39-37 going into the final period.
Remington Howell, who hit only two free throws in the first half, put in two more from the gratis stripe, hit a three and a regular basket for seven. Griffin Vaughn and Hayden Sarver added five each.
But the Eagles steadied and finished out the game with an 11-9 final quarter. Jack Wilhour hit two baskets and four other players scored.
Only one player finished in double figures for the Eagles. G. Wilhour connected on four baskets, two from beyond the arc, and hit six of seven free throws for 16. Seven other players scored.
CHBC had two players in double figures. Howell hit four baskets, one a three-pointer, and five of six at the line. Sarver scored 12.
North Clay held only a one point lead on Neoga after the opening quarter and a two-point lead at halftime. But the Cardinals broke loose with a 42-16 second half for a 69-41 victory over Neoga in game eight.
Cody Zimdars led the Cardinals with four points in the opening quarter while three others players scored in the slight 11-10 score.
CHBC was led by Kaden Bryant with eight of his team’s 10 points.
The second quarter also went to the Cardinals with a 16-15 edge for a 27-25 halftime lead. Carder Walden put in five points while Lucas Griffey connected on five of six from the free throw line.
Bryant continued on with six points while Trenton Ballinger added two three-pointers, also for six.
The Cardinals then went on a 22-14 third quarter run. Zimdars, who scored six in the first half, hit three regular baskets and a three-pointer for nine while Mason Byers hit for six points and Walden added four more.
Brayden Ray scored six for CHBC and Ballinger hit another three-pointer.
The final quarter was all North Clay with a 20-2 run. Zimdars and Walden scored seven points each in the run.
Zimdars finished with 22 points on eight field goals, two three-pointers, and four of four at the line. Walden added 19 on eight field goals, two from three-point range and a free throw and Byers tallied 14.
Neoga was led by Bryant with seven field goals and three of three at the line for 17 points.
North Clay advances to the consolation championship Saturday at 1 p.m. and will face either South Central or Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg. Those two teams play tonight.
Neoga drops into game 12 against the loser of the South Central vs. WSS contest for seventh place.
At Altamont
Game 9
ALTAMONT (54)
Co. Pals 1-0 — 2, McManaway 4-2 — 12, Lurkins 0-0 — 0, K. Milleville 4-5 — 13, Bell 0-3 — 3, Berg 1-0 — 3, Johnson 4-1 — 9, Miller 3-6 — 12. TOTALS 17 FG, 17 FT.
CUMBERLAND (50)
McMechan 1-0 — 3, Roedl 6-2 — 17, Stewart 2-0 — 6, Miller 3-2 — 8, Bierman 2-2 — 6, Venatta 4-2 — 10, Harmon 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 18 FG, 8 FT.
Altamont 12 16 13 13 — 54
Cumberland 6 14 13 17 — 50
3-point FG — Altamont 3 (McManaway 2, Berg 1), Cumberland 6 (Roedl 3, Stewart 2, McMechan 1).
Game Seven
CHBC (46)
Cosart 1-0 — 3, G. Vaughn 2-0 — 5, Dilley 0-0 — 0, Howell 4-5 — 14, Sarver 5-2 — 12, Lilly 1-1 — 3, Schlanser 3-0 — 6, Vaughn 1-0 — 3. TOTALS 17 FG, 8 FT.
SEB (50)
J. Wilhour 2-0 — 4, Powell 1-0 — 3, Willms 1-0 — 2, Voelker 0-0 — 0, Sanders 3-1 — 7, Seabaugh 3-1 — 8, Hughett 3-0 — 7, G. Wilhour 4-6 — 16, Lowe 1-1 — 3. TOTALS 18 FG, 9 FT.
CHBC 10 11 16 9 — 46
SEB 13 16 10 11 — 50
3-point FG — Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 4 (Cosart 1, G. Vaughn 1, Howell 1, C. Vaughn 1), St. Elmo/Brownstown 5 (G. Wilhour 2, Hughett 1, Powell 1).
Game Eight
NEOGA (41)
Ballinger 3-0 — 9, Hakman 0-0 — 0, Haarman 0-0 — 0, Porter 1-0 — 2, Coy 2-0 — 5, Sparrow 0-0 — 0, Finney 0-0 — 0, Ray 4-0 — 8, Welsh 0-0 — 0, Fearday 0-0 — 0, Matusas 0-0 — 0, Bryant 7-3 — 17, Shuler 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 17 FG, 3 FT.
NORTH CLAY (69)
Atwood 3-0 — 6, Zimdars 8-4 — 22, Adair 0-0 — 0, Lewis 0-0 — 0, Schnepper 0-0 — 0, Wolfe 0-0 — 0, Griffey 0-8 — 8, Byers 7-0 — 14, Ballard 0-0 — 0 Walden 8-1 — 19, Probst 0-0 — 0. TOTALS 26 FG, 13 FT.
Neoga 10 15 14 2 — 41
North Clay 11 16 22 20 — 69
3-point FG — Neoga 4 (Ballinger 3, Coy 1), North Clay 4 (Zimdars 2, Walden 2).
Little Illini Conference Tournament
Two games were contested in the LIC Tournament Thursday.
Newton fell to Robinson 68-61 in overtime and Richland County defeated Paris 48-37.
Robinson moved into a 16-11 opening quarter lead on Newton. Drake Wolf kept the Eagles close with six points while Eli Wolf hit a three-pointer.
Newton then had a 20-12 second period run to lead 31-28 at halftime. Jacob Oldham hit two three-pointers and a regular basket for eight while D. Wolf put in five more points.
But Robinson came back with a 16-11 third period run to push into a 44-42 lead. Newton tied the score at 61-61 sending the game into overtime where Robinson went on a 9-2 run to claim the win.
Newton was led by D. Wolf with 17 points on eight field goals, one a three-pointer. Oldham chipped in with 12 while Bergbower had 11 and E. Wolf 10.
Richland County and Robinson play today at 5 p.m. for fifth place.
Marshall faces Mount Carmel at 6:30 p.m. for third place and Lawrenceville takes on Casey-Westfield at 8 for the championship.
LIC Tournament
NEWTON (61)
Mulvey 1-0 — 2, Bergbower 4-3 — 11, E. wolf 4-1 — 10, Volk 2-0 — 4, Oldham 5-0 — 12, Gier 1-3 — 5, D. Wolf 8-0 — 17. TOTALS 25 FG, 7 FT.
ROBINSON (68)
Banatoolis 1-0– 3, Sparks 1-3 — 5, Hires 0-0 — 0, G. Hoalt 3-0 — 8, J. Hoalt 3-2 — 9, Hardiman 1-5 — 7, Arnone 4-0 — 11, Reynolds 2-0 — 4, Dunlap 8-5 — 21. TOTALS 23 FG, 15 FT.
Newton 11 20 11 17 2 — 61
Robinson 16 12 16 15 9 — 68
3-point FG — Newton 4 (Oldham 2, E. Wolf 1, D. Wolf 1), Robinson 7 (Arnone 3, G. Hoalt 2, Banatoolis 1, J. Hoalt 1).