Williamsville Sophmore Guard Garrett Timm Shooting a Basketball Against Auburn.
Photo Courtesy of Easton Blankenship.
The Bullets' Last Regional Title- The Bullets were anxious to bring a regional home to Williamsville this year, after falling in the title last year in Normal. The last time the Bullets won a regional was in 2018 when they beat Pleasant Plains 63-55 to capture their third straight IHSA Regional title.
A Season of Highs and Lows- The Bullets started the 2023-2024 as hot as anyone. Led by a dynamic shooting duo, Blake Shoufler and Brayden Saling, the Bullets won their first nine games, including tough wins over Meridian and Eureka. However, tragedy struck when Bullet junior point guard Blake Shoufler suffered a season-ending ankle injury against West Central at the Illinois College Shootout. The Bullets knew they had a tough road ahead without Blake, but Williamsville battled out some tough wins in their holiday tournament and took second place. Williamsville went through much of the season fighting for wins, but the Bullets found some struggles near the end of conference play. Falling to Plains in a heartbreaking overtime loss, losing to Prairie Central by nearly 20 points at the IPC/Sangamo Shootout, then getting topped by Maroa-Forsyth at home. Bullet senior said "This part of the season was disappointing, and we knew that we were better. But, we had to stay focused and keep battling."
Bullets Take a Chance on the "1-3-1"- After those three losses, Williamsville knew that they had to change something. The defensive minds of the Bullets coaching staff went to work and decided to go with a 1-3-1 zone defense, and put it in against conference rival PORTA. Williamsville shooting guard Brayden Saling said "After those games, we had to change something, so we changed our defense to a 1-3-1, and it helped a lot. I think that we have done a great job at not getting down on ourselves about losses, but rather working to win games, and that's an example of that." Williamsville went on to win three of their next four, right before regionals.
Brayden Saling Shooting a Three Against Quincy(Notre Dame) in the Regional Semi-Final.
Photo Courtesy from Easton Blankenship
Bullets Go Back to Title Game- Williamsville cruised through Tri-City, winning 72-18 at home. The Bullets then drew the third-seeded Quincy(Notre Dame) Raiders. To say that the Bullets got off to a great start would be the understatement of the year, Williamsville went on a 22-0 run to start the game and held QND to 0 points in the first quarter for the first time all season. The Bullets kept the pressure on and ended up winning 49-26. Williamsville was led by Brayden Saling with 21 points, and Brecken Thomas with 11. Thomas told the Wire after the game "The energy on defense propelled our offense and were able to get a lot of open looks in transition, and we were able to make some tough shots."
Bullets Bring the Plaque Home- Williamsville kept a lot of that momentum going into the championship game against Riverton. The Bullets lost to the Hawks on the road back in January by a final score of 58-45. The Bullets used that loss to motivate them in the crucial title game, once again having a great start. Garret Timm had three first quarter 3's. The Hawks' defensive game plan was to take Brayden Saling out, but that gave the sophomore guard a chance to shine, and he certainly did. Timm finished the game with 15 points, all of them from beyond the arc. With the Bullets defense clicking on all cylinders, Reid Bodine was able to become a huge factor for the Bullets in transition. Bodine ended up with 11 points, including hitting the first triple of his varsity career. Brecken Thomas stepped up into the facilitator role, while also being a slasher and an outside threat. Thomas hit some baskets through contact, and also hit a three; he finished the night with 15 of his own. Carson Kohler went to work down low and had 8. Saling was face-guarded the whole game, he added 5. Mendenhall had 3, and Scott with 2 rounds out the Bullets scoring. Williamsville came away with an impressive 59-42 victory to bring the regional title home. Brecken Thomas said "We're playing unbelievably as a team and we believe in each other. We know what we have to do to keep it going, and the job is certainly not finished."
The Bullets will take on Auburn in the Sectional semi-final at Beardstown on Wednesday.
Wired In is sponsored by Elite Lawn Care, Wade Muller at West Town Ford, and Top Tier Springfield.
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