The Red Bud Musketeers opened up their class 2A Regional play against the Dupo Tigers, who they recently defeated the previous Friday 57-39 to clinch the Conference Championship. This game would begin a little different than last Friday for the Musketeers. In the first quarter the Musketeers came out sloppy and looked lethargic out on the court. They were slow on defense and allowed the Tigers to drive to the hoop and score easy baskets from close range. However, the Musketeers’ big man, Caleb Reichmann, did a great job of scoring in the post. The Musketeer guards fed Reichmann the ball and he delivered for the team, scoring eight points in the opening quarter. Red Bud trailed the Tigers 11-10 after the first quarter. In the second quarter the Musketeers woke up, and decided to turn it on against the Dupo Tigers. They amped up their intensity on the defensive side of the floor, and got fastbreak opportunities that was able to translate into points. Red Bud outscored Dupo 19-4 and opened up a 29-15 lead going into halftime. In the second half the Musketeers were able to out hustle and score their opponent. Getting to all the loose balls, and getting easy run outs on the press that the Tigers were trying to inflict on the Musketeers. Red Bud wore the Tigers down and coasted to an easy 56-34 victory. Alex Birchler led the team in scoring with 15 points, followed by Caleb Reichmann with 12.

The Musketeers advanced to play the Gibault Hawks in the second round of Regional play. Red Bud opened up the same way they did against the Tigers. They came out struggling to defend the pick and roll, and could not run their sets effectively. With all of the struggles, they were only down 9-6 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter they continued to struggle on offense. The Hawks were playing stingy defense and made everything difficult for the Musketeers on the offensive side of the floor. Red Bud trailed 22-13 at the half. Coming out of the half the Musketeers came out shooting the ball well. Five different Musketeers scored a basket from the field and cut the Gibault lead down to as little as three. With all of the success on the offensive side, they still struggled to contain the Hawks’ guards and trailed 32-25 heading into the final quarter. The fourth quarter was not kind to the Musketeers. All of the energy exerted into the run made in the third quarter was non existent in the final one. Struggling to make any kind of comeback and unable to keep the Hawks off the foul line, the Musketeers’ season ended in a 47-35 loss. Reichmann led the team in scoring with eleven.

Overall the Musketeers had a fairly successful season. They finished with a 16-12 record and was able to win a share of the conference title, the first conference title since the 04-05 season. The Musketeers will be saying goodbye to seven senior basketball players: Caleb Reichmann, Griffin Ziebold, Alex Birchler, Shaye Carter, Drew Kueker, Blake Cowell, and Cory Fithian. These seniors played a monumental role in the team’s success this year. Key returning players next season will be Alex Sievers, Jayden Birkner, Carter Wiegard, and Alex Kueker. Fans should look forward to next year’s team’s ability to shoot the basketball from behind the arc, and ability to create their own shots from off the dribble. The Musketeer players and coaches would also like to thank the fans for their support and appreciate all that they do for us.