CAT Tracks - Tribute CJHS COLTS: 27-0 SEASON & STATE CHAMPIONS

The Cairo Citizen honors a new champion...Congratulations to the CJHS Colts!

Colts top 27-0 season with state crown

The Cairo Colts won the Class L (Large) School State Championship and finished their great campaign, 27-0.

The Colts' magical season was one of history and one for the ages.

The last time the Colts won a state championship was in 1976. Twenty-seven years later, the Colts capture it again and this time go undefeated.

The task was not easy as the Colts had to beat three teams they had beaten earlier in the year, Metropolis who the Colts had beaten twice, Centralia and O'Fallon, whom the Colts had beaten once each.

In the quarter final game, the Colts met Metropolis for the third and final time of the year, with the winners advancing to the semifinal game of the state tournament.

The first quarter, the Colts jumped to a 20-6 lead led by Russell Mackins with 10 points and four rebounds.

Mackins was held scoreless in the Second quarter but teammates Sedan Bell scored six, Mario Johnson added four, Bruce Modicue added five and Rod Purdiman scored three. This effort lifted the Colts to a 38-21 halftime lead.

The Trojans made a 12-2 run midway in the third quarter. The Colts responded by playing tough perimeter defense to push the lead back to 14 points, 52-38 after three quarters.

The Colts blew the game open with five minutes to go and went on to win 72-53.

Russell Mackins led the Colts with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks while three teammates scored double digits: Mario Johnson, 11 points, five rebounds; Bruce Modicue, 10 points, 3 rebounds; and Sedan Bell, 10 points, 8 rebounds, four blocks.

Daniel Bell added four points, two assists. Charles Johnson scored seven, one assist, two steals; and Corey Williams, three points.

Other Colts who played well but did not score were Ramone Ivy, two rebounds; Ricardo Powell, three rebounds; Dennis Lane and Lazarious Thompson, two steals and one assist.

The Colts met Centralia in the semifinals. The two teams met during the Big 7 tournament at Herrin.

The Colts secured a three point win. The game opened up the same way - a defensive game. The Colts were led in the first quarter by Ramone Ivy and Mario Johnson inside scoring and passing.

Johnson only scored two points but was responsible for three assists in the quarter. He was able to get in the middle of the Centralia zone and allow Russell Mackins to get two and Ramone Ivy to score four. Cairo led at the end of the first quarter, 8-4.

Mackins controlled the inside in the second quarter, scoring six and blocking one shot. At the half, the Colts led 26-23.

Both teams scored eight in the third quarter.

During the fourth quarter, Cairo pulled ahead by six only to see Centralia chip away at the lead. The Colts' defense stepped up to the task led by Charles Johnson and Ramone Ivy and Rod Purdiman on the perimeter and Sedan Bell and Russell Mackins on the inside.

Centralia's last chance to tie the game came with 12 seconds left in the, game. The Tigers tried to get off three shots but were not successful thanks to the Colts smothering defense. The Colts won 35-32.

"I knew Centralia was a very good team with solid guard play," said Coach Tommy Ellis. "They play good defense but so do we. I thought we could capitalize on their turnovers more often but we could not. We did a good job on shutting down the baseline and their penetration and dish. We were able to keep their guards from becoming offensive factors. They only had three players score. I'm glad we made it to the championship game. My 1999 team, now seniors at the High School lost in overtime to Jonesboro in the Class M State Championship."

The championship game matched the Colts against the O'Fallon Panthers. The first meeting the Colts trailed at the end of all of the first three quarters but managed to pull ahead in the fourth and win by 15 points.

The Colts came out on top early leading by four points early in the first quarter, but O'Fallon came back to lead the Colts 14-11 after one period. The Colts took command in the second quarter and led by three at the half.

Russell Mackins led a Colt charge in the third, scoring 10 points in the quarter and two came on a steal and a tomahawk dunk to bring the crowd to their feet.

The Colts' inside force began to take control in the third as Sedan Bell, Mario Johnson and Ricardo Powell made huge plays inside either blocking a shot or causing the Panthers to shoot shots they were not accustomed to taking.

The Colts led by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter only to turn the ball over and see the Panthers hit two three pointers. Thanks to the Colts' hustling defense those were the only two field goals the Panthers hit. Their other two points came from the free throw line. During the up and down fourth quarter, four Colts scored, led by Mario Johnson with four, and Rod Purdiman, Russell Mackins and Sedan Bell, each with two.

The Colts went on to win their first state championship in 27 years and first ever undefeated season.

The Colts scoring was led by Russell Mackins with 16, Rod Purdiman, 12; Mario Johnson, 8; Sedan Bell, 6; Bruce Modicue, Ricardo Powell and Charles Johnson each with two.

"I thank the Lord for these young men, the season and this victory," said Ellis. "These boys stayed together all year. They came to practice, worked hard and did the necessary things to become champions. This game, I felt we could wear them down if our inside people were able to rebound and score."

Ellis said that the Colts guard did not get them the ball early in the game but later on did a better job. He said that Sedan Bell, Russell Mackins, Mario Johnson and Ricardo Powell all played well inside while Daniel Bell did a good job down the stretch with Rod Purdiman handling the ball.

"In the second quarter, Ramone Ivy and Daniel gave us some valuable minutes," Ellis said. "Bruce Modicue and Charles Johnson, our other two guards did their job early. We had a stretch in the fourth quarter I thought we could have added to our 14 point lead but we lost focus and made some careless turnovers. While we made turnovers, we were able to cause them to make turnovers too. The bottom line is we won the championship.

"The entire school and community should feel good about this team. They represented Cairo and did it with class and respect. I hope the school, the city and the community gives these boys their dues because they earned it," Ellis said. "State Class L school champions, going 27-0 with only three home games is a great accomplishment within itself."