Photo by R.R. Best
Sullivan junior Colin Chappel wrestles for the ball against Clinton at home Friday night. Chappel contributed four rebounds, two assists and five points in the game.

•January 29, 2020•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan boys’ basketball team dropped three Central Illinois Conference games last week.
The Redskins lost to Warrensburg-Latham Monday and Clinton Friday in heartbreakingly close games; then again to Meridian last Tuesday.
Monday night at home against the Cardinals, Sullivan fell behind 12-2 to start the game.
W-L took a 26-12 halftime lead but Sullivan battled back in the second half.
With 6:14 left in the fourth quarter, Plank hit a corner three to cut the lead to 44-36.
After a defensive stop, Plank missed a corner three from the same spot but an Elder rebound-put-back basket cut the lead to 44-38.
With 3:49 left, Colin Chappel hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 45-41.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story. 

At 3:26 Luke Harlin hit a short jumper to cut the lead to 45-43 with 3:24 left, and after two Cardinal free throws, Harlin hit an identical short jumper to again cut the lead to two.
After a missed W-L free throw, Sullivan took a time out at the 39 second mark.
With 11 seconds left, Drew Rogers dropped the ball off to Harlin, who again hit a short jumper from the same spot.
The basket tied the game at 47 and sent the teams into overtime.
But in OT, W-L scored the first five points, and Sullivan had to play from behind.
With 1:27 left in overtime, Chappel stole the ball and scored in transition to cut the lead to 52-49.
Harlin scored with 30 seconds left to again cut the lead to two, but W-L made free throws down the stretch to win the game 56-53.
Ian Plank finished with 13 points, and Chappel hit double digits with 12 points.
Harlin finished with ten points.
Against Clinton, Sullivan played the Maroons down to the wire but again could not find the final two points to tie the game or get over the hump in the waning seconds of a 35-31 loss.
Sullivan took a 6-2 lead in the first quarter and held on to that advantage for a 14-10 halftime lead.
Clinton outscored Sullivan in the third quarter 17-8 to take the lead, but Sullivan hung around until the end.
Ian Plank scored a team-high 11 points and three steals, and Aaron Garvey added eight points and five rebounds.
Colin Chappel contributed four rebounds, two assists and five points, and Luke Harlin recorded six rebounds and three points.
Kanin Elder tallied four points, three rebounds and three assists.
Last Tuesday at Macon, Sullivan could not overcome a 27-11 first quarter deficit in a 74-62 loss to the Hawks.
The Redskins were able to cut the lead to 40-28 at half, and then went on a 21-15 third quarter run, but it was not enough.
Plank scored a career-high 26 points to go with three steals.
Chappel hit double-digit scoring with 13 points and had two rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Leyton Ellis added nine points and four rebounds, and Garvey totaled eight points and a team-high seven rebounds
Harlin netted six points to go with four rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Sullivan is set to continues CIC Tournament action at Moweaqua this week.