Story by I70sports.com’s Seth Whitehead—
Senior Tanner Robbins and the rest of the Vandalia boys basketball team saved by far their best offensive performance of the year for Senior Night, cruising past Gillespie 84-66 Thursday at VCHS to close out the regular season in style.
Robbins returned to the court after missing Tuesday’s win over Pana due to illness with a blistering 13 for 17 shooting night from the field (76 percent) and a career-high 27 points in his final regular season game on his home court.
Robbins scored 17 points in the first half alone, and Isaac Sachan added all 11 of his points in the first 16 minutes, as the Vandals took a 43-30 advantage into intermission and quickly opened up a 20-point lead in the third quarter. The Vandals set the tone pretty much from the opening tip, as Vandalia scored 24 in the opening quarter against the Miners (8-23, 1-8 South Central Conference) and never let up the rest of the night on their way to a season-high in points.
Andrew Casey led another strong effort from the Vandals freshman contingent, scoring 12 points, as the Vandals’ three freshmen (Casey, Lucas Bowers and Qwentyn Stombaugh) combined for 23 points after tallying 24 points in Tuesday’s win over Pana.
The Vandals (13-17, 5-4 SCC) shot a blistering 60 percent from the field, reaching the 70-point plateau for the first time this season before topping 80 points down the stretch. The Vandals will now start postseason play in odd fashion – traveling to Robinson to take on the Maroons (9-19) in the first round of the Vandalia Class 2A regional.
Robbins and fellow senior Andrew Kelly – who has missed most of the season with an ankle injury – were honored prior to the game.
Vandalia Individual Stats
Tanner Robbins — 27 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
Andrew Casey —12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Isaac Sachan — 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
Lucas Bowers — 7 points
Kohnor Depew — 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Wade Brannon — 5 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Brenton McCarty — 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Ian Whitehead – 3 points, 3 rebounds
Brady Elder — 3 points, 2 rebounds
Qwentyn Stombaugh — 3 points, 2 steals, 1 rebound
Carter Robbins —2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
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