WAYNE CITY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Cisne claims favorites' role at the Conrad Allen
Edwards County, Thompsonville, Crab Orchard have the best shot at the Lions

12-08-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – The 59th annual Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament is set to begin on Saturday, December 8 and will run until the championship game on Saturday night December 15.

As for the favorites roll, that burden falls squarely on the shoulders of Cisne Lions.

Coach Adam Ellis' squad stands 7-1 entering the tourney, having but a single road loss to former Midland Trail Conference rival Dieterich, 53-48, back on November 27.

The Lions won the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament championship with a 61-36 thrashing of Norris City-Omaha-Enfield.

They have also have a solid win over Edwards County (68-62 at the Grayville Tournament) on the resume along with a 53-36 triumph over MTC rival North Clay.

Cisne is led by brothers Austin and Dustin Atteberry, both senior guards and playmakers. Six-foot-seven senior foreign exchange student Bjorn Fjermedal have stood out this season for the Lions.

Erik Powell, a 6-foot senior, is also capable of a big night.

Edwards County has a new coach in Joel Brinkman and his Lions are a solid threat to the other Cat in the Pride.

Members of the Little Illini Conference, Edwards County has faced the toughest slate of games of any team in the field.

EC is 4-4 overall with their four losses coming to Cisne, Lawrenceville, 1A Peoria contender Oblong and 2A power Newton.

Jonah Laws is a 5-foot-10 senior point guard is the catalyst on the club. Five-foot-eleven senior Kevin Schuh helps form a solid backcourt.

The Lions beat Galatia, Clay City and Grayville JV at the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament to finish third at 3-1. They also have a regular season win over Grayville.

Crab Orchard is the defending tournament champion. Coach Jon Brown's team is now 6-2 after a win over Galatia on Friday night.

The Trojans lost their top scorer to injury as Caleb Perry broke his leg in a game again Pope County (a contest that was postponed) and is lost for the season.

Coach Brown will need his returning players to step forward.

Five-foot-nine junior Josh Emery, 6-foot-2 senior center Ty Bailey and Tyler Deaton, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, will need to take on more of the scoring responsibility.

Gunnar Galloway, a a 5-foot-11 sophomore, nailed 10 3-pointers in one of the Trojans' wins at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield, and is averaging a team-high 10-points a game. Bailey is the top rebounder, hitting the glass for eight per outing.

Thompsonville, and head coach Brandon Chaplain, will have a shot at the crown with some size and shooting ability coming into the week.

Brady Householder, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, is the team leader from the backcourt.

Jake Williams, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, helps to make things a bit better for the Tigers offense to run.
Lance Darnell, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, is the top frontcourt scoring threat.

Thompsonville has 6-foot-5 juniors Ryan Darnell and Quentin Henson in the lineup.

The Tigers are 3-4 after a win over Webber Township on Friday night.

Zeigler-Royalton, the only member of the Black Diamond Conference entered in the event, is coached my Matt Morgan.

The Tornadoes (5-2) could break through with a big effort this week at Wayne City.

Z-R nabbed the consolation championship at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament with their only loses this season coming to Egyptian in the opening game of the season at the CTT and on the road at 2A Chester.

Z-R is a guard oriented squad, led by senior guard Jeffrey Pedigo, a 5-foot-10 guard, and 5-foot-9 junior bookends Nick McPhail and Bailey Schimpf.

Patoka (5-3) could be a sleeper in this event as Coach Joe Eddy always has his Warriors ready when the head to Wayne County.

Patoka opened its season with some good wins, including a big triumph over Cowden-Herrick at the Ramsey Thanksgiving Tournament.

They also dropped a game to Odin to finish fourth in the Ramsey/Mulberry Grove crossover final day.

Johnnie Clift is a 5-foot-10 junior (18.3 p.p.g., 7.8 r.p.g.) who and two-year starter already for Coach Eddy.

He was an all-EIC pick last season as a sophomore.

Five-foot-ten senior Quinn Wadkins (8.0 p.p.g.) and 6-foot-2 senior Jake Orrell (12.0 p.p.g.) have also been a factor in the Warriors' successful 2012-13 beginning.

Clay City might have the most veterans in any lineup in the tournament with four seniors that Coach Grant Keller has put to the test early in the season.

Jordan Brown, Dylan Wolfe, Nathan Dulaney and Ethan Brown are all starters from a season ago and the Wolves, after a lost to Cisne on Thursday night, stand at 3-5 on the young season.

Clay City has wins over Grayville and Noble West Richland (2) and could pick up another win or two this week.

Coach Richard Nelson at Grayville (5-3) seems to have this club moving forward.

The Bison have won three in a row after downing Sandoval at home on Friday night. Wins at Noble and Wayne City highlighted this run.

Webber Township, and new head coach Chad Harper, have already topped last season's win total.

The Trojans topped Wayne City to finish seventh at Christopher and were just seconds away from picking up a big MTC win last Tuesday before seeing Odin rally from 21-points down to win 45-42.

Ty Henderson, a 6-foot-7 forward, is capable of causing havoc this week at Wayne City.

He had 18-points and 17-rebounds in the Odin loss. Koaltin Dye, a 6-foot senior, has also played well for Webber.

The Trojans' (1-5) defeats have come at the hands of Thompsonville (2), Zeigler-Royalton (2) and Odin.

Winless Wayne City (0-7) always seems to play big in this long standing event.

Billy Irwin, a 6-foot-1 senior, leads the team with 12.7 p.p.g. and 5.8 r.p.g. Coach Russ Gerlach has a young team that is learning the ropes the hard way.