02-14-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - This season the Flora Wolves have had a problem finishing games in the fourth quarter.

On Saturday night on the road, the Woodlawn Cardinals showed the guests that they, themselves, have no such issues.

Coach Shane Witzel's Cards racked up 30 fourth quarter points in pulling away in the last five minutes for a 65-51 win over the 2A Wolves at home on Valentine's Day.

Although it wasn't a massacre, it was a dominating late game performance in which the state-ranked and ABV top-ranked 1A club improved to 24-3 overall and continued its current streak of victories.

Woodlawn has won 20-straight games since a December 12 loss to Breese Mater Dei at home.

The hosts took care of business by pulling away from the Wolves with a big fourth quarter, sparked by junior Brett Harris, who topped all scorers with 21-points (matching his jersey number) including a pair of game-changing 3-point shots on back-to-back offensive trips.

The 6-foot-4 forward cashed in on his two shots on opposite sides of the floor in which Flora lost track of him.

His first bomb came from the right corner and the second one came from the left corner.

When he nailed number two, Woodlawn took a 48-42 advantage.

The Wolves never recovered.

“I tell you what, if we could play a 27-minute game we would be we'd be undefeated but unfortunately we don't,” said Coach Leib. “Woodlawn. They are good and they came out and hit their shots. Owens hit that big three, Pearce hit a big three and then Harris got free on us. We did a good job on him all evening but he kind of slid out there and hit back-to-back 3's and we didn't recover from that. That was the turning point of the game.”

Woodlawn also got another good effort from all of the kids wearing White uniforms.

Blake Wollerman, a sophomore guard, stepped forward with 18-points while Ross Owens continued to shine as he added 13-points, including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter which was part of the Harris fueled 14-2 run that gave Woodlawn a 56-44 advantage with 2:30 remaining.

“We had a key stretch there where we finally made some shots against their zone,” said Coach Witzel. “We made some adjustments at halftime to try and get Ross (Owens) involved. It was a big fourth quarter for us. It was a slow start for both teams and a lot of it was because of the way we guarded each other. They (Flora) did a good job with their zone and that is part of the game, sometimes you go in spells when you don't make those shots (open looks) and you still have to keep guarding them. I thought we guarded well most of the game and we rebounded pretty well.”

Flora got 14-points from Bryce Pearce and 11-points from Ian Leib in the loss in a contest that didn't turn into a defeat until the final few minutes.

Coach Phil Leib's club battled but fell to 15-12 on the season.

Flora didn't shoot the ball as well as the Cardinals and it proved to be their undoing.

The Wolves finished just 18-of-54 from the floor overall, even though they were successful 8-of-20 times from beyond the arc.

Woodlawn was much better, hitting 20-of-43 from the field and matched Flora with 8-of-20 from the 3-point line.

The final run not only produced points but also defensive stops.

Owens picked up a key steal which turned into the first of his two 3-point bombs in the fourth quarter.

Woodlawn also managed a slight edge in rebounding (27-25) and they picked up some important second chances.

Owens grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw by Harris.

Just :10 later, Owens nailed a 20-footer from the right wing that closed the run with the Cardinals up by 12-points.

Owens added another score on a baseline drive and a pair of free throws to give Woodlawn a 60-47 advantage.

The hosts closed out the win with 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute.

Flora had its moments, especially from the outside.

Pearce, a 5-foot-10 senior and play-maker, hit an early 3-pointer to keep the Wolves close in the first quarter.

Junior Jeffrey Gocey finished with nine points and he, also, hit from long distance in the opening eight minutes.

When freshman Logan Moses scored in the lane late in the quarter, Flora led 10-9.

A Wollerman score on an inbounds play capped the stanza at 11-10 Woodlawn.

The second quarter produced five lead changes before the Cardinals went to the break up by one.

Flora produced its biggest lead of the match up with a brief run finished by Gocey driving down the middle of the lane on a defensive lapse by Woodlawn for an easy score and a 20-15 lead at 2:50 of the second quarter.

But behind Wollerman, the Cards rallied for the lead at halftime.

The sophomore nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and then added a score in the lane on an assist from Owens in transition.

Harris grabbed a lob pass from Owens to close the half with a bucket and a 23-22 lead at intermission.

“He (Harris) has gotten better and better for us. He is getting stronger and is a better rebounder for us. He hit a couple of big 3's for us and he made his free throws, too,” said Coach Witzel. “He has some size so he can get to the free throw line and he is going to draw some contact inside.”

Coach Leib's club hung close by hitting three more 3-point shots in the third quarter with Leib (2) and Pearce drilling home shots.

Leib's shots found the mark from the right wing on both occasions and Pearce took a pass off of a top-screen for an open look from the of the circle.

His shot found the mark to give Flora a 33-30 lead with 3:23 showing on the clock.

Woodlawn tied the game at the end of the frame with Bryson Sanders, a senior forward who finished with seven points, hit a shot in the lane and 1-of-2 free throws as Woodlawn and Flora were even at 35-each heading to the fourth.

Pearce and Owens traded long range bombs as the game was tied at 40-all.

Harris and Flora senior Logan Smith each scored on baseline inbound passes to make it 42-apiece.

The rest of the contest belonged to Woodlawn.

“Wollerman (for a sophomore) has a lot of poise. He makes a lot of good decisions with the basketball and he guards well,” said Coach Witzel. “With Wollerman, (Parker) Renaud and Owens out there, we have three point-guards. That is a luxury and it is something that we don't take for granted.”

The Cardinals closed out their weekend with a pair of wins as they head into the final week of the regular season having not lost in two months.

Woodlawn went on the road Friday night and topped Christopher, 65-50.

Flora also went on the road on Friday, picking up a hard-fought 66-65 overtime win at Paris.

The Cardinals close out the regular season with a game next Friday at Clay City.

Flora has a big game at Fairfield on Tuesday and they close the regular season hosting Red Hill on Friday.

“It was a physical game and for the most part I thought our kids played tough and played through that type of game. But there were also times where we got caught up in it,” said Coach Leib about the physical play. “For three and a half quarters we battled hard, played on the road in a hostile environment for two nights in a row, and again on Tuesday (Fairfield) coming up. It is sometimes hard for those young minds to understand that.”