12-05-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARLYLE - For the Okawville Rockets, a team that spends each boy's basketball season playing in big games, the spotlight never seems to bother Coach Jon Kraus' kids.

On Saturday night in its championship game against 1A rival and fellow powerhouse Woodlawn, the Rockets took complete advantage of the Cardinals' foul issues and their defensive switch from man-to-man to zone in the second half.

Behind scoring machine 6-foot-4 junior Noah Frederking and his 24-points and 10-rebounds, the Rockets flared the Cardinals with a 19-0 game-changing scoring burst to turn a seven point deficit into a 12-point lead.

The scoring switch allowed Okawville to capture its second consecutive Kaskaskian Classic championship with a 52-44 victory.

Frederking, who entered his junior season with over 1,200 career points, showed why he is an all-stater by scoring 11 of the 19, hitting a trio of 3-point bombs in the process.

“When he (Frederking) is focused and competing hard, he is difficult to guard,” said Coach Kraus. “Just like the Owens kid. Those kids just compete and they have been competing against each other for years.”

This completely turned around the complexion of a close game played by the top two ranked teams in the ABV Preseason rankings.

Number one Okawville also got 10-points from 6-foot-3 junior Shane Ganz and eight points from senior guard Alec Wisneski in the victory that pushed the Okawville record to 4-0 to begin the season.

For second ranked Woodlawn and head coach Shane Witzel, the Cardinals were in control of the tempo and the contest up until the 2:53 mark of the third quarter when the Rockets got hot from beyond the arc.

Woodlawn was led by senior guard Ross Owens with 14-points and senior forward Austin Ballard with 13.

Those two began the third quarter with back-to-back scores and when teammate Brett Harris canned a 3-pointer from the right wing, Woodlawn took its biggest lead at 32-25 with 3:33 left in the quarter.

That long range shot was the only points for Harris, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, who picked up his third foul in the second quarter and spent a lot of time on the bench.

Switching to a zone in the second half proved costly for the Cardinals as Okawville went on its run.

Frederking nailed a 3-pointer from each of the corners for Okawville.

His first shot found the mark from the left corner and his second made trey came from a mirrored spot on the opposite side of the floor in front of the Rockets' bench.

The second score closed the third quarter with Okawville down just 32-31.

“When we guarded them in man-to-man defense, we contested well. Our zone slowed them down a little bit but they have several guys that can hit from the perimeter and when Harris picked up his third foul on a charge and we had to go zone, that is when we got hurt,” said Coach Witzel. “I felt like that was a huge factor when we had to get out of our man-to-man.”

Just more than a minute into the final frame, Frederking gave his team the lead for good with another long distance bomb from the left wing.

His teammate senior guard Brad Fuhrhop nailed his only shot of the contest, also a 3-pointer from the right corner, that forced a Woodlawn timeout with 5:49 remaining.

Two free throws by Frederking and an excuse me 3-pointer from Ganz, who found himself wide-open from the right wing.

Hesitating for just a second because of being so unguarded, Ganz calmly nailed the shot which increased the lead and forced another Cardinals' stoppage.

Two free throws by 5-foot-11 senior Mason Drury closed the run with Okawville now in command at 44-32 at the 2:54 mark.

“We are capable of making those sort of runs. I thought in the first half that we got a bit happy shooting 3's but we started penetrating more in the second half and it opened up the outside,” said Coach Kraus. “I thought we were locked in on defense in the second half and I thought that was the difference in the game. I thought both teams battled tonight on both ends of the floor. Both teams have great players and it was just a fun game.”

Woodlawn could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as they fell to 3-1 on the season.

The Rockets nailed the door shut with 12-of-14 from the foul line, 18-of-22 for the contest as Okawville captured the championship.

Coach Witzel's squad started the game well and, with a 7-0 run of their own to close the first quarter, led 13-8 at the buzzer.

Owens scored five of the points on a 3-pointer and a steal and fast break lay in.

The 6-foot-5 senior added five more points in the second quarter on a 3-pointer and a rebound basket.

He also dished a nice assist (one of his five for the game) to reserve Trey Issac for a lay in to close the quarter with Woodlawn leading 25-23 at the break.

Baskets by Owens and Ballard in the third quarter pushed Woodlawn to a 29-23 lead.

However a steal and fast break lay in by Alec Wisneski helped get the Rockets rolling.

Following the Harris 3-pointer Okawville snatched the momentum, and eventually the title, away from Woodlawn.

The Rockets finished with 13-of-34 performance from the field, but that included a pretty good 8-of-18 from the 3-point arc.

They held a slight 25-21 rebounding edge and committed 12-turnovers.
“This (tournament) is a good test for us and we competed. We learned some things that we have to get better at. Hopefully this is a building block for us,” said Coach Kraus. “Last year we won it but they (Woodlawn) beat us so it kind of left a sour taste in our kids mouths. Shane does a great job and they are going to be tough to beat down the road.”

Woodlawn closed out with a 17-of-42 overall mark (40.4 percent) but just 6-of-22 from long range.

The Cardinals were 0-of-9 in the fourth quarter from the arc, hit just 4-of-8 from the free throw line and committed 15-turnovers in the loss.

“In that stretch we couldn't score and they hit some 3's and the next thing you know we went from having a lead to being down,” added Coach Witzel. “It's disappointing because we were right where we needed to be but we couldn't get over the hump. Our effort was really good and we will get better with our execution on offense as the season goes on.”

Woodlawn (44) – Issac 1 0 0-0 2, Wollerman 2 2 2-2 12, Harris 0 1 0-0 3, Owens 4 2 0-1 14, Ballard 4 1 2-3 13, Minks 0 0 0-2 0, Ashby 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11 3FG-6, FT-4-8, PF-19.
Okawville (52) – Wisneski 3 0 2-4 8, Fuhrhop 0 1 0-0 3, Ganz 2 2 0-0 10, N. Frederking 0 4 12-14 24, Killion 0 0 2-2 2, Drury 0 1 2-2 5, C. Frederking 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-5, 3FG-8, FT-18-22, PF-10.
Fouled Out – Owens - Woodlawn.
Technical Fouls – None.

Pinckneyville (47) – C. Jausel 0 0 0-0 0, Moll 0 1 0-0 3, Brand 0 0 0-0 0, Lazenby 0 0 2-2 2, Luke 2 0 0-0 4, G. Jausel 2 2 2-2 12, Carter 0 0 0-0 0, Houghland 3 0 6-7 12, Simpson 5 0 1-1 11, Howard 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-12-14, PF-17.
Carlyle (49) – Taylor 2 1 2-4 9, Cox 0 0 0-0 0, Peebles 0 0 2-2 2, Velazquez 0 0 0-0 0, Nettles 6 0 0-0 12, Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Siever 6 0 2-4 14, Toennies 4 0 2-7 10.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-8-17, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Hillsboro (57) – Paden 4 0 1-5 9, White 1 1 0-0 5, Schrieber 0 0 0-0 0, Moore 6 1 2-5 17, Hilt 0 0 0-0 0, Tuetken 2 0 0-0 4, Reymolds 3 0 1-1 7, Joliff 0 0 0-0 0, Fenske 3 1 3-7 12, Civitate 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-8-20, PF-19.
Flora (65) – Smith 3 1 3-3 12, Allen 0 0 0-0 0, I. Leib 1 0 3-4 5, Gocey 6 1 6-9 21, Gaither 3 3 2-2 17, Trotter 1 0 0-0 2, Moses 2 0 0-0 4, Scott 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-18, 3FG-5, FT-14-16, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Smith - Flora.
Technical Fouls – None.

Greenville (59) – Simpson 1 0 1-2 3, Hutchinson 3 2 3-6 15, Ephron 1 0 0-2 2, Hallemann 2 0 2-4 6, Holden 8 0 2-4 18, Hamel 0 1 0-0 3, Doll 0 0 0-0 0, Moss 2 0 0-0 4, Carlson 1 1 3-4 8, Bryant 0 0 0-0 0, Barnes 0 0 0-0 0, Caldierado 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-4, FT-11-22, PF-15.
North Clay (21) – Lovett 0 0 0-0 0, Repking 0 1 0-0 3, Walker 0 0 0-0 0, Aldrich 3 0 2-2 8, Warren 1 0 3-4 5, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Hollenbrink 0 0 0-0 0, McKnelly 0 0 0-0 0, Blank 0 0 0-1 0, Bible 0 0 0-0 0, Binder 0 0 0-0 0, Halterman 2 0 1-5 5.
2FG-6, 3FG-1, FT-6-12, PF-22.
Fouled Out – Walker - North Clay.
Technical Fouls – None.