03-06-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
EFFINGHAM - Heading into their contest with Nokomis on Friday night, head coach Jason Hanson and his Casey-Westfield Warriors knew they would have to play well offensively against the Redskins 1-2-2 zone defense that this program has been famous for and has given many teams over the years problems.

As it turned out, any anxiety that this coach may have had going into the matchup proved to be unwarranted.

The Warriors dominated the game on both ends of the floor and pulled away in second half to post a commanding 60-42 win in front of a large crowd at Effingham St. Anthony.

The offensive was run with precision and the defensive effort was stellar as the Little Illini Conference club cruised to a “wire-to-wire” victory to move to the Carbondale 1A Supersectional on Tuesday night.

Behind 21-points from 6-foot forward Cody Hollensbe on the inside and 14-points from Darius Fisher from the outside, the Warriors dissected the Redskins' vaunted zone defense.

Casey-Westfield jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back in improving to 19-12 on the year.

After battling injuries, a tough schedule and some inconsistency throughout the season, this coach has seen this club get better with every game in this postseason and are now a game away from their first trip to the state finals in boy's basketball.

“Our kids really played their tails off and the seniors really came through. They all had great games. Darius (Fisher) hit some big shots for us and Cody plays that way all the time,” said Coach Hanson. “Trey (Thompson) ran the offensive for us and Dylan (Lawrence) played some great defense.”

In winning the first boy's sectional championship since the 1939-40 season, Coach Hanson saw his crew never let up in ousting a Nokomis team that has a long history of postseason glory.

Many teams over the recent past have succumbed to the defense by coach Steve Kimbro's teams but on this night the Warriors were up to the challenge.

Being pressured in a trapping way by the Nokomis zone, the Warriors committed just seven turnovers and shot the ball well in all four quarters of play.

After hitting 62.1 percent from the floor on Wednesday night in their win over Patoka, the Warriors hit 58.9 percent against Nokomis on Friday night.

Casey-Westfield connected on 23-of-39 shots overall and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, with Fisher netting four of the long range shots.

When they eventually got to the foul line (in the fourth quarter) they made the most of it.

The Warriors hit 9-of-10 from the stripe in the game.

When they weren't drilling shots from 20-feet and beyond, they were getting the ball inside to Hollensbe and 6-foot-5 junior Corey Carver.

Carver added 10-points to the totals as nearly everything that the Warriors tried on offense on this night worked.

But perhaps the biggest key of the night was the defensive effort they put on Nokomis, holding the Redskins at bay.

Nokomis saw its season end at 19-12 with senior center Marcus Chausse netting 17-points while sophomore guard Reid Detmers tossed home 15.

Although the Redskins shot the ball pretty well (18-of-37) at 48.6 percent, the runs that they needed to happen to get back into contention never materialized as they saw the season come to a close.

Getting an early lead allowed the Warriors to be very patient against the Nokomis defense.

Hollensbe got the game started the right way for Casey-Westfield, scoring six early points as he and Carver “carved up” the inside part of the Redskins zone.

A fast break score by Hollensbe as the Warriors broke the press and a lob pass to Carver closed the early 8-0 run at 4:50 left in the frame.

Detmers and Chausse tried to keep the club in contention but the duo got little to no help offensively as C-W got to its first double-digit lead in the first quarter

Fisher hit the first of his 3-point bombs and Hollensbe added a pair of free throws for a 15-4 advantage at the 2:48 mark.

Chausse, who is listed at 6-foot-6 but appeared to be a couple of inches taller, hit pair of field goals and a couple of free throws to help keep the Redskins in the mix.

But guard Dylan Lawrence hit a shot late in the frame as the Warriors were up 20-13 as the quarter ended.

The Redskins best run of the night, albeit short-lived, occurred in the second quarter.

Scoring three times in the final 2:14 of the half, they outscored Casey-Westfield 6-2 and trailed just 33-26 at the half.

Chausse scored twice in the scoring run on a rebound bucket and also a inbound lob pass that turned into points.

Sophomore guard Andrew Harpstreith converted a steal and fast break as Nokomis trailed by just seven at intermission.

A basket by Chausse started the third quarter for the Redskins to get his club within a five-spot.

However the Warriors answered with six consecutive points with Lawrence scoring on a fast break as they again handled the full-court zone pressure.

Hollensbe added two more scores, one on a drive where here took the ball right at Chausse for a basket and a 39-28 lead.

“Getting off to the big lead was huge. They came roaring back and cut it to seven at halftime and then they scored to begin the third quarter,” said Coach Hanson. “But we hit a couple of baskets and tightened up our defense. Overall I thought we were aggressive when we needed to be. In transition and attacking the zone. And then we worked the ball when we needed to. It is what we have worked on in practice and the kids came out and executed.”

Hollensbe added yet another inside basket which set the stage for Fisher to deliver the goods from beyond the arc.

He closed the quarter by hitting three 3-pointers against the Nokomis zone that was forced to collapse on Hollensbe.

His shots were from the top of the arc, the right corner and also the right wing.

When he hit his third shot with 1:19 left in the stanza, the Warriors were dominating at 50-37.

“That is a big key for us, we have several guys who can shoot it. We can move the ball and pass it. And Cody and Corey work really well together inside,” said Coach Hanson. “When you are unselfish then you can get some good looks at the basket.”

As if things couldn't get much worse for Nokomis, Chausse picked up his third foul with just :07.6 left in the third.

But it got worse for the senior center.

Following a quick C-W turnover, the Redskins inbounded the ball near midcourt.

Chausse tried to set a screen for a teammate and accidentally tripped Trey Thompson.

This was the fourth personal foul for the senior.

The beginning of the fourth quarter was the end for Nokomis.

Back-to-back baskets by Carver and Hollensbe pushed the lead out to 54-37.

Consecutive baskets by Herpstreith did little to shake the resolve of Casey-Westfield.

Coach Hanson's club, with a large lead, was in no hurry offensively and Nokomis was forced to foul and get into the bonus.

Six consecutive free throws by Hollensbe, Carver and Thompson slammed the sectional door shut and put the plaque in the trophy case.

The Redskins were without Coach Kimbro on this night as this longtime head coach of was battling through a tough week.

His father passed away a few days ago and he was under the weather with the flu as assistant coach Brian Pesko was in charge of the Redskins on this night.

Besides Chausse and Detmer, Herpstreith added six-points and freshman forward Brayden Sabol added four as only four players scored for Nokomis.

Casey-Westfield will face the winner of the Cairo-Meridian game set for Saturday night at Hardin County after a difficult week of weather pushed back that sectional two days.

Cairo topped the host Cougars to reach the sectional title game for the second straight season.

“We made some mistakes out there but we just keep playing hard and make up for it,”
said Coach Hanson. “I thought we did a good job in transition, defense and offense. On the boards, overall; it was a complete game.”

Casey-Westfield (60) – Thompson 1 1 2-2 7, Lawrence 2 0 0-0 4, Hollensbe 8 0 5-6 21, Carver 4 0 2-2 10, Chish 1 0 0-0 2, Elkins 1 0 0-0 2, Fisher 1 4 0-0 14, Biggs 0 0 0-0 0, Buenzli 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-5, FT-9-10, PF-12.
Nokomis (42) - Chausse 7 0 3-7 17, Clavin 0 0 0-0 0, Emerson 0 0 0-0 0, Keiser 0 0 0-0 0, Detmers 4 2 1-2 15, Ruppert 0 0 0-0 0, Follis 0 0 0-0 0,Herpstreith 3 0 0-0 6, Barnes 0 0 0-0 0, Sabol 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-4-9, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Detmers - Nokomis.
Technical Fouls – None.