03-04-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
EFFINGHAM - For the Casey-Westfield Warriors, the ABV 1A Preseason Top-Ranked club, this was not a pretty season for certain.

Injuries and inconsistent play against a rough and tumble Little Illini Conference and non-league schedule made the won-loss record unattractive to naked eye.

A 78-44 loss on the road at Effingham St. Anthony, the same gym in which this sectional is being held, wasn't exactly a springboard into the postseason that Coach Jason Hanson was looking for.

But his club kept their heads up throughout the season despite all of the issues.

This attitude has paid off in a big way as the program is now on the verge of their first ever boy's basketball sectional title.

Dropping down to 1A this season, the Warriors picked up their first regional title since 2003-04.

After knocking off Effingham St. Anthony and unbeaten Dieterich to win the Oblong Regional, the Warriors jumped out to a big lead and held off Patoka's one big run in the second half to pull away to a 77-56 victory to reach the Round of 16 in the state tournament.

Behind 27-points from 6-foot senior Cody Hollensbe and a hot shooting streak in the second quarter in which they made 11-consecutive field goal attempts, the Warriors improved to a “war-like” 18-12 mark.

Coach Hanson's survived a one-man scoring onslaught by Patoka's 6-foot-1 sophomore Jered Cain.

Cain scored from nearly every spot on the floor and carried his club with a career-best 43-points in the defeat.

Winners of back-to-back regional championships for the first time in school history, Coach Joe Eddy saw his team's season end at 21-10.

Cain was able to carry Patoka for most of the game, but he didn't get nearly enough help offensively to keep pace with Casey-Westfield.

“I was a little bit disappointed that we didn't do a better job helping out on Cain and make him hit tougher shots. But he is a nice player and he was really impressive tonight,” said Coach Hanson. “He was able to get to the basket and he is a strong kid. But I think we did an overall nice job on them, I don't think anyone else got to double-figures for them.”

Only two other Patoka players; Dylan Back (6) and Garrett Belcher (7) scored points for Patoka, who were out-shot from the floor and were out-rebounded as well.

“They (Casey-Westfield) didn't let anyone else (besides Cain) do anything that they wanted to do. You know, Jered is going to get some points but what makes us good is when we put three or four guys in double-digits and they took away all of the other options,” said Coach Eddy. “A lot of times if you let one guy score and take away the other ones you are going to come out on top. They did a great job of that.”

Held to just three offensive rebounds the Warriors struggled on both ends of the floor other that the offensive display by Cain.

Casey-Westfield also got scoring help from Trey Thompson, a 6-foot-1 senior, who added 19-points while 5-foot-10 senior Darius Fisher added 13-points, included three back-breaking 3-point bombs for the Warriors.

Patoka managed to hang in for brief periods of time on Wednesday night, but they eventually couldn't match the other Warriors' athletic ability and the type physical play that they saw in this sectional matchup.

Casey-Westfield hit 30-of-49 shots from the floor overall (61.2 percent) including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Behind eight first quarter points by Cain, Patoka kept it close in the first eight minutes.

An outside shot, a pair of drives to the basket and a pair of free throws by Cain cut the C-W first quarter advantage to just 13-10.

After Coach Hanson's club went 6-of-12 from the field in the opening stanza, his Warriors went on a shooting “warpath” in the second quarter that the other Tribe couldn't deal with.

The first big run came after C-W's Isaac Elkins scored his only bucket to open the second quarter and Cain scored on a drive down the lane to make it 15-12 Casey-Westfield.

The next few minutes turned the tide in favor of the eventual winners.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Thompson and Fisher sparked an 11-0 run.

The problem was that when those two shots were hit, they were so wide open that Coach Eddy needed a timeout.

Then every sort of defensive scheme that Patoka tried the rest of the way, C-W exploited.

Then Hollensbe got going in a big way.

Driving to the basket and also getting nice passes as the Warriors went inside on Patoka, Hollensbe scored 13-points in the second quarter alone.

Consecutive made shots by Hollensbe and bucket on the inside by Fisher pushed the Warriors to a 35-17 spread with 3:08 left in the half.

The next nine Patoka points came from Cain, including the last two baskets of the half to close the gap to 41-26 at intermission.

His drive in the lane with :10 left still gave time for C-W to score and Hollensbe launched an off-balanced shot from near the top of the arc that misfired.

That shot was significant only because it was the only missed field goal attempt in the stanza for Casey-Westfield.

Before that shot, the Warriors were 11-of-11 in the quarter and 17-of-24 in the first half

Of the 26-points in the first half for Patoka, Cain had 21.

“We started out wanting to take away the middle and they make three or four straight 3's so when we had to extend out they (C-W) ran some good curls for Hollensbe and when he gets the ball in the middle he is a load,” said Coach Eddy. “He is the best post player we have seen.”

Casey-Westfield looked like they had put the game on ice early in the second half, as they extended the lead.

After Cain opened the third quarter with another drive for a score, Coach Hanson's Warriors stepped up with another offensive burst.

A 14-2 sprint, highlighted by Hollensbe scoring nine of the points, pushed the lead past twenty points.

Thompson converted a steal and fast break and Fisher canned another long range bomb.

Hollensbe also scored on a fast break while he was fouled by junior guard Shane Cain. The fouled was deemed an intentional two-shot foul.

When Hollensbe converted both free throws, Casey-Westfield had its largest lead at 55-30 with 4:28 to go.

Most clubs at this point would have “closed up shop” and “warmed up the bus” but not this gutsy Patoka club.

Jered Cain continued to get to the basket on drives and the Warriors cut into the deficit.

Cain scored 12-points in part of a 15-4 run to end the third quarter, the top Patoka move of the contest.

He hit his only 3-pointer of the game and also got a conventional three-point play.

When teammate Belcher canned his only 3-point bomb to close the frame, Patoka had some hope at 59-45.

A 3-point shot by Dylan Back connected to whittle the lead down to 61-48 with 6:50 remaining.

That was the end of the runs for Patoka as C-W finished the job the rest of the quarter.

The Warriors in purple hit their first five shots of the fourth quarter and when 6-foot-5 junior center Corey Carver got in the scoring act with a couple of baskets, his club pushed the lead back out to 69-50.

Cain added six more points to complete his night before both coaches emptied their respective benches.

Patoka didn't shoot the ball that bad at all on the night, hitting 23-of-51 overall (45 percent) but they couldn't match the sharpshooting of Casey-Westfield as their season came to a close.

With Cain being just a sophomore, the Patoka fortunes look quite bright for the next two seasons.

Casey-Westfield held a 28-19 rebounding edge and even though they committed 10 turnovers compared to Patoka's 11, Coach Hanson's club moved into the title game set for Friday night against Nokomis, a 60-35 winner over Red Hill on Tuesday.

“We got a lot of lay ups (in the second quarter) but we still hit some 3's in there,” said Coach Hanson. “That is really what we have done in the last couple of weeks. We have taken advantage of our opportunities. During the year we had open looks but we didn't finish but it seems like we are peaking at the right time. We are rebounding well, hitting shots and playing good defense. In our last three games we are plus-10 or 12 on the boards. If we can continue to do that, it will serve us well moving forward.”

Casey-Westfield (45) – Thompson 6 2 1-3 19, Lawrence 0 0 0-0 0, Hollensbe 10 0 7-8 27, Carver 3 0 0-0 6, Chish 1 1 3-4 8, Fisher 2 3 0-0 13, Biggs 0 0 0-0 0, Buenzli 1 0 0-0 2, Elkins 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-24 3FG-6, FT-11-15, PF-16.
Patoka (42) - S. Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Belcher 2 1 0-1 7, J. Cain 17 1 6-8 43, T. Back 0 0 0-0 0, Dy. Back 0 2 0-0 6, Organ 0 0 0-0 0, Cobb 0 0 0-0 0, Sturgeon 0 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0 0-0 0, O'Brien 0 0 0-0 0, De. Back 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-19, 3FG-4, FT-6-9, PF-15.
Fouled Out – S. Cain - Patoka.
Technical Fouls – None.