12/17/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - It took just a couple of big scoring bursts for the Waltonville Spartans to take control and stay in control of their road contest at Christopher on Tuesday night.

An 11-1 start of the game and a 10-1 start of the third quarter allowed the unbeaten Spartans to stay that way.

Six-four junior Gage Peterson scored 18-points and junior guard Kyle Cooper added 14 in an important 49-36 road win at Christopher.

The victory improves the won-loss mark to 8-0 on the season for head coach Anthony Lowery and Crew.

After winning the Christopher Turkey Tournament to start the season with a triumph over the hosts, the Spartans picked right up where they left off in the rematch to send the Bearcats to their third consecutive defeat.

Coach Eric Stallman's club is now 3-4 overall.

Peterson proved to be tough to defend as he continues to show that he can score inside and out.

The junior forward hit a pair of 3-pointers and showed nice post moves as he led the way in scoring and rebounding (eight).

Cooper hit one of the five made 3-point shots by Waltonville and added a couple of big scores in the fourth quarter as the Spartans withstood a brief rally by the Bearcats.

“They (Waltonville) are really good and they're able to score in bunches. They have talented kids who can find opportunities to score and they find your weaknesses,” said Coach Stallman.

The only Bearcat to reach double-figures in scoring was junior Trevin Skropka with 10-points while Aidan Sckropka added nine.

Senior Chase Cole scored seven-points for Christopher and Samuel Traiteur pitched in five.

Each of the Bearcats on this list hit at least one 3-point shot with the Sckropka's nailing down two each.

“They (Christopher) are always going to shoot the ball well here and there were some things we talked about (defensively) that we got confused a couple of times on it but overall we did a great job,” said Coach Lowery. “Those are some things that we will work on in practice but the defensive effort was there.”

The early Waltonville start with Cooper and Peterson providing the offense put the Bearcats down 7-0 with less than two minutes gone.

Peterson hit his first of his two long shots and added a pair of free throws after Cooper scored on a drive.

Two additional free throws by Cooper and a steal and fast break lay in by senior Isaiah Lampke gave Waltonville its first double-digit advantage.

The Spartans took advantage of three early Christopher turnovers.

“We see so many zone defenses and sometimes the outside shots are not going to go in the hoop. But our defense travels. It's going to be there every night,” said Coach Lowery. “That's the focus and the rest of it will take care of itself.”

The Bearcats got 3-pointers from Cole and Trevin Skropka to cut the lead to just 13-7 for Waltonville at the end of the first quarter.

Christopher got to within four-points two different times in the second quarter.

Cole scored on a nice drive to the basket and another basket from T. Skropka made it 15-11 with 6:32 left in the half.

But with Peterson adding a couple of inside scoring moves and Cooper hitting his only 3-pointer of the night, the Spartans maintained its lead.

Six-five sophomore Jagger Mayville added six-points on the night for Waltonville, including an inside basket off a Cooper assist to close the second quarter with the Spartans up 22-15.

“It (having other players besides Peterson and Cooper) makes it tough to game-plan for us,” said Coach Lowery. “He (Peterson) is so good at working hard down to the blocks and when he catches it he always makes the right decisions.”

Coach Lowery's club opened the third quarter the same way they started the contest, hitting shots on three-consecutive possessions.

Peterson scored driving to the goal and sophomore Witten Devor cashed in on a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Another bucket from Mayville and the second 3-point bomb dropped in by Peterson pushed the margin to 32-16 at the 5:53 mark.

“The Mayville kid has done a tremendous job for them this year. He has added a whole other dimension to their lineup with another 6-5 kid out there,” said Coach Stallman.

The Bearcats best run of the game came on a couple of basket by Trevin Skropka, including his second 3-pointer, and junior guard Landon Sveda also hit from the arc as the gap closed to 35-26 heading to the fourth quarter.

Traiteur scored all of his points on an inbound pass for a bucket and a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the Waltonville lead to 39-31.

The Spartans weren't phased by the brief rally as they put the game out of reach with another run.

With the Bearcats forced out of their zone-defense, Waltonville was able to spread the floor and get two scores on drives to the basket by Devor and junior guard Riley Stewart.

A back door cut to the basket for a score by Cooper put the Spartans up 45-31 with only 3:14 remaining.

Peterson added one more score in the paint and Stewart scored on a nice assist from Devor to close out the victory.

Christopher had its moments as they hit seven 3-point shots (7-of-15) but they committed nine-turnovers and were just 13-of-29 overall from the floor.

“We hit some open shots and that helped keep us in the game but they're able to do so much defensively with their length,” said Coach Stallman.

Peterson hit on 7-of-9 field goal attempts, 2-of-2 from the arc, to lead the Spartans.

Cooper ended up 5-of-8 from the field and hit his only 3-point shot.

The Spartans were 20-of-37 overall, 4-of-5 from downtown and committed just a pair of turnovers in the win.

“We have eight or nine guys that can do things for us and it's a luxury to have,” said Coach Lowery. “We really haven't turned the ball over very much this year. We really have two point guards in Kyle and Witten. They can both handle the ball and make great decisions.”

Christopher will play at rival Sesser-Valier Friday night while Waltonville will host its long-time rival Woodlawn on Friday.