02-12-2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - It was 2004-05 during one of the final seasons of two-class basketball in Illinois and the Cisne Lions finished undefeated in the Midland Trail Conference and were outright regular season champions.

It was head coach Kevin Bowen's second season at the school.

They had a very good team that won the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament by beating Webber Township in the championship game.

That Webber team ened up in the supersectional that year. The Lions eventually lost to Flora in the regional championship game and the Wolves went on to the state finals in Peoria.

Cisne assistant coach Lance Endsley was on that team.

That was the last Cisne squad that sat alone at the top of the MTC.

The Lions also shared the title with Woodlawn in 2011-12.

On Saturday afternoon at Woodlawn Coach Bowen's club moved closer to claiming their sixth championship since 1973 with a 65-45 win over the Cardinals.

Cisne showed how balanced scoring attack can be to defend on Saturday with six different players have seven-points or more and four in double-figures as they improved to 21-6 overall, 5-0 in the Midland Trail.

Six-one sophomore Anden Atwood paced the Lions with 16-points on the afternoon, nailing down a trio of 3-pointers in the process.

Freshman guard Gayvn Harrell added 12-points to the totals, including seven-points in the fourth quarter to help 'seal the deal'.

Six-three senior Gavin Fetherling added 11-points to the balance while pacing the rebounding effort with eight boards.

Freshman guard Cooper Bowen chipped in 10 along with freshman Landon Keck and junior Russell Best, who added nine and eight-points respectively to the winning totals.

Woodlawn was led by 6-4 sophomore Chance Phelps with career-best 27-points, including four 3-pointers in the contest.

“He (Phelps) at 6-4 caused us some problems but we did some things to get the ball out of his hands and their other guys hit some 3's. He's a load to try and guard,” said Coach Bowen.

Five-nine sophomore Talen Lee added 12-points for Coach Dawson Verhines' club, who saw their record slip to 2-4 in the MTC, 4-19 overall.

“They (Cisne) took us out of some stuff early and they did a good job of getting it out of his hands (Phelps) and they got us 'sped' up and that's not our game,” said Coach Verhines. “We're not a high scoring team and we need the games to be low in the 40's for us to have a chance. “Chance played really well tonight even with that said they did a good job when it mattered.”

The statistics on Saturday added up in the Cisne triumph.

Coach Bowen's club connected on 22-of-40 from the field and nailed down 7-of-14 from the 3-point arc.

The Lions, behind Fetherling, won the war on the glass 21-15 as they allowed just five Woodlawn offensive rebounds and none in the second half.

The Cardinals weren't nearly as successful offensively as they were only 17-of-38 overall, 6-of-17 from long range and committed 11-turnovers compared to nine by the Lions.

“That's one of our strengths is that we take care of the basketball for the most part. The kids are unselfish and will pass the ball to the open guy. We do a pretty good job of attacking and kicking it out if we need to,” said Coach Bowen. “We got guys who are not afraid to take those shots and knocking them down.

After breaking the game's only tie score (2-2) Cisne got going on the offensive end of the floor with with Atwood, Harrell and Bowen all connecting from beyond the 3-point line.

Harrell's trey came as part of a 7-0 run to end the first frame.

Both Atwood and Bowen added drives to the basket for points as the Lions were up 15-6 at the end of the quarter.

The Cardinals were already in trouble, hitting just 2-of-8 shots and committing a pair of turnovers, one of which was turned into the Bowen score with :01 left.

In both the second and third quarter Woodlawn put together mini scoring runs.

Six straight points on baskets by Lee and Phelps (2) cut into the Cisne lead.

However each run was answered.

Keck nailed down a long range shot for three and Fetherling got loose inside for a pair of scores, one of which turned into a conventional-three point play and a 26-14 lead with 2:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Woodlawn went to a zone for a late stretch in the quarter and Atwood made them pay with another 3-point bomb, this one from the left wing to close the half at 31-21 Lions.

Phelps scored nine of his points in the third quarter and his first of two 3-pointers in the frame cut the Woodlawn deficit to just 33-27.

As it played out, that would be the final time that the Cardinals were within single-digits as Cisne answered with a 10-0 scoring burst.

Atwood hit a pair of free throws and followed it up with yet another 3-point bomb.

Bowen also connected from downtown as the lead ballooned to 43-27 with 5:24 left.

The significance of those two baskets was that Fetherling assisted on both shots as the Cisne offense ran 'inside-out' plays to get open looks.

The senior forward also added a couple of inside scores, one on an offensive rebound 'stick-back'.

Junior Leighton Malcom and sophomore Logan Palmer each scored a basket in the third quarter for Woodlawn.

Palmer's basket made it 49-37 heading to the fourth quarter.

“We needed stops and rebounds to stop their runs and we talk about that a lot but we didn't get them when we needed them,” said Coach Verhines. “Fetherling is a load down there (in the lane) and he is tough to box out. We don't have a lot of size and when you get runs against a team you get to that 10-point mark (deficit) you have to get stops and rebounds to have a chance. We just couldn't turn the corner.”

The Lions put the drama part of the afternoon behind them by outscoring Woodlawn, 16-8 in the fourth quarter.

The points came on drives to the basket by Keck and Bowen to get things going and then a couple of buckets by Harrell; one on a nice backdoor cut for a reverse lay-in and another on a fast break off of a Atwood assist.

Keck added two more scores to his resume and a pair of free throws and Harrell 'iced the cake' with a final drive to the goal before both coaches used to reserves to finish out the contest.

“I was looking at their scorebook and all five of their starters were double-digits except one who had nine. We tried to help out on Fetherling but they have four other guys who can knock down shots,” said Coach Verhines. “They crash the offensive boards and they are a well-rounded young team and I'm sure they are excited about them in Cisne.”

Cisne, having earlier in the year defeated Wayne City in their regular season game, can compete the “W” superfecta with wins over Waltonville and Webber Township this coming week.

“We talk about that everyday (conference championships) and there is a banner hanging in the gym and we talk about how long it has been since we won it. The kids know what they are playing for. The regional and the postseason are important but we still have two big games left with Waltonville and Webber to win this thing (championship) outright and that's what we are wanting to do,” said Coach Bowen.

Cisne (65) – Harrell 4 1 1-2 12, Atwood 2 3 3-4 16, Keck 2 1 2-3 9, Bowen 2 2 0-1 10, Fetherling 5 0 1-1 11, Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Martinez 0 0 0-0 0, Nettleton 0 0 0-0 0, Dagg 0 0 0-0 0, Mix 0 0 0-0 0, Best 2 0 3-4 7.
2FG-15, 3FG-7, FT-10-16, PF-11.
Woodlawn (45) – Lee 3 2 0-0 12, Lamke 0 0 0-0 0, Rollie 0 0 0-0 0, Metcalf 0 0 0-0 0, Burkett 0 0 2-4 2, Palmer 1 0 0-0 2, Malcom 1 0 0-0 2, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Rynski 0 0 0-0 0, Phelps 6 3 3-4 27.
2FG-11, 3FG-6, FT-5-8, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.