11-27-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER – Getting to the championship game of your own tournament is a special accomplishment.

For the Christopher Bearcats, it had been 11-years since this has happened.

However with a staunch defensive effort on Wednesday night in which they forced Cobden into 8-of-36 effort from the field, Coach Eric Stallman’s Bearcats improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a 54-27 win to reach the title game of the 39th Annual Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament.

For the first time since 2002, the hosts will play for the championship.

With Jacob Towers leading the scoring with 18-points and a quick early start to the game, Christopher set the tempo for the contest and never allowed the Appleknockers into the game.

Teammates Hunter Wheeler and Josh Calloni added nine and eight points respectively for the unbeaten ‘Cats.

Not only did the defensive stand by Christopher force Cobden into an off night from the floor, the Bearcats allowed just five offensive rebounds as they ruled the “glass” with a 31-18 advantage.

“We can guard a little bit. We have two really, really aggressive guards (Wheeler, Towers) and we can get out and guard some people,” said Coach Stallman. “We knew that Moore (Zach) could score but we did a good job of guarding him tonight.”

Every point of reference in the statistical war pointed to a Bearcats victory in front of a large crowd at Christopher.

Coach Rhett Barke of Cobden saw his club, after a very good offensive performance on Monday, have a very cool shooting effort as they fell into the third place game to be played Saturday.

Not only did the Appleknockers hit just 22.2 percent from the field, they committed 14-turnovers.

“We really didn’t rebound the ball well at all and when you shoot (22 percent) from the floor and you’re not going to beat many teams shooting like that,” said Coach Barke. “Monday night we came out shooting extremely well. I was afraid of what might happen if we came out and shot poorly and tonight it happened.”

Falling behind early, Cobden allowed a 9-0 run by the hosts to close out the first quarter.

Christopher got a pair of buckets by Calloni sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Wheeler and a drive to the basket by Towers in the run.

When Calloni converted a fast break lay in with just :07 left in the first frame, Christopher was in control at 17-5.

The Bearcats poured in on in the second quarter, outscoring Cobden 13-5.

Christopher scored twice more in transition in the stanza while the Appleknockers hit just 1-of-9 shots in the quarter.

Senior Ethan Conner got in on the parade by knocking down a nice reverse lay in on a fast break and Wheeler added another score as the Bearcats continually out-raced Cobden down the court.

When Towers drove the baseline for a score in the remaining few seconds of the half, Christopher pushed the lead to 30-10 at intermission.

Three Cobden players (Zach Moore, Parker Flamm and Tyler Lewey) were tied for scoring honors with six points each.

Moore and Lewey were part of the best Cobden run of the evening to begin the second half.

A 7-2 sprint, with the Appleknockers scoring on a pair of back-door lay ins, one by Lewey and another by 6-foot-3 senior Keagan Tripp, got Cobden off of the mat.

But the fix was temporary as Christopher again took back the momentum with a pair of Towers’ scores late in the quarter for a 40-23 advantage heading to the fourth.

“We came out and won the third quarter. I told them (players) we are going to come out and go ‘man’ and everyone is going to be responsible,” added Coach Barke. “I’m glad we did it tonight (play) instead of at the regionals.”

The Bearcats removed all doubt with a 6-0 run to begin the finale and when Christopher added yet another 6-0 surge, the lead had ballooned to 54-25.

Sophomore Trevon Brown, Calloni and senior Austin Williams all scored in the runs, which led to both coaches emptying their collective benches in the final 2:07.

The Bearcats shot the ball pretty well overall, nailing 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) and committed just eight turnovers. Four of those miscues came in the final minutes with the outcome settled.

Cobden could have helped out their cause a bit more had they been able to get to some additional offensive rebounds.

The Appleknocker didn’t have an offensive rebound in the second half as they fell to 1-1 on the season.

Having their best rebounding threat, Parker Flamm, in early foul trouble didn’t help matters for Coach Barke.

“We had a lot of good transition buckets and it is something we want to do with the guards that we have,” added Coach Stallman. “Hunter (Wheeler) is able to find people open. He has great court vision and Jake (Towers) can get out front. Towers was the point guard last year so he has a feel for getting out front on fast breaks.”

Christopher (54) – M. Brown 0 0 0-0 0, T. Brown 2 0 0-0 4, Towers 6 0 0-1 18, Wheeler 2 1 2-3 9, Saeger 2 0 1-1 5, Nikolich 0 0 0-0 0, Calloni 4 0 0-0 8, Conner 2 0 0-0 4, Hammonds 3 0 0-0 6, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Winget 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-22, 3FG-1, FT-9-12, PF-14.
Cobden (27) – Inman 0 0 0-0 0, J. Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Z. Moore 1 1 1-4 6, A. Lewey 0 0 2-2 2, Spalt 0 0 0-0 0, Cohen 0 0 0-0 0, P. Flamm 2 0 2-4 6, Duckworth 0 0 0-0 0, A. Flamm 0 0 2-2 2, Tripp 2 0 1-2 5, T. Lewey 2 0 2-2 6. 2FG-7, 3FG-1, FT-10-16, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Webber Township (24) – Austin 1 1 0-0 5, Welch 1 0 0-0 2, Karch 0 0 0-0 0, Helm 0 0 2-2 2, Ganleany 1 0 0-0 2, Moser 2 0 1-2 5, Bush 0 0 0-0 0, Wheeler 2 1 1-2 8. 2FG-7, 3FG-1, FT-4-6, PF-13.
Wayne City (33) – Gammon 1 1 0-1 5, Stephenson 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 1 0 0-0 2, Irwin 3 0 2-2 8, Haile 1 0 0-1 2, Owens 1 0 0-0 2, Mayberry 5 0 4-7 14. 2FG-12, 3FG-1, FT-6-11, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.