12-13-14

On Saturday evening in their opening contest against Zeigler-Royalton, Coach Russ Gerlach's club did nothing to diminish this preconceived notion.

The Lions pitched a shutout in the first quarter and keep the Tornadoes in the rear view mirror as Edwards County improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in Pool A with a commanding 52-19 win over the defending tournament champions.

Chase Hortin, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, ruled the paint on both ends of the floor as he netted 17-points, nearly outscoring Z-R on his own, while hauling down six rebounds as the Lions ended the drama early.

Hortin had help as teammates as 6-foot-4 junior forward Maverick Troyer was also too strong for the Tornadoes, adding 10-points in the triumph.

Hortin did a good job of getting his teammates involved.

“Absolutely they (Z-R) had to double-team Hortin so hard early that it left other guys open and he has been a very willing passer out of the post for us this year,” said Coach Gerlach. “When he has been willing to share the ball out of the post this year we have been a pretty good team.”

The issue was settled early as the Lions scored the first 11-points of the contest as Zeigler-Royalton struggled in all phases.

Coach Matt Morgan's young squad was 0-of-10 in the first eight minutes and committed five turnovers as they didn't ink the book until nearly two minutes were gone in the second quarter.

By the time sophomore guard Brenden Whiting hit a 3-point shot, the Tornadoes were already down by double-figures.

The closest that Z-R got was with 4:21 to go in the first half as they closed the gap with another five points by Whiting on a drive to the basket and his second trey.

When the 20-footer found the mark, suddenly Zeigler-Royalton was down just 1-8.

“He (Whiting) is a sophomore and he knows he can shoot the ball but he is one of those kids who gets down on himself if he misses a shot,” said Coach Morgan. “There isn't a player on this team who has ever gotten on him about shooting. We need him to shoot the ball and we have to get some things figured out offensively.”

At this point, another run by Edwards County gave the Lions big lead at intermission.

Hortin, Troyer and teammates Cherokee Metcalf and Eli Mosson each scored to finish the second quarter.

Mosson picked up a steal right before the end of the period and his bank shot before the buzzer finished the half at 22-8 Lions.

A 10-3 run in a low scoring third quarter pushed the lead to 34-14 heading to the final quarter.

Lucas Hortin, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard, got in the scoring act while Troyer and Mosson all finished the third with points.

Edwards County closed the game with a 15-2 run to close the book and stay in title contention.

In the long history of this even, Edwards County has never won the championship with their best finish being a second place trophy in 2012.

Zeigler-Royalton were over-matched in most of the categories, with the biggest one coming on the glass.

Edwards County held a 38-13 rebounding edge while also forcing the Tornadoes into an 8-of-37 shooting performance (21.6 percent).

“We talked about how we wanted to guard them this week and for us not having any practice time the kids executed the game plan against them pretty well,” added Coach Gerlach. “We did a pretty good job guarding their shooters, the one kid (Whitting) got loose a few times but we took care of that. We scored a bit better in the second half and I was proud of our defensive effort all the way through.”

The Lions were much more efficient, connecting on 22-of-50 (44 percent) from the field with 10 of those missed shots coming late in the game from the reserves.

Zeigler-Royalton (1-6) will head back into tournament action on Monday night at 5:30 pm against Clay City, who lost to Patoka on Saturday afternoon.

Edwards County's next game is Tuesday night against Patoka at 8:30 pm.

“I told the kids at halftime and at the end of the game. Don't be satisfied with losing but the one thing we did tonight was that we competed and fought for four quarters,” said Coach Morgan, who is coaching a young, inexperienced team this season. “I felt like we did battle but we were just out-matched. They are big, strong and talented inside and they know how to get the ball to the right places.”

Zeigler-Royalton (19) – Whitting 2 3 0-0 13, Newton 0 0 0-0 0, Eastwood 0 0 0-0 0, S. Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Saddler 3 0 0-0 6, Domineck 0 0 0-0 0, N. Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Risley 0 0 0-1 0, Billington 0 0 0-0 0, Hummerickhouse 0 0 0-0 0, Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Steadman 0 0 0-0 0, Leach 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, Cochran 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-5, 3FG-3, FT-0-1, PF-16.
Edwards County (52) – Hortin 1 0 0-0 2, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 0 0 0-0 0, Grimes 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 1 0-0 5, Blake 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 1 0-0 5, Mosson 3 0 0-0 6, Troyer 4 0 2-5 10, Kelsey 2 0 1-2 5, Johnson 0 0 1-2 1, Schmittler 1 0 0-0 , Metcalf 2 0 0-0 4, Hortin 6 1 2-3 17.
2FG-20, 3FG-2, FT-6-12, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Patoka (52) – S. Cain 2 1 1-2 8, Belcher 3 0 2-6 8, J. Cain 9 0 3-8 21, T. Back 5 0 2-6 12, D. Back 0 10-0 3, Cobb 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-2, FT-8-22, PF-12.
Grayville (53) – Robinson 5 0 1-1 11, Ready 2 7 1-3 28, Thompson 0 1 0-0 3, Lee 2 1 0-0 7, Hamilton 1 0 0-0 2, Massie 1 0 0-0 2, McGarvey 0 0 0-0 0, Pool 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-9, FT-2-6, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Robinson - Grayville.
Technical Fouls – None.

Collin Klingler paced the Wolves (0-1) with 26-points as Clay City saw its overall mark slip to 1-4.

Clay City (69) – C. Kllingler 5 5 1-2 26, Ashbrook 6 1 2-3 17, Fehrenbacher 0 3 0-0 9, Armstrong 0 0 3-4 3, Lamb 2 1 1-2 8, Wilkin 0 2 0-0 6, Beck 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-12, FT-7-11, PF-10.
Patoka (83) – S. Cain 7 0 2-5 16, Belcher 8 0 1-1 17, J. Cain 12 1 1-1 28, T. Back 4 0 1-3 9, D. Back 0 3 0-0 9, Cobb 0 0 0-0 0, Sturgeon 0 0 0-0 0, Gramlick 1 0 2-2 4.
2FG-32, 3FG-4, FT-7-12, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.