12-15-14

Just three days later at the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament the Trojans turned the game into “no contest” as they forced Thompsonville into 27-turnovers through three quarters as they rolled to a 70-44 victory to move to 2-0 in Pool A while improving their overall mark to 6-3 on the 2014-15 campaign.

Coach Brad Beaty's young club got going early, converting most of the the Tigers miscues into points as they rolled out to a big halftime lead.

Webber Township put three players in double-figures in scoring with Charles Neal getting loose for 21-points for the Trojans while teammates Brandon Raymer and Jaxon Helm added 14 and 12.

Jumping out to an early lead and building on that foundation with a 12-0 sprint in the second quarter, while using nine of those Tiger turnovers along the way. By the time the dust settled on the first half Webber was up 30-15 at intermission.

Coach Pete Gordon's Tigers, who have yet to win a contest this season, got 24-points from senior guard Kyle Shimkus as one of the few bright spots for Thompsonville who are 0-10 overall, 0-2 in Pool B.

The Trojans didn't get off to the best start, but they used their defensive advantage in size and length to stymie Thompsonville for all 32-minutes.

Neal and Helm sparked the club on that 12-point burst in the second quarter with each of the starters hitting long range shots.

When Helm hit from the left wing off an offensive rebound and Neal followed that up with a steal and fast break score, Webber led 26-10 with 4:21 left before halftime.

A 9-2 beginning of the third quarter for the Trojans was the end of Thompsonville's chances as the score ballooned to 39-17 when junior Ryan Johnson converted a transition basket.

Shimkus made the score seem respectable with five 3-pointers in the final two quarters.

When he canned his third of the third quarter with 2:13 left, Thompsonville was down 43-26.

The margin would get no closer as Webber took off on another run with Brandon Raymer and Corey Hammer each pounding in points.

The quarter closed with two free throws by Shimkus to make it 49-28 heading to the final frame.

There was a point in the third quarter where Thompsonville had nearly as many turnovers as they had points.

Webber Township pulled away late to keep its title hopes alive.

After going win-less a year ago, Coach Beaty's bunch is sitting with six wins and a shot at picking up another trophy after finishing third at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament.

Thompsonville, besides Shimkus' outside onslaught, didn't do much right on the night as they were just 15-of-51 from the field (29.4 percent) while Webber hit a bit better percentage at 39.3.

The Trojans were 26-of-66 from the field but were 7-of-15 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Webber held a slight rebounding edge (40-35) but the key was as fast as they played, they committed just ten turnovers compared to the 27 by the Tigers.

“It started with our defense. We have struggled some offensively so I told the kids let's get some traps and try and kick-start our offense,” said Coach Beaty. “We wanted to do some scoring in transition and not necessarily from our half-court offense. So we got some traps and got some turnovers. I thought we got comfortable in what we were wanting to do. I thought we did a much better job getting out in the passing lanes and closing out on their shooters. Shimkus got some points from the outside on us but I thought we did a better job of not letting them drive to the basket.”

The Trojans will play Cisne on Wednesday night at 5:30 pm while Thompsonville will play Wayne City at 8:30 pm on Wednesday also.

Webber Township (70) – Helm 0 4 0-0 12, Austin 2 0 0-0 4, Mount 1 0 2-2 4, Johnson 2 0 2-2 6, Raymer 4 0 1-5 9, Neal 4 3 4-6 1, Stratton 0 0 0-0 0, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Girvan 0 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0 0-0 0, Hammer 6 0 2-2 14, Ganieany 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-7, FT-11-17, PF-12.
Thompsonville (44) – Costello 1 1 0-0 5, Garrison 1 0 0-0 2, Shimkus 1 6 4-4 24, Darnell 0-0 0-0 0, Payne 2 0 1-1 5, Wilce 1 1 1-1 6, Woodring 1 0 0-0 2, Dixon 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-7, 3FG-8, FT-6-6, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Zeigler-Royalton (30) – Whiting 1 2 0-0 8, Newton 0 0 0-0 0, Eastwood 0 0 0-0 0, S. Anderson 2 0 0-0 4, Saddler 2 1 0-0 7, Domineck 0 0 0-0 0, N. Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Risley 0 0 0-0 0, Bellinger 1 0 0-0 2, Hummerickhouse 0 0 0-0 0, Hall 2 0 0-2 4, Steadman 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-9, 3FG-4, FT-0-2, PF-11.
Clay City (56) – C. Klingler 2 1 1-2 8, Ausbrook 7 2 3-4 23, Fehrenbacher 1 1 0-0 5, Armstrong 1 0 0-2 2, Lamb 1 0 0-2 2, Wilkin 1 2 3-3 11, Beck 1 1 0-0 5, Britton 0 0 0-0 0, J. Klingler 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-7, FT-7-13, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.