01-05-15

After they lost to Crab Orchard at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament back on December 18, the coaching staff was a bit apprehensive on how the Trojans would respond in their first game of the new year.

It only took a few moments for Coach Beaty to get his answer to this question mark.

Webber Township jumped out to a 10-0 lead and survived a few runs by the host Silver Stallions.

Behind 19-points from 5-foot-10 senior guard Brandon Raymer and 12-points from teammate 6-foot-4 freshman Charles Neal, Webber Township started the second half of the campaign with a 51-43 victory in a contest in which they never trailed.

While offensively the Trojans were really good, on the defensive end they might have been a bit better.

Webber Township forced the hosts into a 16-of-53 effort from the floor with a whopping 6-of-21 from beyond the 3-point arc. With a slight rebounding edge (27-24) and forcing 10-turnovers, the Trojans held on for a key road win for this young team.

“We were off 17-days and we are a young team but we came out and put the ball in the basket tonight,” said Coach Beaty. “I thought we came out focused. I told them (the kids) lets get out their in the first quarter and get some good looks at the basket. I thought we were very patient and we got Corey (Hammer) involved early. When he is zoned in I think we are an entirely different team.”

For Christ Our Rock Lutheran the night began bad and, despite a few stretches of playing well, the Silver Stallions fell to 8-6 on the season.

Coach Brian Perkes saw his club lose its first game back in the regular season since finishing fourth at the Dieterich Holiday Tournament and picking up a win over Marissa-Coulterville on Friday night.

Senior guard Jerry Hine topped the Stallions with 16-points while Eli Palm, a 6-foot junior added 14.

Not only did CORL start with a quick deficit offensively, they didn't get many shots to fall at the end when they needed a big run.

CORL got as close as 41-38 with 3:24 left, but they only hit 4-of-16 shots in the final eight minutes and were 1-of-8 from the 3-point line with the lone made trey coming just before the final horn.

“When you fall behind that much that early and you have to play catch up, and you have to play a clean game without turning it over and we aren't capable of doing that,” said Coach Perkes. “So for us, when we get down 10 or 12 that is a mountain to climb. I thought they were the better team tonight. And they are freshman and sophomore heavy. They are going to be a pretty nice team and they hit some big shots. Credit to them, they deserved to win.”

Webber Township, despite 15-turnovers, held on to the win by making their free throws in the game and down the stretch.

The Trojans were 7-of-8 overall and 5-of-5 in the fourth.

But the beginning turned out to be the end for the hosts as they never quite got into a rhythm.

Like a race horse who doesn't get out of the gate, the Stallions didn't know what hit them in the early moments.

Webber Township hit 6-of-10 shots in the first quarter and quickly were in command.

Six-foot-four junior Corey Hammer scored eight points and led the team with seven rebounds and his shot in the lane started the scoring onslaught in the early moments.

A 3-pointer by Neal from the right side and steal and fast break lay in forced a CORL timeout at 7-0 with 5:14 remaining.

Raymer also scored in the run, hitting the clubs second trifecta, this time from the right corner for a double-digit spread.

CORL struck back with a quick run of its own.

A 7-0 surge on a pair of shots near the basket by Hine and 6-foot-4 senior Caleb Boehne and a 3-pointer from Hine from the left corner to get the Stallions back in the game at 10-7.

But Webber came right back and answered with a 3-pointer from sophomore Jaxon Helm and a drive to the basket after an offensive rebound by Neal who beat the buzzer for a 15-7 lead.

In spite of four first quarter turnovers, the Trojans had an early advantage.

Coach Beaty's club got its largest lead of the game in the early moments of the second quarter when Ryan Johnson, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, converted a pair of free throws and a Helm fast break on an outlet pass from Hammer on a defensive rebound for a 19-7 Webber lead.

The hosts got a bit of a run going in the second quarter with Boehne scoring on a tip-in and later adding a 3-pointer.

Hine hit again from the inside and his bucket at 3:40 remaining cut the Trojans lead to 24-17.

But two more baskets by Neal and Johnson sent the teams to the break at 28-18.

All five of the starters for Webber Township scored in the opening two quarters as they held a double-digit lead.

The best quarter for the Silver Stallions by far was the third as they came out and outgunned the Trojans.

Two free throws by Palm and a steal and fast break lay in by Hine triggered the rally in the first minute.

Hine scored seven of his points in the quarter and when he hit a 3-pointer in transition just before the quarter ended, CORL trailed only 35-32 heading to the fourth.

Coach Perkes team took advantage of Webber Township by forcing the visitors to just 3-of-11 in the period.

As the final quarter began, it looked like the Stallions were ready for a gallop.

A basket in the first minute by Palm got CORL within 35-34.

But like a sponge, the Trojans absorbed the runs that the hosts made and eventually extended the lead to prevail.

A 3-pointer by Johnson and a baseline drive by Neal that turned into a three-point play after being fouled by Boehne pushed the Webber lead to 41-36.

Scoring on a fast-break lay in by senior guard Joel Krenz the Stallions got back to within a score.

But CORL proceeded to commit three-turnovers and miss four consecutive shots.

Hammer and Raymer each scored on lay ins on cuts to the basket as Coach Beaty's bunch was running out the time.

In fact Raymer scored the final six points for the Trojans and his fast-break drive with :09 made it 51-40 before Krenz closed the game with 3-pointer for show purposes.

“They (CORL) are a good team and we knew they would make runs and use their zone trap (1-2-2) but we answered their runs,” said Coach Beaty. “I told them at halftime they will make a run but you have to have an answer for it. We answered it and we were able to to take care of the basketball at the end and hit some free throws. We are happy with the win and this is a good program we beat tonight.”

For Webber Township, the shooting performance was very good (19-of-36) at 52.7 percent overall, hitting 6-of-8 from downtown.

Webber will face Midland Trail Conference rival Waltonville, who topped the Trojans at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament early in the season.

The game is at Waltonville on January 9.

“I'm proud of them. We go to Waltonville Friday night and that's a tough place to play,” added Coach Beaty. “This was a good win but we have to get back to work tomorrow and get ready for Friday.”

Christ Our Rock Lutheran will play at Beecher City on Friday night also in an Egyptian Illini Conference game.

“We were settling too much on outside shots and we weren't trying to get it in the paint. We stopped trying to get the ball in the post for some reason,” said Coach Perkes. “All we did was settle for 3-point shots tonight and I am not sure the reason why.”