Saturday night in the title game of the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament this 5-foot-9 point guard was “extra-large.”

With the game balancing on some key possessions in the fourth quarter – Johnson made the plays that pushed his team to a 63-59 win over a talented Zeigler-Royalton team in the finale of the week long event.

Johnson tossed home 25-points – including 4-of-5 free throws in the fourth quarter – as Crab Orchard won its first ever CAWCHT crown.

Coach Jon Brown’s club won even though they were downright awful from the foul line in the game.

The Trojans were just 9-of-24 from the stripe but made enough of them in the fourth quarter as a team (5-of-7) to stay undefeated.

“I think that this is the fourth time we have been to the championship game here at this tournament and a couple of them were overtime games,” said Crab Orchard head coach Jon Brown. “Tonight we battled back and fought off some foul problems. We didn’t shoot free throws well but we made some down the stretch.”

Actually the Trojans had played in six previous Conrad Allen title games but had never won the championship.

That all changed on Saturday night as Crab Orchard finalized a 5-0 week-long title run to win the 56th Annual event.

Following Johnson in scoring was Adam Perry with 11 points and Dylan Hutson with 10.

Zeigler-Royalton lost its second tournament title game of the season after finishing runner-up to Sesser-Valier in the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Tornadoes are now 8-4 on the year.

Z-R put four players in double-figures in scoring – paced by Jimmy Stevens with 21 points. Tyler Mitchell added 17 for Coach Jamie Moyers’ club that also included 11 points from Jake Wawczak and 10 points from Kyle Stubblefield.

Z-R was on the brink of ending Crab Orchard’s 13-game winning streak but coughed the ball up five times in the fourth quarter.

Those mistakes - and Johnson making some big plays - doomed Z-R on this night.

“He (Johnson) is one of the nicest point-guards you are going to see. He is a good player and he is difficult to guard,” said Z-R head coach Jamie Moyers.

Johnson scored eight of his points in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Kissing came off the bench in the second half after being in foul trouble early and he scored on a pair of moves near the basket to help get his team some separation.

Leading just 46-45 – Crab Orchard used those two scores to begin a 10-2 run in the final quarter.

Johnson got loose for two buckets on drives to the basket.

The second shot on a move in the paint with 3:29 left made it 52-47 and forced a Z-R timeout.

“The job he (Johnson) has done handling the ball and pushing this team is remarkable,” said Brown. “The energy he plays with and the effort he puts forth on the defensive end is sensational.”

A rebound basket by Perry – his fifth rebound of the game off of a Lorence Killen missed 3-pointer – pushed the lead to seven.

“We’ve done a great job of crashing the boards this year and offensively when we have struggled we have gotten some second chances,” added Brown. “Adam Perry is undersized but he has a lot of heart and a lot of strength. Tonight Lorence Killen did a great job defensively getting his hands on passes and causing a lot of their (Zeigler-Royalton) turnovers. Him and Perry are our seniors and they came up big. This is their last year and they wanted to win this tournament bad.”

Mitchell added a couple of late baskets for Z-R and Stevens added a pair of 3-pointers to keep the game close.

However Crab Orchard didn’t allow the score to get below what turned out to be the final margin.

Combining that 10-2 run in the fourth quarter and a 10-1 sprint in the third quarter – Crab Orchard took home the title and will enter the new year undefeated and likely headed for some respect around the area in Class 1A.

“We’re thrilled all the way around about our team and our start to the season,” Brown added. “I can’t say enough about these kids and their work-ethic has just been unbelievable. They have worked hard and they are very easy to coach. They didn’t quit tonight – they played 32 minutes like we preach to them.”

Zeigler-Royalton was the aggressor in the early going of the title tilt with Mitchell, Stevens and Stubblefield all finding the mark in the first quarter.

The Tornadoes held their largest lead of the night early when Mitchell finished a fast break and an 8-2 run for a 12-6 advantage with 1:20 left in the opening frame.

But Crab Orchard answered every Z-R move.

Perry cashed in a rebound and Hutson banked home a buzzer beating 3-pointer to cut the lead to just 12-11.

The second quarter nearly ended the Trojans title hopes when they wilted to just 2-of-9 from the foul line.

Zeigler-Royalton – however – couldn’t capitalize on the failures.

Matching its biggest lead of the game with a score by Stubblefield on a pass from Wawczak with 2:30 left before halftime making it 26-20 – Z-R looked to pull away before the half.

But baskets by Perry, Johnson and Killen closed out the quarter at an even 28-all for Crab Orchard.

The Tornadoes final advantage came on a 5-point run by Mitchell in the first two minutes of the third quarter.

This 6-foot-3 senior forward connected on mid-range shot and a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to make it 33-29.

Both Perry and Kissing went to the bench in the middle of the third stanza with four fouls each – picked up just :14 apart – but Crab Orchard circled the wagons and held the lead the remainder of the quarter shorthanded.

“A key stretch for us was in the third quarter with Perry and Kissing both in foul trouble,” Brown said. “We switched to a zone and our people off the bench did a good job.”

Kissing and Killen both came up with key steals in the final quarter and Killen’s rebound basket with just under a minute left closed pushed the lead to an insurmountable 60-51.

“The one run that they made in the third quarter really hurt us tonight,” added Moyers. “I don’t know what we shot tonight but it wasn’t very good.”

Zeigler-Royalton squeaked out a 37-36 rebounding edge but didn’t connect from the floor nearly as well as the Trojans.

The Tornadoes were just 25-of-64 overall (39 percent) and hit just 4-of-19 from behind the 3-point arc.

Crab Orchard hit the same amount of field goals (25) but hit a better percentage (25-of-56) overall.

Each club committed 10 turnovers but Z-R had five of those melt-down’s in the fourth quarter.

“We have been in games where we took advantage of that (other teams’ turnovers) but tonight we didn’t,” finalized Moyers – whose team must now prepare for the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament that begins the day after Christmas. “You have to give them credit. They (Crab Orchard) did what they had to do. They made the shots and they made the plays.”

The Tornadoes are the seventh seed at the S-VHT and will play Cobden at noon on Saturday in a rematch of the two team’s semifinal game at the Christopher Tourney – won by Z-R 51-50.

Crab Orchard can now get to work and prepare for the Greater Egyptian Conference schedule in January with a game at Galatia on January 5.

“I told the players back when we had our preseason meeting I thought we had a chance to be an exceptional club,” finalized Brown. “I credit most of that to their work habits and getting themselves into outstanding physical shape. I think that showed tonight over 32 minutes.”

Chad Smith led all scorers for Edwards County – who finished the event 4-1 and stand 9-3 overall – with 24 points.

Smith helped keep the Warriors at bay by hitting 4-of-6 fourth quarter free throws.

Ed Co. teammates Michael Aaron, Ryan Head and Nathan Winemiller all added 11 points in the win.

Patoka (9-4 overall, 3-2 in the tournament) got 20 points from Luke Murfin, 13 from Drew Baldridge and 12 from Sawyer Potter.

Patoka led 30-17 midway through the second quarter but Edwards County came back with a strong second half and a 10-of-12 effort from the foul line in the final period.

Four players hit for double-figures for the Indians with Zach Merritt topping the club with 18 points.

Cody Thomason and Tyler Porter added 11 each while Trevor Shreve pitched in 10.

WC is now 7-4 on the season and finished the week 3-2.