12-05-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALBION - The Edwards County Lions finished the 2013-14 season with just a 12-14 record and for the most part they were just an afterthought in southern Illinois hoops and in the Little Illini Conference.

But with a new coach and philosophy in place and renewed vigor in their collective steps, these Lions have restored some roar to the boy's basketball program.

In just 12 days since the regular season opened, Edwards County has already won half as many games as last winter.

Head coach Russ Gerlach's Lions' jumped out on Casey-Westfield at home on Friday night, held off a third quarter rally from the visitors and made the plays down the stretch when they counted.

Edwards County edged C-W, 54-51, to improve to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the LIC.

Coach Gerlach, an alumni of this school in Albion, has gotten the most out of this club in the early going of the season and they have passed every test and cleared every obstacle in 2014-15.

Champions of the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament, the Lions edged a highly regarded club in opening the conference season.

“We struggled a bit there in the third quarter and we had way too many turnovers obviously but in the fourth quarter they (the Lions) sucked it up, played hard and took care of the basketball better,” said Coach Gerlach. “We made enough shots down the stretch to win the ballgame.”

Edwards County was led by some key players on Friday night in their home opener at Linda Oxby Gymnasium.

Six-foot-four senior Chase Hortin showed in a couple of key moments in the game that, contrary to the popular movie, “White Men Can Jump.”

Hortin led the Lions with 15-points and he threw down a pair of two-handed dunks in the contest. Despite missing some practice time with the flu this week, Hortin came up big.

His younger brother, 5-foot-9 sophomore Lukas Hortin, added 10-points.

The balanced scoring came from Cherokee Metcalf with eight points along with six-points each from Gabe Smith and Maverick Troyer.

For the Casey-Westfield club, head coach Jason Hanson saw his squad rally to take a lead in the third quarter only to fall short at the end.

A highly ranked team in the preseason (ABV 1A number one) with early season injuries to deal with, fell to 0-2.

Starters Corey Carver, a 6-foot-5 junior, and senior guard Cody Hollensbe, have been out with injuries and Isaac Elkins came back for this game but wasn't nearly 100 percent.

The tale of the tape told the tale of this outcome.

The Warriors didn't shoot the ball well and the defensive effort by the Lions was the key factor.

Casey-Westfield wasn't very good from the floor or the foul line.

The Warriors finished 21-of-63 overall (2-of-13 from 3-point land) and just 7-of-16 from the charity stripe.

That is a formula for a defeat when playing on the road.

“When you don't take care of the ball, you don't make your free throws and you miss a lot of open looks its going to hurt your chances,” said Coach Hanson. “We are just not very good right now. But I was proud of the kid, we played hard and we are getting better. That is the most important thing.”

Edwards County kept the Warriors out of the paint for the most part and, when they needed it most, the Lions got the stops on the defensive end.

The hosts went on a 9-0 run in the first quarter, highlighted by a two-handed jam by Chase Hortin.

Even though he was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim for too long, the dunk was a spark for his club and the large home crowd on this rainy Friday evening.

Metcalf and Smith each scored in the final minute of the quarter for Edwards County, who led 17-10 at the horn.

“All of our big kids played well tonight. Chase has been gone a couple of days with the flu but he came off the bench for us and helped. Maverick (Troyer) and Cherokee (Metcalf) all played well for us and did a good job of attacking the glass and the posted up well,” added Coach Gerlach. “They are willing to share the basketball together.”

The Lions continued their hot streak in the second quarter, getting a pair of baskets by the Brothers' Hortin, for a 22-11 lead, which forced Coach Hanson to burn a timeout.

Casey-Westfield had some bright spots and one of them was Trey Thompson, a 5-foot-10 senior guard.

Thompson scored five-consecutive points and a drive to the basket, a steal and fast break lay in and 1-of-2 free throws.

But Edwards County answered the run with C. Hortin delivering a pair of inside baskets as the teams went to intermission with the Lions on top, 27-16.

The Warriors limped into the locker room after a horrendous first half in which they missed 21 field goal attempts and committed nine turnovers.

Casey-Westfield rallied in the third quarter, outscoring the hosts 18-5 to take a brief 34-32 lead.

The Warriors forced Edwards County into 12-turnovers.

Six-foot-four senior Parker Buenzli scored inside twice in the run and Dylan Lawrence, a 6-foot-1 senior forward scored eight points in the frame.

Lawrence picked up two early fouls in the first quarter and sat on the pine for the remainder of the first half.

But he helped push the Warriors back into contention and, when his drive to the basket while being fouled by Metcalf resulted in a score, C-W had evened the game at 32-all with 1:26 left in the third.

A lay in by Buenzli gave the Warriors the lead heading into the fourth.

The Lions, despite the third quarter issues, were not going to let this victory slip away.

Edwards County immediately got the advantage back as they were much better from the foul line than their opponent on this night.

The hosts were 14-of-18 from the line in the final stanza.

Four straight made charities by C. Hortin and 5-foot-9 senior guard Logan Potter and a score on a drive by L. Hortin pushed the Lions to a 38-34 lead.

The Warriors had chances to get this victory but were just 2-of-6 from the foul line in the final minutes.

Casey-Westfield tied the game up twice in the final minute.

A drive to the basket by 5-foot-10 junior Payton Chism evened the score at 51-apiece.

Potter was fouled by Lawrence, who was disqualified with his fifth personal, with :12.1 at the game still tied.

Potter, who hit for 5-of-6 in the quarter, hit the second of the two shot trip to the line for a 52-51 lead.

Casey-Westfield could have erased most of the memories of a poor showing on this night with a score in the final seconds.

At this point, Edwards County's defense stepped up and forced a key turnover.

While working for a final shot, Chism was whistled for traveling with :04.0 on a drive toward the basket.

Forced to foul, C-W put Lukas Hortin on the line with :02.9 left.

The sophomore calmly nailed both free throws for a 54-51 lead.

The Warriors got the ball in to Thompson but his shot from just inside the half-court line banked off the glass and to the floor as Edwards County picked up the hard fought conference triumph.

“We didn't shoot very well but part of that was Edwards County. They guarded us well but we have some kids that have been out and are not in the best basketball shape yet but we will get there,” added Coach Hanson. “We've got some work to do but I think that we will be okay.”

The Lions finished the game shooting 18-of-42 (42.8 percent) overall and held a rebounding advantage of 34-26.

Despite 24-turnovers, 12 of which came in the third quarter, Coach Gerlach's club stayed undefeated.

Casey-Westfield will host Cumberland on Tuesday night while Edwards County plays host to Flora on the same evening.

“When I took over here I talked (to the kids) about how I want us to play defense. We want to force teams to beat us outside and not let them just drive down the middle on us,” said Coach Gerlach. “So far about 75 percent of the time this is working for us. When they all are working as a unit it works a lot better.”

Casey-Westfield (51) – Thompson 5 0 3-4 13, Lawrence 3 0 2-6 8, Chism 2 0 0-1 4, Hawker 0 0 0-0 0, Elkins 3 0 1-3 7, Fisher 2 2 0-0 10, Biggs 0 0 0-0 0, Buenzli 4 0 1-2 9.
2FG-19, 3FG-2, FT-6-17, PF-22.
Edwards County (54) – L. Hortin 4 0 2-2 10, Potter 0 0 5-6, Grimes 0 0 3-6 3, Smith 1 1 1-2 6, Mosson 0 0 1-2 1, Troyer 3 0 0-0 6, Schmittler 0 0 0-0 0, Metcalf 3 0 2-2 8, C. Hortin 6 0 3-6 15.
2FG-17, 3FG-1, FT-17-26, PF-15.
Fouled Out – , Lawrence, Buenzli - Casey-Westfield.
Technical Fouls – C. Hortin - Edwards County.