01-08-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
CENTRALIA – In a marquee match-up of highly regarded backcourt specialists at the Centralia Shootout on Saturday afternoon – it was one of the overlooked kids that played the key role in giving Flora a come-from-behind victory.

While guards Paul Knapp of Flora and Dawson Verhines of Woodlawn were putting on a show – it was 6-foot senior forward Austin Lewis who provided a couple of big plays in the final minutes to preserve the 48-46 triumph for Coach Phil Leib's squad.

Lewis scored 10-points for the 12-5 club but none were bigger than his 3-point bomb that gave Flora a 46-44 advantage with 2:34 remaining.

Then he made the defensive play of the game in the final seconds as he stole the ball away from Verhines as the clock ran out on the win.

Woodlawn had called a timeout with :04.8 remaining for a final shot to tie or win the contest – but Lewis made the game saving steal as the Cardinals saw their record slip to 12-3.

“Austin (Lewis) had a wonderful game today. He attacked the basket under control and he challenged the Wiggs kid and got to the line for us a few times (4-of-4) and then he knocks down a couple of 3's for us,” said Coach Leib. “We didn't utilize Knapp as much as we would have liked but a lot of that had to do with their (Woodlawn's) defense. But Paul is just Paul and he is able to get his shot when he wants to. We aren't just one dimensional – we have other players that fulfill their roles.”

Flora rallied for the win with an outstanding effort from the foul line.

The Wolves were a scorching 16-of-19 from the stripe.

Knapp topped the Flora scoring with 22-points while Woodlawn's Verhines led all scorers with 23.

A strong defensive effort from both teams kept the scoring and shooting percentages down as neither team shot the ball as well as usual.

The Cardinals were just 16-of-43 from the field (37 percent) while Flora hit just 28 percent of its attempts (14-of-49).

“We guarded pretty good and offensively we didn't turn it over a lot. I thought we controlled our game and executed our game-plan defensively,” said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel. “48-points? I'm not sure how many teams could hold them (Flora) to 48-points.”

Woodlawn started off well but cooled down after an impressive first quarter.

Coach Witzel's team used a 9-0 run to close out the first frame with an eight point advantage.

Verhines scored nine of his points in the first eight minutes and topped off the run with a trifecta from the top of the arc.

Woodlawn guard Gabe Owens also hit a 3-pointer in the scoring jaunt as Woodlawn turned an 11-10 deficit into a 19-11 lead after the first quarter.

Flora finally got going offensively in the second quarter to close the gap.

Knapp – a 6-foot-1 junior guard – scored twice to open the second quarter and his fast break score with 5:55 left forced a Woodlawn timeout at 21-15 Cardinals.

Nick Painter scored in the lane on a drive to the basket that brought Flora to within 26-24.

A Verhines spin move in the lane for a 10-foot made basket and 1-of-2 free throws by Flora's Kole Greenwood closed the half at 28-25 Woodlawn.

Verhines scored 16-points in the first two quarters to lead his club.

“He (Verhines) is just a very talented player and Coach Witzel does a great job with his program,” finalized Coach Leib. “Woodlawn has just so many aspects to their offense and we did a good job today because the Owens kid got just the one 3-pointer. They have a lot of weapons and are a quality club and they deserve to be ranked as high as they are.”

Knapp got his team back into the running with eight points in the third quarter.

He hit a pair of shots early and his 18-footer from the top of the arc forced yet another Woodlawn timeout at 29-all with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Verhines kept his team ahead in the quarter with a pair of scores and a nice assist to close the stanza.

A steal and a fast break bucket followed by a nice post up move from the left blocks put his club up 35-31.

Then - with Woodlawn holding for a final shot – Verhines found Christian Hollenkamp underneath the basket for a short bank shot that beat the buzzer for a 37-35 lead heading to the final quarter.

The Cardinals can point to some missed opportunities in the fourth quarter as a turning point in the defeat.

Woodlawn was just 3-of-6 from the foul line in the final 5:14 of the contest and misfired on all three of its 3-point attempts.

After 6-foot-7 senior Josh Wiggs scored on a move in the lane to give Woodlawn back the lead at 44-43 – Lewis and Painter came up big.

With the contest even at 46-all – Woodlawn's Jeremy Aparicio was called for a foul on Flora's Painter right in front of the scorers bench with :07.1 left.

Painter calmly made both foul shots to put Flora up for keeps.

After a Woodlawn time out at mid-court – Lewis made his defensive play that made winners out of Coach Leib's team.

After Verhines' 23-points Woodlawn got 11-points and 10-rebounds from Wiggs while Hollenkamp added six. Owens and AJ Webb each hit 3-point shots for three points apiece.

Painter and Greenwood added to the Flora totals with seven and six points respectively.

Flora held a 28-20 rebounding edge while Woodlawn committed just six turnovers compared to nine by the Wolves.

“This was just a good Class 1A-2A battle today,” said Coach Leib. “I thought they had a good first quarter but I think we won the next three.”

“Our kids are disappointed and they should be because we controlled that game the whole way and at the end I felt like we still had a chance to win,” said Coach Witzel. “We had a couple of bad things happen at the end and sometimes those things happen. Overall I think we played a pretty good game. We can't feel too sorry for ourselves about this one because we play a couple of pretty good teams on the road coming up.”

Flora (48) – Taylor 0 0 3-4 3, Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Leib 0 0 0-0 0, Greenwood 2 0 2-3 6, Knapp 7 1 5-6 22, Painter 1 1 2-2 7, Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 2 4-4 10. 2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT- 16-19, PF-16.
Woodlawn (46) – Aparicio 0 0 0-0 0, Webb 0 1 0-0 3, Owens 0 1 0-0 3, Verhines 5 3 4-6 23, Isaac 0 0 0-0 0, Hollenkamp 3 0 0-0 6, Wiggs 3 0 5-8 11. 2FG-11, 3FG-5, FT-9-14, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Greenwood - Flora.
Technical Fouls – None.

In other games at the Centralia Shootout - Madison defeated Wesclin, 77-66; Belleville Althoff downed Alton, 45-43 and Centralia beat Champaign Centennial 52-41. In a girls game Centralia downed Okawville 55-37.