02-05-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - Seven different players scored points on Tuesday night as the host Woodlawn Cardinals took a step toward a Mid-South Conference title with a victory over Grayville.

The Cardinals used a late run in the final quarter to rally past Grayville 50-42 at home.

Connecting on 7-of-8 free throws in the final 2:03 of the contest the Cardinals stayed even with Waltonville in the loss column of the league standings with the victory over the Bison.

Grayville saw its chances for the conference crown slip along with their record to 3-3 in the league and 14-7 overall.

Three of the Bison scored double figures for Coach Will Knight but the totals just didn't add up for a road victory.

Drew DiMaggio topped the list with 15 points to lead all scorers while Taylor Lynn and Mikey Brown chipped in 11 and 10 points

None of that mattered to Woodlawn who took command late in the game.

The Birds erased a 39-35 Grayville lead when brothers Bronson and Dawson Verhines nailed consecutive 3-pointers to give the Cards back the advantage for good.

When Dawson – a 5-foot-9 freshman - found the range with 4:24 remaining Woodlawn led 41-39.

Hart followed up those trifectas with a drive to the basket to close the 8-0 game-changing run.

Grayville would score just three points (DiMaggio free throws) the rest of the way.

“We knew what we were playing for tonight (conference importance) but we didn't want to put any additional pressure on ourselves,” said Woodlawn mentor Shane Witzel – whose team is now 5-1 in the MSC and 15-9 overall. “We missed a lot of lay ups and turned the ball over but on a positive note we hit our free throws down the stretch and didn't have a turnovers in the fourth quarter. We had some different kids step up at different times of the second half tonight.”

Jesse Hart – a 5-foot-7 junior guard – sparked the Woodlawn win with 14 points while 6-foot-1 junior Kyle Boldt (who hadn't played in four weeks due to a shoulder injury) came off the bench for Coach Shane Witzel's team to add seven points and four rebounds.

Woodlawn made its first move in the opening minutes of the contest by getting a transition score from Hart to give the Cards a 6-2 lead.

The Bison trailed just 12-11 at the first horn thanks to a pair of baskets by Brown and a Taylor Milligan 3-pointer.

Grayville had two significant runs in the contest with the first one occurring in the early part of the second quarter.

Logan Bailey, DiMaggio and Lynn all scored in an 8-2 run that turned a 15-11 Cards lead into a 19-17 Bison advantage.

Boldt grabbed a rebound and stuck it back home while being fouled by DiMaggio with 1:58 remaining.

His made free throw gave Woodlawn back the lead at 22-21.

Grayville took its biggest lead with a run that closed the half and opened the third stanza.

Lynn hit a 3-pointer with :33 remaining until intermission which followed a free throw by Bailey.

Those four points gave Grayville a 25-22 lead at the break.

Woodlawn responded with Hart scoring seven of his points in succession in the third quarter.

A drive to the basket followed by a pair of free throws started the run.

Then Hart took a pass from Dawson Verhines and canned a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Cardinals a 29-27 which forced a Grayville timeout.

“Jesse (Hart) had a really good stretch offensively where he hit a couple of shots for us and Jase (Green) came off the bench and had a couple of big baskets,” added Witzel. “Dawson (Verhines) hit a couple of shots so it wasn't just one guy. We had a combination of people doing the job.”

Grayville appeared ready to snatch a road win away from the Cardinals in the final moments of the third quarter with a carryover into the final eight minutes – its second big scoring run.

DiMaggio, Bailey and Lynn combined to score the final six points of the third quarter.

When Lynn converted a fast break into points with under a minute left – the Bison headed to the bench with a 33-29 lead.

After Jase Green evened the game for Woodlawn with a drive to the basket with 5:23 remaining – Grayville got back-to-back baskets by DiMaggio and Lynn to give the Bison back lead at 39-35.

However the Lynn score on a reverse lay in was the last field goal from the Bison.

The final 5:20 belonged to the hosts.

The consecutive 3-pointers by the Verhines' boys and the made charity tosses finalized an important MSC win with a rematch looming next Tuesday at Grayville.

Woodlawn did a good job running a delay offense in the final minutes and made good on its opportunities at the foul line.

“I was impressed with their (Woodlawn) poise tonight when they pulled it out late and ran clock,” added Knight talking about the young Cardinals being able to protect the lead late in the game. “Running their delay offense they showed that they are a well coached team. That is what you have to do in those situations protecting a lead. As young as they are that has to make Coach Witzel happy.”

The Cardinals were 16-of-40 from the floor overall with 4-of-12 3-point shots made while holding a 26-23 rebounding edge.

Woodlawn was an excellent 14-of-18 from the foul line including those 7-of-8 in the final moments.

Following Hart on the scoring list was Dawson and Bronson Verhines with 11 and nine points respectively.

Boldt followed with his seven points that were very important coming off the Cardinals bench.

“Having Boldt back is a positive for us also,” added Witzel. “It will take him a while to get back into the swing of things. Having him back will only make us better. The good thing tonight was that we had different lineups during different stretches of the game contribute to this win. To be good you have to have a solid bench.”

Grayville was 17-of-44 from the field and just 3-of-9 from behind the arc.

Woodlawn will host Cisne on Friday night before taking on the top ranked ABV Carbondale Supersectional Class 1A team from Mounds Meridian at the Waltonville Shootout on Saturday.

Grayville returns to action Friday night when it hosts Webber Township.

Grayville (42) - Milligan 0 1 0-0 3, Sexton 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey 0 1 0-0 3, Brown 4 0 2-5 10, DiMaggio 6 0 3-4 15, Lynn 4 1 0-1 11.
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-5-10, PF-16.
Woodlawn (50) - B. Verhines 0 2 3-4 9, Green 2 0 2-2 6, Shurtz 1 0 0-0 2, Boldt 3 0 1-1 7, Hart 3 1 5-7 14, Hammond 0 0 1-2 1, Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, D. Verhines 3 1 2-2 11.
2FG-28, 3FG-1, FT-12-24, PF-22.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.