01-14-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN – The Woodlawn Cardinals have notched some very important wins in the school's long basketball history but perhaps none bigger for a regular season game than its triumph Saturday night at home.

Dealing with a very emotional situation for the community in the past few days this team stepped up with a big effort against a 3A southern Illinois powerhouse.

Coach Shane Witzel's team force the Herrin Tigers into 20-turnovers and used an 11-0 run to begin to the second half to power an impressive 61-55 victory.

The high school had to deal with an accident that took the life of the mother of two of the Cardinals cheerleaders this past Thursday and the team could have postponed or canceled this contest.

However the Cardinals wanted to play and Woodlawn didn't waste the opportunity as they outplayed Herrin in front of a large crowd.

Christian Hollenkamp and Gabe Owens sparked the Cardinals with 20 and 19 points respectively as Woodlawn improved to 14-2 on the season.

“We had a tough game at Massac Count last night but that's no excuse,” said Herrin head coach Irv Lukens. “We've got to come and play every night. It's a very big game for them (Woodlawn) and we've got to come out and play and we had some key individuals that didn't.”

Coach Witzel's team, after spotting Herrin an early 7-0 lead, settled in and battled the rest of the way.

Breaking a 27-all intermission deadlock, Woodlawn opened the second half with a big run against a Herrin squad that had picked up a big win on Friday night at Massac County but didn't play well against the 1A Cardinals.

“Our prayers are with the Tufts' family and it has been a tough week around here and it definitely keeps things in perspective and everyone has been effected by this,” said Coach Witzel. “This tragedy has been tough for us to deal with but it was good to see the kids come out and we played pretty well for the most part. We didn't have a very good first quarter. We didn't guard very well and were careless with the ball. The next three quarters we played pretty well.”

Herrin saw its mark slip to 12-4 on the year despite a team-best 21-points from senior Demarlo Harris.

Haris, a 6-foot-3 forward, was too much for the Cardinals to handle early.

Harris scored eight points in the opening quarter and teammate Alex Davis helped Harris with five early points as the Tigers opened up with seven consecutive points.

Davis made a spin move to the basket while being fouled by Hollenkamp for a conventional three-point play.

Herrin led 17-11 at the first horn with Nathan Lukens scoring four of his points late in the frame on a back door pass from Harris and later a pair of free throws.

The Cardinals opened the second quarter with Hollenkamp dialing long distance for a pair of 3-pointers.

His second one followed by an AJ Webb scored on a lay up on a lob pass from Logan Isaac gave the Cards their first lead at 21-19 with 4:38 to play in the second quarter.

Owens scored four of his points late in the second quarter and his drive in the lane gave Woodlawn back the lead at 27-25.

Herrin's Bobbie Mannie, who is normally a double-digit scorer, was held to just four points on the night but his second basket in the first half evened things at 27-all at the break.

“They (Herrin) were really hurting us inside. But we did a pretty good job,” added Witzel. “Logan (Isaac) is giving up a size advantage but he is pretty quick and he is a pretty smart player. We were able to dig down and help off on some of their other players. AJ (Webb) did a great job on Mannie. He did a great job on his dribble penetration.”

Woodlawn came out of intermission with a scoring blitz with four different players getting involved.

Webb, Owens and Isaac all had baskets in the first 1:06 of the third quarter.

Kris Harlow grabbed a rebound on Woodlawn's next trip down the floor and his putback forced Coach Irv Lukens to burn a Herrin timeout at 35-27.

Owens closed the run with a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc as Herrin was officially in danger of being upset at 38-27.

Herrin did rally at the end of the quarter and appeared to have awoke from its slumber.

Trailing 44-34 following yet another Owens score, the Tigers made its best move of the night.

Back-to-back trifectas from Nathan Lukens and a score in the post by Antuan Davis closed the quarter at 44-42 Woodlawn.

Harris opened the fourth quarter with a shot in the paint to tie the contest at 44-apiece.

But again Woodlawn put together another run to take control.

Owens fed Harlow for yet another lay in and then the 6-foot-5 Owens guard drilled home yet another 3-pointer for a 49-44 advantage.

Back-to-back scores from Hollenkamp and Isaac forced yet another Herrin timeout as the Tigers trailed 53-46.

A steal and fast break lay in by Antuan Davis and a 3-pointer by Justin Lukens got Herrin as close as it would get at 53-51.

The Cardinals closed out the contest with yet another lay up on a back door cut by Isaac and then six consecutive made free throws.

Hollenkamp nailed four of those charities and when the 6-foot-5 senior nailed two of them at :20.6 remaining, Woodlawn led 59-53.

Harris, who scored six more points in the fourth quarter, added the final Herrin points with :13 left.

Owens was fouled and closed the scoring and the victory with two more made free throws.

Herrin can look at its turnovers as a impediment, with six of those miscues coming in the final quarter as the Tigers rally fell short.

Woodlawn and Herrin both shot the ball well on the night,

The Cardinals were 21-of-44 overall while the Tigers were 24-of-47.

Herrin held a slight 20-18 rebounding edge but the Cardinals committed just 13-turnovers.

Nathan Lukens followed Harris in scoring for Herrin with 10-points.

Woodlawn's balance included 10-points from Webb and six points each from Harlow and Isaac.

“We are averaging about eight or nine turnovers and when you have that many turnovers (20) you're not going to win those games,” added Coach Lukens. “We've proved that we can't win games with 20-some turnovers. And that's not with pressure, either. They (Woodlawn) didn't pressure us one time tonight as far as full court or anything. We just can't do that, make that many mistakes.”

Herrin (55) – N. Lukens 1 2 2-2 10, Alex Davis 3 0 1-1 7, J. Lukens 1 1 0-0 7, Mannie 2 0 0-0 4, Harris 10 0 1-2 21, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Hoague 2 0 0-0 4, Antuan Davis 2 0 0-1 4.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-4-6, PF-12.
Woodlawn (61) – Owens 4 3 2-2 19, Webb 3 1 1-2 10, Isaac 3 0 0-0 6, Hollenkamp 5 2 4-4 20, Harlow 3 0 0-0 6, Hapeman 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Kennedy 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-6, FT-7-8, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.