02-03-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - The top team in the ABV Carbondale Supersectional area rankings and number four in the Associated Press Class A poll showed Saturday night that they are much more than a one-man show - again.

All-State 'shoe-in' Lucas O'Rear had just an average game by his standards – 12 points and 11 rebounds.

But his teammates – most notably Tommy Pelczynski and Blaine Morris – picked up the offensive slack in a 64-42 win over highly-regarded Vienna in the second boy's game of the Nashville Shootout held Saturday night.

The 6-foot-4 Pelczynski hit a trio of important 3-pointers against Vienna's zone defense on the way to a game-high 13-points while Morris added 11.

All the while the Hornets were holding the normally high-scoring Eagles to a season-low 42 points.

Six-foot-eleven junior Brett Thompson was also kept in check with just seven points and four rebounds.

Despite a off-night shooting (22-of-54 overall) Nashville improved to 25-0 on the season while Vienna saw its record dip to 18-6.

“They did some things with him (Thompson) and his size really effected us,” said Nashville head coach Darin Lee. “We couldn't just pound it into Lucas and draw a clean double-team like we're used to. There aren't many 6-foot-11 kids around. With his size that is why he is getting D-I looks.”

The key stat that showed the Hornets' dominance was a 35-21 rebounding edge – holding Vienna to just five offensive rebounds.

“Rebounding flat out killed us tonight,” said Vienna head coach Rick Metcalf. “The sorrowful part is that it was our four and five guys that got rebounds. We didn't box out and we didn't jump. It was simple things like that that got us beat. Our one-two-and-three players - our big guns - didn't play well.”

Vienna had a couple of early leads in a sluggish first quarter.

Derek Trovillion scored on a drive to the basket with 3:51 left to make it 6-4 Eagles.

But Nashville scored eleven consecutive points – none of which were scored by O'Rear.

Pelczynski scored five of those points on a 3-pointer and also a drive through a wide-open lane.

Blaine Morris and Matt Engele each picked up points in the run that ended the quarter at 15-6 Nashville.

Vienna showed some early game jitters – committing seven first quarter turnovers against Nashville's man-to-man defense.

But Nashville couldn't shake loose from the Eagles in the second quarter.

Back-to-back buckets by Kyle Willis and Trovillion cut the score down to 17-12 with 5:44 to go.

However Thompson picked up his third foul at the 4:21 mark and eventually ended up on the Vienna bench late in the second quarter.

Nashville scored six straight points to expand the lead back to double-digits.

O'Rear scored a pair of baskets in the run on an offensive rebound and a hook shot over Thompson – who with three fouls didn't put up much resistance.

Another basket from O'Rear and a pair of free throws by Engele ended the half at 29-18 Hornets.

After missing 13 shots in the first quarter - including eight two-point field goal attempts – the Hornets heated up with a 5-of-6 performance from in close in the second frame.

“We just missed too many good ones early,” said Coach Lee. “Some of them weren't as clean of looks as we needed but we got some down in the second quarter and the second half.”

An 8-2 run by Nashville to open the third quarter put Vienna away.

Pelczynski and Engele each hit 3-pointers in the run and Ryan Keller got into the scoring act on a short baseline shot to make it 37-20 with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter.

Reserve Chris Nichols came off the Vienna bench and scored a team-best 12 points.

His fast break score with 2:38 to go cut the Nashville advantage to just 38-27 with 2:38 left.

“He (Nichols) did what a point guard is supposed to do – penetrate and dish and he also hit some shots for us,” added Metcalf. “Isaiah (Cornelius) has been sick and Chris stepped in tonight and played well.”

But Nashville again pulled away with O'Rear hitting a pair of free throws to go with baskets from Dillon York and Brandon Reckmann.

York's bucket came on an assist from O'Rear after the 6-foot-7 senior made a steal and fed York for a transition score.

Reckmann drove the lane for a lay in just before the third quarter horn to make it 45-31 heading into the final eight minutes.

A 15-2 run to start the fourth quarter was the knockout blow.

Pelczynski struck again from behind the 3-point line - as did York - and a conventional 3-point play by Morris as Thompson picked up his fourth personal foul made it 54-33 with just under five minutes remaining.

Thompson scored five of his seven points in the final minutes on a 3-pointer from the left wing and a spin move in the lane – both window dressing in nature.

“He has a ways to go but he is going to get better and get his school paid for,” said Lee about Thompson. “You have to give them (Vienna) credit, they have a nice club and they play hard.”

Following Pelczynski (13) and O'Rear (12) Morris finished with 11 points with Reckmann adding seven.

Nine Hornets scored points in the eventual rout as Nashville took advantage of the Eagles foul problems with a 15-of-22 effort from the foul line.

The Eagles were just 17-of-43 from the field and just 2-of-10 from behind the 3-point chalk.

After Nichols' 12 – Coach Metcalf's club had no other double-digit scorers. Trovillion scored eight points and Willis added six.

“We took a lot of bad shots tonight,” added Metcalf. “Instead of making one more or and extra pass, we took shots too quick. This was the first time our kids got down by that many points and I think it will be a good experience for us. Our four previous losses were by a total of 13 points. I hate to say it was a good loss but I think we grew up a little bit tonight.”

In the lopsided win the Hornets proved once again that defensively they can more than hold their own.

“We just kinda guard everybody. We were pretty good defensively and I was pretty sure that Keller and O'Rear could handle him (Thompson) one-on-one,” added Coach Lee. “Most teams don't have two guys that they could put on him and that makes a big difference.”

Coach Lee has some ties to the Vienna area having started his head coaching career there in 1989. His two-year won/loss total was 39-15 at the school.

“I have a lot of friends in Vienna and there is a lot of good people down there,” added Lee. “I talked to several of those people before the game. It is a good place. I was very fortunate to get a job there being that young.”

In other boy's games at the Shootout - Vandalia held off Columbia 51-44 while Waterloo Gibault topped Marissa-Coulterville 55-44.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Vienna	6	12	13	11	-	42
Nashville	15	14	16	19	-	64

Vienna (42) – Willis 2 0 2-2 6, Watts 0 1 0-0 3, Cornelius 0 0 0-0 0, Trovillion 3 0 2-4 8, Thompson 2 1 0-2 7, De La Cruz 0 0 0-0 0, Nichols 6 0 0-0 12, Lasley 2 0 2-2 6, Stram 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Stevens 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-6-10, PF-16.
Nashville (64) – Reckmann 2 0 3-4 7, Morris 4 0 3-4 11, Weathers 1 0 2-3 4, Engele 1 1 0-0 5, Pelczynski 1 3 2-2 13, Conner 1 0 0-0 2, York 1 1 0-0 5, O'Rear 5 0 2-2 12, Keller 1 0 3-7 5.
2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-15-22, PF-7.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.