12/17/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - The Wayne City Indians were on the doorstep of taking home the program's 17th Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament championship on Saturday night.

The Indians led for most of the contest and had the North Clay Cardinals frustrated.

The hosts were executing their game-plan and 6-6 senior forward Justin Durham was proving to be a difficult match-up for the Cardinals.

But a pair of personal fouls in the final seconds of the third quarter changed the complexion of the title game.

Durham was whistled for his third foul on a charge and just few seconds later, with just :01.0 left, he picked up his fourth on a rebound attempt.

With Durham on the bench to begin the final eight minutes down 42-38, the Cardinals made their championship move.

North Clay opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run, with 6-1 senior Logan Fleener scoring six of his game-best 25 points in the run.

Six-three senior Alex Boose tossed in 12 points in the game, including a 3-pointer to close the run for a 50-42 Cardinals advantage.

“They (Wayne City) are kind of a match up problem with the Durham kid at 6-6 and he is really athletic. We struggled with him. In the first half we couldn't keep anyone out of the lane and it opened up all kinds of opportunities for them,” said Coach Zink. “We made a little bit of an adjustment for the second half and we tried to get him into some foul trouble and it worked out when he went out it was our time to hit the 'go button' and we did.”

As things unfolded in the final minutes, North Clay needed every one of their points as the Indians rallied in the final seconds to make it interesting.

Trailing 54-49 after a Fleener fast break dunk, Wayne City got a 3-pointer from 6-5 senior reserve Grayson Habermass to close the gap to 54-52 with :08 remaining.

North Clay could have iced the game with a pair of free throws but junior guard Ethan Kuenstler missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and the Indians had a shot at a win or tie.

However a 3-pointer from the left wing by senior Chase Smith missed and the rebound went to the Cardinals as the horn sounded on the two-point Cardinals' win.

Coach Jake Talbert got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Durham in the loss as the Tribe now sits at 7-4 on the season.

North Clay improved to 8-4 on the year with four consecutive wins at the WCHT.

Boose was second on the list with 12 points for North Clay while senior Levi Smith added six points.

Freshman Cody Zimdars (five), Kuenstler (four) and junior Jesse Weidner (two) also ended up in the score book as North Clay needed every point to take home the first place honors.

“Logan is a tremendous player and we are lucky to have him but we have other guys that can step up, too,” said Coach Zink. “When teams try to key on Logan, Alex steps up and he does that every night. We have kids with the ability to step up when we need them. In championship games you need kids to step up and it happened tonight. We have some pieces other than Logan and we sure are proud of them.”

Besides Durham, Wayne City got 12 points from senior guard Jonny Durham and 11 points from Habermass.

Six-three senior Grant Lewis added six points and WC got three points each from Smith and 6-1 junior Koby Anderson.

After a see-saw beginning, Wayne City got six consecutive points from a rebound by Lewis, and inside scores from Habermass and Justin Durham for a 12-6 lead with 3:14 left in the first quarter.

A pair of free throws from Fleener closed the scoring for the first quarter with the Cardinals down four.

North Clay rallied to tied the game in the second quarter only to give up another Indians' run.

Smith scored six of his points in the second quarter for the Cardinals and a fast break dunk by Boose tied the game at 22-22.

But a 9-2 scoring jaunt gave WC a 31-24 halftime advantage.

Anderson came off of the bench and hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and Justin Durham scored inside while being fouled by Weidner.

The senior nailed down the free throw and his brother closed the half with a trey from the left corner for a seven point halftime lead.

Wayne City took its largest advantage with another 3-pointer from Jonny Durham, one of his four made trifectas of the game, as the lead was 34-24 with 6:21 left in the third.

North Clay whittled into the Indians' lead with Boose scoring seven of his points in the quarter and Fleener hitting a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Justin Durham hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 42-38 spread before the two consecutive fouls sent him to the pine in what turned out to be the advantage the Cardinals needed to win their second title in the past three tournaments played and fourth overall.

A mainstay of this tournament for years, the Cardinals left the event but recently returned.

Neither team burned up the nets shooting the ball on Saturday night.

Unofficially North Clay ended up 23-of-51 from the floor, 4-of-12 from the arc while the hosts hit 20-of-47, 7-of-19, in the tight title game.

Wayne City held a slight 24-23 rebounding edge while the turnover advantage went to the Cardinals with eight turnovers compared to 14 for WC.

“We've been there before. We've played a really tough schedule and out of our games we have been down at half in at least five or six of them so I credit that to our schedule,” said Coach Zink. “Being tested a lot we don't panic because we've been there so many times. I think not panicking and staying with the plan. We needed to get the lead to get some stops for us to control the game. We were able to do that in the fourth,” said Coach Zink.

Cisne (59) – Harrell 0 0 0-1 0, A. Atwood 7 1 12-13 29, Best 1 0 3-4 5, Keck 2 2 1-2 11, Bowen 3 1 2-2 11, K. Atwood 0 1 0-0 3, Dagg 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-18-22, PF-5.
Lovejoy (52) – Lucas 5 2 2-3 18, Reed 5 0 0-0 10, Jordan 0 1 0-0 3, Jeremiah McLorn 3 0 0-2 6, Jeremy McLorn 1 4 1-1 15, Bowen 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-14, 3FG-7, FT-3-6, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

CRAB ORCHARD 74, WEBBER 71
Two long time WCHT rivals squared off in a shootout on Saturday with Crab Orchard winning the battle of Trojans.

Coach Jon Brown's club was topped by junior Robbie Rooker with 28 points to go with 18 points from junior Brinnen Norris.

Sophomore guard Cameron Clark added 12 points, including 6-of-6 from the line as Crab Orchard moved the won-loss mark to 10-2.

Junior Troy Robbins (eight), sophomore Ethan Travelstead (six) and junior Conner Richardson (two) rounded out the scoring in the fifth place game.

Webber Township dropped to 6-4 overall with the loss despite 25 points and six rebounds from 6-2 freshman Nathaniel Marlow.

Coach Brad Beaty's club also had 19 points and 10 rebounds from 6-8 senior Hunter Danberry.

Senior Elijah Marlow ended up with eight points, senior Aden Reed finished with seven points and the Trojans got six points apiece from junior Josh Lewis and senior Weston Hails.

Behind four 3-pointers, with two by Clark, Crab Orchard jumped out to a 23-12 first quarter lead.

Rooker hit two 3-pointers in the second quarter but Nathaniel Marlow scored 10 points before halftime to close the gap to just 37-35 at intermission.

Crab Orchard finished with nine made 3-pointers and closed the game with 5-of-8 from the foul line for the win, as they ended up 15-of-22 overall from the stripe.

Unofficially Crab out-rebounded Webber 26-25.

Webber Township (71) – Dansberry 6 0 7-11 19, Reed 3 0 1-1 7, W. Hails 2 0 2-2 6, E. Marlow 4 0 0-1 8, K. Hails 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 2 0 2-2 6, N. Marlow 4 5 2-2 25. 2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-14-19, PF-18.
Crab Orchard (74) –Rooker 6 4 4-5 28, Clark 0 2 6-6 12, Robbins 4 0 0-0 8, Throgmorton 0 0 0-2 0, Norris 4 2 4-6 18, Travelstead 1 1 1-1 6, Richardson 1 0 0-2 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-9, FT-15-22, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Reed, W. Hails - Webber Township; Robbins - Crab Orchard.
Technical Fouls – None.

GALLATIN COUNTY 52, EDWARDS COUNTY 38
The Hawks ended their week at 2-2 and improved to 4-6 on the season with a win over the Lions.

Rylie Rushing, a 6-7 senior, hit for 17 points and four rebounds and 6-4 junior Noah Richardson finished with 15 and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Grant Jackson (10) and junior Wyatt Fromm (five) added points in the win.

The Hawks hit 9-of-10 free throws, 7-of-7 in the fourth quarter, to hold on to the victory in the seventh place game.

The Lions fell to 4-7 overall with just three players scoring.

Six-two junior Anjuan Rhodes scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, sophomore Cy Nelson added 14 and senior Jake Gilliard scored four.

Edwards County (38) – Nelson 2 3 1-2 14, Correll 0 0 0-0 0, Rhodes 4 4 0-0 20, Grimes 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0 0-2 0, Gillard 2 0 0-0 4, Gerlach 0 0 0-0 0, Connor 0 0 0-0 0, Duncan 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-8, 3FG-7, FT-1-4, PF-12.
Gallatin County (52) – R. Rushing 6 1 2-3 17, Richardson 6 1 0-0 15, Fromm 1 0 3-3 5, Jackson 3 0 4-4 10, Sandifer 1 0 0-0 2, D. Rushing 0 1 0-0 3, Monroe 0 0 0-0 0, Walters 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-9-10, PF-9.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls – None.

SOUTH CENTRAL 55, HAMILTON COUNTY JV 36
The Cougars ended their week on a winning note with a triumph over the Foxes.

Five-eleven senior Aiden Dodson scored a team best 22 points in the victory that improved the SC mark to 5-4.

Senior Ethan Watwood added 18 in the win while senior Anthony Buonaura and sophomore Seth Bergmann notched five points each.

Hamilton County JV, who stepped in when a 12th team decided not to enter the tournament, played admirably on the week going 1-3.

Six-two sophomore Kaleb Carson scored 10 points and freshman Ethan Kessler added seven for Coach Clint Hopfinger.

Hamilton County JV (36) – Anselment 0 0 0-0 0, Lueke 0 1 0-0 3, Mitchell 0 1 0-0 3, Carson 5 0 0-2 10, Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Wallace 0 0 0-0 0, Zellers 1 0 0-0 2, Kissler 2 1 0-0 7, Dial 0 1 0-0 3, Kelly 1 0 2-2 4, Drenner 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-2-5, PF-12.
South Central (55) – Anderson 0 0 1-2 1, Watwood 6 2 0-0 18, Dodson 10 0 2-4 22, Markley 1 0 0-0 2, Buonaura 2 0 1-2 5, C. Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Bergmann 1 1 0-2 5, J. Smith 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-21, 3FG-3, FT-4-10, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

SANDOVAL 82, GRAYVILLE 75
The Blackhawks outlasted their Midland Trail Conference in the eleventh place game on Saturday behind 34-points from 6-4 senior Trenton Dempsey, including 11 in the fourth quarter.

Dempsey also hauled down six rebounds.

Coach Tyler Mitchell and his club improved to 6-4 overall in picking up the win.

Braeden McClelland, a 6-1 junior added 17 points while Armoni Dempsey, a 6-5 junior, tossed in 16 and grabbed 12 boards.

The Bison and head coach Travis Thompson saw their mark slip to 2-6 on the year.

Ty'Zae Rowland, a 6-4 junior, also ended up with 34 points and six rebounds while junior Kanaan Wooley finished with 16.

Sophomore Zach Leavens scored 13 for Grayville.

Sandoval (82) – T. Dempsey 13 0 8-14 34, Speiser 0 1 0-0 3, A. Dempsey 7 0 2-3 16, McClelland 6 0 5-6 17, Gore 0 2 1-5 7, Adams 0 0 0-0 0, Heinzmann 2 0 1-2 5.
2FG-28, 3FG-3, FT-17-30, PF-16.
Grayville (75) – Rowland 14 2 0-0 34, Neely 1 0 6-9 8, Leavens 2 3 0-0 13, Woorley 3 1 7-9 16, Thompson 0 1 1-2 4, Morris 0 0 0-0 0, James 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-20, 3FG-7, FT-14-20, PF-21.
Fouled Out – A. Dempsey - Sandoval, Neely - Grayville.
Technical Fouls – None.