01-04-2020
BY JACK BULLOCK
LOUISVILLE – While the first seven games of the North Clay Shootout were relatively close games, the nightcap was anything but a “nail biter.”

The host Cardinals “took no prisoners” with a lopsided 73-29 romp over Webber Township to close the day.

Coach Josh Zink's kids were focused from the start and never let up as the win improved North Clay to 10-5 on the season.

After a not so good performance at the Dieterich Holiday Tournament, after winning the tournament at Wayne City the week prior, the Cardinals started off the second half of the season with a bang.

The Cards jumped out to a 22-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised home to the victory.

Nine different North Clay players inked the book in the triumph as they were led Luke Fleener, a 6-foot-2 senior, who tossed in 19 points in the rout.

Senior Tyson Jones added 15 points to the cause while junior Ethan Bible added 11.

“We have been off a few days and we wanted to come out and make defense a priority again. We wanted to get out in the lanes and disrupt what they were doing. I thought the boy's did a pretty good job of that,” said Coach Zink. “When we do that well we are able to get up and down the floor.”

It was not a good night for head coach Brad Beaty and his Trojans, as they felt a “landslide” of points from the first moments in the game.

Six-foot-five senior Peyton Hill scored seven points for the Trojans, who are now 4-9 on the season.

Freshman Weston Hails scored six points for Webber and Ayden Buchannan added five.

Buchannan's fast break basket was the only score (and highlight) in a miserable first quarter for the Trojans.

It seemed like everything that North Clay threw up near the basket went in during their opening quarter onslaught.

Coach Zink's club was 9-of-16 in the first eight minutes and they scored the game's first nine points.

Fleener hit the game's first shot, a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, just :13 seconds into the game.

That was as close as the score would be the remainder of the night.

In fact, Fleener scored the first nine points as he added a baseline drive, a pair of free throws and a score off of a Webber turnover to force Coach Beaty to call timeout with 5:50 left.

The game didn't get much better after that for Webber.

Following the Buchannan score, which stopped the North Clay early run, the Cardinals next outburst was 21-0.

Fleener added yet another basket with a 15 footer coming off of a screen that started the run.

Bible then got going on offense by scoring three consecutive baskets, twice off of Webber problems.

Senior Ian Bailey contributed on two of the Bible buckets; assisting after a rebound and also after a steal.

Bible's driving lay up made it 21-2 with just over a minute left in the frame.

“Tyson (Jones) has really matured this year and when he and Fleener get going early it is really nice because it takes pressure off of the other guys,” said Coach Zink. “Most of the games that we have had success, he has gotten going early. Getting him and Fleener going early is a big key.”

After one quarter, Webber was just 1-of-11 from the floor and had committed eight turnovers.

If anyone in the crowd was waiting on the Cardinals to cool down, it didn't happen in the second quarter.

Jones took another assist from Bailey on a fast break and freshman Logan Fleener came off of the bench and nailed down a pair of 3-point bombs.

Buchannan scored the Trojans' second basket, a 3-pointer that stopped the 21-point sprint.

Webber managed get going offensively in the last part of the half, getting a couple of scores from Hails on drives to the basket and an inside bucket from Hill.

Another reserve, 5-foot-11 sophomore Bryton Griffy, joined the scoring celebration with two late scores to close out the quarter.

Both of his baskets were on offensive rebounds as the lead ballooned to 43-15 by the break.

By the time that Webber got to halftime they had more turnovers (12) than they had field goals (five).

A rebound basket by Bible started the second half for the Cardinals as the lead reached 30 points.

Another freshman for Webber Township, 5-foot-11 Aiden Reed, scored twice in the third quarter.

His second score was followed by a 17-2 run by the hosts to give North Clay a 40 point bulge.

Luke Fleener, Bible, senior guard Lane Holkenbrink and Jones all padded their stats.

Jones scored nine straight points; a reverse lay in, another drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play and then two consecutive 3-pointers.

When the second Jones bomb found the mark right before the horn, North Clay led 61-21 at the end of the third.

The mercy rule continuous clock kicked in at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The numbers for the Cardinals were quite good as they ended up 30-of-58 from the field (51.7 percent) and 7-of-22 from the arc.

As fast paced as the Cardinals played, North Clay only coughed up nine turnovers.

Webber Township and head coach Brad Beaty probably want to forget about the numbers that the Trojans put up.

They ended up just 11-of-43 from the floor (25.5 percent) and just 1-of-15 from long range.

The also committed 25 turnovers, with 10 of those coming in the third quarter when North Clay finished off the conquest.

One bright spot was that with all of the missed shots there were opportunities for offensive rebounds.

Webber snagged 13 offensive boards on their way to a slim 31-29 rebounding edge.

Webber Township and Coach Beaty understand things won't get any easier as they will host Woodlawn on Tuesday night, then Christ Our Rock Lutheran on Wednesday and then Waltonville on Friday; all of which are important Midland Trail Conference games.

North Clay will get back into National Trail Conference play next Friday with a home game against CH/BC at home as the Cardinal schedule gets back to normal.

After back-to-back tournaments, Coach Zink can now focus on getting his team prepared for the NTC tournament and on to the postseason.

“We were aggressive tonight and I'm proud of the way they played,” said Coach Zink. “We needed this (win) to get some momentum going into the conference season again. If we come out and play defense like we did tonight, we are going to be competitive with a lot of teams.”

Webber Township (29) – Adcock 0 0 1-2 1, Hill 3 0 1-4 7, Heinrich 0 0 0-2 0, Buchannan 1 1 0-0 5, Marlow 1 0 2-4 4, Hamerski 1 0 0-0 2, Landreth 0 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Hails 2 0 2-2 6, Danberry 0 0 0-0 0, Reed 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-10, 3FG-1, FT-6-14, PF-12.
North Clay (73) – Luke Fleener 7 1 2-2 19, Holkenbrink 1 0 2-4 4, Jones 4 2 1-1 15, Bible 5 1 0-2 13, Bailey 2 0 0-0 4, Logan Fleener 0 2 0-0 6, Ballard 0 1 0-0 3, Griffy 2 0 0-2 4, Weidner 2 0 1-1 5, Ingram 0 0 0-0 0, Rinehart 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-7, FT-6-12, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Phil Leib also got 13 points from junior Christian Gocey and 11 points from sophomore Cole Young.

Alex Wiles, a 6-foot senior, hit 7-of-8 free throws for his seven points.

St. Elmo/Brownstown saw its mark slip to 7-6 on the season.

Coach Greg Feezel's Eagles were led by 14 points from senior guard Bryton Pruett and 10 points from Andy Goldsborough.

Six-foot-five senior Jacob Baron added nine points before fouling out.

Flora (64) – H. Warren 0 1 2-2 5, G. Warren 4 4 0-0 20, Gocey 0 3 4-4 13, Conrad 0 1 2-2 5, Young 5 0 1-4 11, Wiles 0 0 7-8 7, Borders 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-10, 3FG-9, FT-17-22 PF-15.
St. Elmo/Brownstown (53) – Pruitt 4 1 3-4 14, K. Tish 1 0 0-1 2, Smith 0 0 2-2 2, McWhorter 1 2 0-0 8, Higgs 1 0 0-0 2, Goldsborough 2 2 0-0 10, J. Tish 0 2 0-0 6, Campbell 0 0 0-0 0, Baron 3 0 3-7 9.
2FG-12, 3FG-7, FT-8-14, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Baron - St. Elmo/Brownstown.
Technical Fouls – None.

Smith scored a game-high 21 points, which included three dunks, as Metro-East Lutheran improved to 5-9 overall.

Junior Christopher Chipman pitched in 12 points while freshman Elliot Wilson added nine for the Knights.

Sophomore guard Taj McKinney paced the 8-5 Indians with 16 points while senior Kaiden Taylor added 13.

After leading just 22-20 at intermission, the Knights outscored Wayne City 32-23 in the second half.

Metro-East Lutheran (54) – Steinmeyer 1 0 0-0 2, Neath 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 5-7 5, Smith 8 0 5-6 21, Chipman 0 1 9-12 12, Gusewelle 1 0 1-2 3, Woody 0 0 0-0 0, Holmes 1 0 0-0 2, Wilson 0 3 0-0 9.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-20-27, PF-7.
Wayne City (43) – White 0 0 0-0 0, McKinney 3 3 1-2 16, Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Dewey 0 0 0-0 0, Miller 2 0 2-2 6, Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Durham 0 0 0-0 0, Dickey 1 1 0-0 5, Taylor 6 0 1-2 13, Cooper 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-13, 3FG-4, FT-5-8, PF-21.
Fouled Out – McKinney - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls – None.

Lawrenceville (8-6) got 22 points from 6-foot-3 senior forward Blayne Winningham in the conquest.

Head coach Randy Bishop also received eight points each from seniors Logan Williams and Noah Weger.

Coach Tyler Mitchell saw his club fall to 9-6 overall despite 17 points from junior Kegan Parrish and 16 from senior Lucas Shaffer.

Odin (45) – Finckbone 0 1 1-4 4, Roberts 0 0 2-8 2, Wood 0 0 0-0 0, Arnold 0 0 2-2 2, Kelly 0 0 0-0 0, Wimberly 0 1 1-2 4, Shaffer 1 3 5-6 16, Parrish 7 0 3-3 17.
2FG-8, 2FG-2, FT-14-25, PF-20.
Lawrenceville (54) – Br. Winningham 0 1 3-6 6, Tewell 2 0 0-0 4, Willams 0 1 0-0 3, Weger 2 1 1-2 8, Kelly 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 2 1 1-2 8, Bl. Winningham 4 0 12-17 22, Winkles 2 0 1-2 5, Sherman 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-7, FT-8-16, PF-24.
Fouled Out – Finckbone - Odin; Tewell - Lawrenceville.
Technical Fouls – None.

Six-foot-three sophomore Kaden Cowling led Edwards County (4-9) with 12 points in the low scoring affair.

Senior Camden Cowger added nine points while six points each was added by junior Ty Schmittler and senior Andrew Rotramel.

Six-foot-four senior Cole Niebrugge led Dieterich (8-5) with 10 points in defeat.

Colin Hartke and Derek Kuhl added seven and six points for Coach Josh Krumwiede.

Dieterich (33) – Gephart 1 1 0-0 5, Lidy 0 0 2-2 2, Britton 0 0 2-2 2, Niebrugge 2 0 6-8 10, Hartke 1 0 5-6 7, Kuhl 3 0 0-2 6, Westendorf 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-7, 3FG-1, FT-16-22, PF-18.
Edwards County (36) – Brock 0 0 0-2 0, Calverley 0 0 0-0 0, Cowley 3 1 3-6 12, Millman 0 0 0-0 0, Cowger 3 1 0-3 9, Greathouse 0 0 1-2 1, Beadles 0 0 0-1 0, Schmittler 3 0 2-5 6, Rotranel 2 0 2-5 6.
2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-8-24, PF-20.
Fouled Out – Niebrugge, Kuhl - Dieterich; Brock - Edwards County.
Technical Fouls – None.

Six-foot-four Conner Brach added nine points for Cisne.

Mulberry Grove is now 6-8 on the season as head coach Andrew Beckham's Aces didn't have a player in double-digits in defeat.

Six-foot-two senior Kaleb Scoggins led MG with nine points, sophomore Jordan Goodin added eight while senior Wyatt Criner added seven.

Fetherling (eight) and Brach (four) scored all of Cisne's points in the fourth quarter of the win.

Cisne (42) – Milner 0 0 1-2 1, Hatcher 0 1 0-2 3, Fetherling 8 2 2-2 24, Brach 4 0 1-4 9, Potter 1 1 0-0 5, Roberts 0 0 0-0 0, Martinez 0 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-4 FT-4-10, PF-14.
Mulberry Grove (31) – Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Isringhausen 0 0 0-0 0, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, B. Scoggins 0 1 2-2 5, K. Scoggins 3 1 0-1 9, Mosely 1 0 0-1 2, Goodin 4 0 0-0 8, Criner 3 0 1-4 7.
2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-3-8, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Torin Lee's club was much better from the foul line that the Rams, hitting 20-of-33 in the win with ten of the made free throws coming in the final quarter.

Ramsey head coach Mike Kellow saw his club fall to 6-6 on the season, mainly because his team couldn't hit free throws.

The Rams hit just 6-of-28 free throws in the loss.

Senior Kendell Aderman led the Rams with 14 points while senior Koester Cook added 12.

Junior Blaine Marx chipped in 10.

Hatcher netted nine of his points in the first quarter as the Bison took command 22-10.

L'abbate was 7-of-8 from the foul line for Grayville in their win.

Ramsey (57) – Mark 3 1 1-2 10, Adermann 2 3 1-2 14, Dunn 1 1 0-0 5, Hayden Seaton 2 0 0-3 4, Carroll 1 0 1-4 3, Ritter 0 0 0-0 0, Austin 1 0 0-0 2, Hayes 0 0 0-0 0, Rhodes 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Berner 0 0 0-0 0, Stevens 0 0 0-1 0, Hadley Seaton 1 0 0-2 2, Reies 1 0 0-0 2, Cook 5 0 2-13 12.
2FG-18, 3FG-5, FT-6-28, PF-24
Grayville (66) – Neeley 1 1 3-6 8, Funkhouser 3 0 4-4 10, Hatcher 5 2 2-6 18, L'abbate 6 0 7-8 19, Collins 1 0 1-3 5, Worley 0 1 1-3 5, Burton 0 0 0-0 0, Sanchez 0 0 0-0 0, Chamliss 0 0 0-0 0, Koester 0 0 1-4 1, Grimm 0 0 0-0 0, Artuna 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-20-33, PF-21.
Fouled Out – Adermann, Hayden Seaton - Ramsey; Neeley, L'abbate - Grayville.
Technical Fouls – None.

Sophomore Bandon Burris added nine points while senior Dylan Taylor added six for head coach Donovan Riley's 3-13 club.

The Black Hawks got 18 points from Kaleb Calhoun and 11 points from Jeremyah Waits as they fell to 2-6 for head coach Nathan Mayberry.

Sandoval (39) – Gore 0 0 0-2 0, Waits 4 0 2-11 11, Calhoun 4 3 1-2 18, Shaffer 2 0 0-0 4, Hill 1 0 0-0 2, Beckman 0 0 0-0 0, Fair 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-4-15, PF-15.
CH/BC (48) – Buchanon 0 0 0-0 0, Burras 0 3 0-0 9, Taylor 2 0 2-3 6, J. Robertson 0 0 0-2 0, Persinger 0 0 1-2 2, Buzzard 0 0 0-0 0, Doty 1 0 1-3 3, C. Robertson 2 0 0-0 4, Lucas 9 0 2-4 20, Gray 2 0 1-3 5.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-7-17, PF-13.
Fouled Out – Waits - Sandoval.
Technical Fouls – None.