01-05-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
OKAWVILLE – It didn't take the Okawville Rockets and head coach Jon Kraus very long to find out how much they are going to miss injured guard Jeremy Weeke.

Weeke broke his foot during practice on Wednesday and on Saturday night in a game against Washington County rival Nashville they could have used the 6-foot-4 senior scoring leader.

The Rockets were already missing starter Jake Hensler, who hurt his knee during the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament.

With those two scorers (33-points per game) missing from the lineup, Okawville found it difficult to put up points on Saturday night.

Missing their first 12-shots from the field Okawville fell behind early and were never a factor in a 54-29 loss at home in front of a large Washington County contingent, many of which had never been in the new and spacious Okawville gym.

As for the Nashville Hornets, they didn't let any distractions take away from their duties on Saturday night.

The Hornets jumped on the wounded Okawville club, taking no prisoners in the win.

Coach Brad Weathers' ballclub scored the game's first ten points and led 14-2 at the end of the first quarter.

By the time Okawville got its first made field goal, a 3-pointers from the left wing by Travis Thoeming, Nashville led 26-5 with just 3:00 left in the first half.

Okawville, weary of Nashville's size advantage in the paint, tried to pack their defense in close and force Nashville's guards to prove their worth from the outside.

The Hornets took control of the game, turning some wide-open looks at the basket from behind the arc into points.

“We really needed to do that (shoot the ball well) early because they were collapsing on us to take the inside game away,” said Coach Weathers. “They (Okawville) did a nice job doing that but we were fortunate to come out and shoot the way we did.”

Senior guard Scott Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter on his way to a game-high 14-points.

“The way we had to guard them (packing in) we had to hope that they (Nashville) would miss some of those early shots. Give them credit, they made the shots,” said Coach Kraus. “I think that they had an idea of what we were going to try and do.”

When the Hornets managed to get the ball inside, they were also successful.

Freshman forward Royce Newman netted 10-points for Nashville while Devin Holle added eight.

Those two also hit the boards for the Hornets, leading Nashville to a 35-19 rebounding edge.

“The thing that bothered me the most wasn't the scoreboard, it was that we didn't do a very good job of checking people out,” added Coach Kraus. “When guys go down (Weeke and Hensler) guys have to step up, get the loose balls, rebounding. The stuff that anybody can do, anyone that I pull off the bench, can rebound. I didn't think that we did a good job of that tonight.”

Six-foot senior guard Chance Reuter also dialed long distance for Nashville, joining Brown in the outside onslaught.

Reuter connected on a pair of treys, part of a 12-0 run to open the second quarter.

Junior guard Keegan Anderson also got in on the fun as he added nine points to the totals.

Reuter ended up with eight points in the contest.

Newman added a pair of free throws in the run and when Reuter scored on a steal and fast break lay up with 3:14 left in the second quarter, Nashville led 26-2.

Okawville finally got some production to close out the second quarter with Thoeming, senior Conner Obermeier and freshman Alec Wisneski scoring.

Wisneski's drive in the lane closed the half at 30-10 Nashville.

Nashville finished off the third quarter with Newman adding two more free throws and sophomore guard Daniel Thorson completed a three-point play on a drive on the baseline while being fouled by Obermeier.

Nashville led 43-17 heading into the final quarter.

Coach Weathers' team closed the book on the win with Anderson scoring twice more on drives and Holle hitting a pair of shots in the paint.

Holle's second made shot in the run made it 54-22 with 3:36 left.

Okawville scored the last seven points after both coaches sent out the reserves.

Nashville led from start to finish, riding a hot shooting night.

The Hornets were 20-of-44 overall, 6-of-18 from behind the arc.

“Obviously they were extremely shorthanded without Weeke and Hensler but we are happy with the win and we needed to come in and shoot the ball well,” Coach Weathers added. “If they pack it in like they did and we don't shoot the ball well it is a different ballgame.”

Okawville was topped by Thoeming with nine points while Wisneski added eight.

The Rockets were just 11-of-47 from the floor, 5-of-21 from behind the arc.

Each team finished with eight turnovers, with Nashville committing three of those miscues in the final moments with the reserves on the floor.

The sledding doesn't get easier for Coach Kraus' club as they will head out on the road for games at Waltonville and Wesclin this week before tackling five games in six days at the Benton Invitational Tournament.

Coach Kraus is hoping to have Hensler back in time for the BIT while the ETA for Weeke is four weeks.

Nashville improved to 12-4 with the win and will host Murphysboro and Du Quoin next week before playing host to a very tough Nashville Invitational Tournament the following week.

“We talked about 'no excuses' we deal with what we got and we've got to get better and try to win basketball games,” Coach Kraus explained. “We've got to have guys step up. As the game went on I thought we shared the ball a little bit better. The more games that they play the more comfortable they will be.”

Nashville (54) – Rueter 1 2 0-0 8, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 4 0-0 14, Thorson 1 0 1-1 3, Jasper 0 0 0-0 0, Anderson 4 0 1-2 9, Styninger 0 0 0-0 0, Guest 0 0 0-0 0, Mueller 0 0 0-0 0, Meier 0 0 0-0 0, Beetley 1 0 0-0 2, Holle 3 0 2-5 8, Newman 3 0 4-4 10, Johannes 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-14, 3FG-6, FT-8-12, PF-9.
Okawville (29) – Obermeier 0 2 0-0 6, Brammeier 0 0 2-4 2, Yehling 0 0 0-0 0, Wisneski 4 0 0-0 8, Rossel 2 0 0-0 4, Strubhart 0 0 0-0 0, Thoeming 0 3 0-0 9, Koenigstein 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-6, 3FG-5, FT-2-4, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.