12-17-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – The Crab Orchard Trojans got a stern test in the opening game of the Tuesday night session of the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

Coach Jon Brown’s unbeaten Trojans, champions of their own Thanksgiving Tournament and winners of eight consecutive games needed a big finish to polish off Patoka.

They got a big run to begin the fourth quarter and hit all of their free throws down the stretch as Crab Orchard rallied for a 63-56 win.

The Trojans improved their record to 9-0 on the season and are 2-0 in Pool A after the come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 42-38 at the end of three quarters, Crab Orchard rolled to a 25-14 advantage in the final eight minutes to claim the win.

“It seemed like in the third quarter we were just standing around. But we got Perry going. Once he got back into ‘attack mode’ we started pushing the issue,” said Coach Brown. “He (Perry) did a really good job of finding people. He set up Deaton for a huge three and Hutson made a couple of big plays for us. He also found Ferrell a few times when he was open.”

The Trojans took full advantage of its opportunities from the charity stripe, full as in not missing a shot.

Crab Orchard was an unparalleled 16-of-16 in the frame, 19-of-21 overall, in the triumph.

Caleb Perry, a 5-foot-11 senior forward, netted a game-best 27-points and he was 11-of-11 from the line.

Gunnar Galloway added 14-points while 6-foot-2 freshman McKager Ferrell added 11.

The Trojans, with a long-standing team concept of no 3-pointer left behind, nailed eight shots from long range.

Senior guard Tyler Deaton drilled home a trey from the right corner that tied the game at 46-all.

The made 3-pointer sparked the Trojans momentum-changing 12-2 run.

Perry, Lane Hutson and Ferrell all contributed to the cavalcade.

Hutson scored twice driving in the lane with his second score turning into a conventional three-point play.

His made free throw gave Crab Orchard a 55-48 spread.

Patoka’s senior forward Johnnie Clift and freshman guard Jered Cain led the Warriors with 21-points each and both scored to get Coach Joe Eddy’s team back into contention.

When Cain converted on a baseline drive, the Warriors trailed just 57-54 at the 1:20 mark.

However parading the Trojans to the foul line out of necessity proved too costly.

Perry (4) and Galloway (2) combined for six-consecutive conversions and enough cushion for victory.

Patoka shot the ball well enough on the night (24-of-57) at 42.1 percent.

But the Warriors committed 16-turnovers in the contest with six coming in the final frame as the club fell to 7-3 on the season and 0-2 in Pool A.

Crab Orchard (18-of-53) didn’t shoot the ball well from the floor and were out-rebounded 33-28 but they more than made up for the deficiency from the foul line.

Perry, who missed nearly all of last season to injury, has started the 2013-14 season strong.

He scored 13 of his points in the opening half, including three shots from long range.

His back-to-back bombs in the second quarter gave Crab Orchard its biggest lead of the first half at 20-12 with 5:57 to go.

Clift and Cain each scored near the end of the half but Hutson countered with a 3-pointer from the left wing on an assist from Perry for a 25-21 advantage at the intermission.

Beginning the third quarter with its best basketball, Patoka took command.

A 13-2 sprint, culminated by a Cain rebound and put-back while being fouled by Galloway, turned into a three-point play and a 34-27 Warriors’ lead.

Cain scored nine of those points.

Patoka poured it on with yet another score by Cain and two buckets by Sheldon Felchlia and Seth Allen.

Allen went the length of the floor with a steal and fast break for a 40-31 Warriors’ lead that forced a Trojans’ timeout at 1:34 to go in the third.

“The third quarter has been great for us this season and tonight we moved the ball and played great defense,” Coach Eddy said. “We forced them into some tough shots and it led us to get some easy buckets. But in the fourth quarter we went away from what got us there.”

From that moment on, Crab Orchard was in control.

“I thought we were moving the ball. Getting the ball inside and it was successful a couple of times,” added Coach Eddy. “Then we tried to force it on the inside and when things started going bad we were trying too hard to make the play instead of making the next easiest pass.”

Outscoring Patoka 31-16 in the final 9:23 of the contest Coach Brown’s squad remained in contention for the tournament title, which would be their third in five seasons at the event.

“We needed a game like that (close and hard fought) because we had to overcome tonight. Sometimes when you get down you have a tendency to hang your head,” added Coach Brown. “For the most part I was really proud of the way we battled back and didn’t quit.”

Crab Orchard will play Clay City at 7 pm on Wednesday night while Patoka’s next contest is at 4 pm on Thursday when they will play those same Wolves in a make up game that was postponed from Saturday.

Crab Orchard (63) – Hutson 2 1 1-1 8, Deaton 0 1 0-0 3, Ferrell 3 0 5-7 11, Galloway 3 2 2-2 14, Perry 2 4 11-11 27, Tarlton 0 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-10, 3FG-8, FT-19-21, PF-11.
Patoka (56) – Clift 7 1 4-4 21, S. Cain 1 0 0-0 2, Felchlia 2 0 0-0 4, J. Cain 10 0 1-1 21, Allen 2 0 0-0 4, Collier 0 0 0-0 0, T. Back 1 0 2-2 4, Houston 0 0 0-0 0, D. Back 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-1, FT-7-7, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Clift - Patoka.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Joel Brinkman saw his Edwards County club trail early in the first quarter but outscored Webber 18-8 in the second quarter to lead 28-20 at intermission.

The Lions (2-0 in Pool A) got 16-points from senior Jace Borowiak and 14-points from Karlin Compton in the win.

Webber Township (0-2 in Pool A) stayed winless on the season in spite of 11-points from freshman Jaxon Helm.

Junior Tyler Welch added eight points for Coach Brad Beaty’s squad who are 0-5 on the season.

Edwards County (49) – Borowiak 6 0 4-6 16, Compton 7 0 0-0 14, Schuh 1 0 0-0 2, Potter 1 0 0-0 2, Grimes 0 0 2-2 2, Smith 0 1 2-2 5, Hortin 0 0 0-0 0, Troyer 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-8-10, PF-12.
Webber Township (34) –Austin 2 0 0-0 4, Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Helm 0 3 -2 11, Moser 1 0 1-2 3, Hammer 1 0 0-0 2, Welch 4 0 0-0 8, Wheeler 2 0 0-0 4, Ganieany 0 0 0-0 0, Bush 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-3-4, PF-12.
Fouled Out – Helm - Webber Township.
Technical Fouls – None.