01-30-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CENTRALIA – The Odin Eagles, coming off of an emotional victory last Saturday night in the Midland Trail Conference Tournament over Woodlawn, were bound to have a let down.

But Coach Mike Finckbone didn’t think it would be a “free-fall.”

Going from the “high” of topping the state-ranked and ABV Number 5 Cardinals, 49-48 to capture the MTC championship, the Eagles sunk down to a “low” of epic proportions.

The Eagles didn’t fair well in any category on Thursday night in its 59-39 defeat at the hands of rival Patoka at the Christ Our Rock Lutheran Invitational Tournament.

Odin didn’t shoot the ball well; they didn’t rebound the ball well and got out hustled in front of a large crowd in Centralia.

“We had no intensity. For what ever reason we weren’t ready to play this ball game tonight,” said Coach Finckbone. “From the tip off to the final horn we just didn’t do anything. I don’t think we scored a single point off of our press.”

Patoka took the game right at the Eagles all night in picking up the win to improve their stock to 13-5 on the season.

More importantly for Coach Joe Eddy and Company, this was a key win in the postseason picture when it comes to seeding the upcoming Mulberry Grove Regional in which both teams are entered.

“I thought we got 100 percent effort from every player on the floor tonight. It didn’t matter who was out there. When we got into foul trouble we had guys step up,” said Coach Eddy. “We told them before the game if you play as hard as you can defensively, good or bad offensively, we will have the lead. We go in at halftime after missing six or seven bunnies (lay ups) and we are still up three because of our defense and rebounding. We only let them (Odin) have one shot at a time.”

The Warriors are also in the driver’s seat in this event in which they can claim the title with two more victories on Friday and Saturday.

Led by 17-points from senior ace Johnnie Clift and 16-points from talented freshman Jered Cain, Patoka cruised home in the second half for the triumph.

The Warriors got six points each from Tyler Back, John Houston and Dylan Back in the balanced attack.

As for the Eagles, the numbers didn’t lie on this night.

Coach Finckbone’s team was a measly 14-of-51 from the field (27.4 percent) and was out boarded, 42-23 on the glass. They only managed four offensive rebounds on the night.

The Eagles connected on just 4-of-21 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in the defeat, which dropped the club to 14-3 on the season.

“We have really been emphasizing our rebounding, because we aren’t very big. It doesn’t matter about our size; if we rebound and control the glass then we are really good on the first possession. We are not very good when they get the offensive rebound and get a second possession,” added Coach Eddy. “Tonight we did it as a team. I haven’t looked at it (rebound chart) but I think everyone went out and got at least one (rebound) tonight.”

The Warriors countered with a pretty good shooting night, hitting on 23-of-51 as a whole (45 percent) with the best coming in close to the hoop (20-of-40).

Odin was led in the scoring by junior Gavin Wood with 16-points and Ryan Niepoetter with 11.

But this effort was a far cry from the rest of the season in which the Eagles were averaging 71 points a night.

Odin had some early success, only to see it fizzle out in the second half.

The Eagles used an 8-0 run in the first quarter to take a 12-9 lead at the first stoppage.

Niepoetter scored six of those points, all from close to the basket, and Chase Horton grabbed his own rebound for a basket in the scoring spree.

Junior guard Devin Williams scored on a fast break on a pass from Horton to tie the game at 21-all with 2:59 before intermission.

This basket was significant in two ways; it was one of only two fast break scores of the night for the normally high-flying Eagles and it was the last time the game was even.

Patoka got a rebound basket by Houston and a free throw Cain and led 24-21 at the break.

The Warriors, who had some shooting problems of their own in the first half as they missed five lay ups in the first 16-minutes of action, got their collective “acts together” in the final two quarters of play.

Patoka got its offense in gear in the third quarter “Las Vegas Style”, hitting 7-of-11 from the floor.

Dylan Back found a pair of slots open in the Odin defense and he nailed two important 3-point bombs during a run that opened the gap that the Eagles never closed.

When his second one found the mark, Patoka led 34-27 with 4:57 remaining.

Odin got two 3-point shots in the third quarter from Wood, with the final one closing the deficit to 36-32 late in the quarter.

“They came out in a zone and we acted like we hadn’t ever seen a zone in our lives,” added Coach Finckbone. “We had one guy dribbling and four guys standing around for most of the night. We didn’t do anything right tonight. But it is better to do it now instead of the regional. I don’t think it was because we were tired, I think it was because we weren’t focused.”

But the wheels of the bus for the Eagles, that were low on air, went completely flat for the remainder of the contest.

The Warriors got points in the paint from senior Seth Allen and a driving fast break from Cain to claim a 41-32 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Clift, a 5-foot-11 senior and leader, stoked the Patoka scoring fire with nine of his 17 in the final eight minutes.

His drive to the basket for a lay in with 7:00 left gave the Warriors its first double-digit lead at 47-37.

Odin extended its zone defense in an attempt to hurry up the now patient Patoka club, but the result wasn’t what the doctor ordered.

The Warriors got three scores in the final minutes on cuts to the basket off of spreading the floor.

Clift, Cain and Houston all took advantage.

When Cain drove the lane for an easy score with 1:45 left, the Warriors were in command at 57-39.

This outcome could have had a larger margin had Coach Eddy’s squad converted from the foul line.

The Warriors missed seven fourth quarter free throws, including four technical free throws on two separate technical fouls from the Odin bench.

By the time Cain converted his final two foul line throws, Patoka had its 20-point win over a team it had split a pair of close contests with earlier in the season.

Odin won the first match up, 67-62 back on November 25 in the season opening game for both teams at the Mulberry Grove Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Warriors won the second game, 64-59 on December 3 at Odin.

If Patoka can hold serve in games against Christ Our Rock Lutheran (Friday) and Ramsey (Saturday) this will win this tournament title.

“When you get them (Odin) out of their run-and-gun and you get them into a half court game, they are guardable,” said Coach Eddy about the fast breaking Eagles. “We can live with them shooting from six or seven foot behind the 3-point line.”

Patoka (59) – Clift 6 0 5-8 17, S. Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Felchlia 1 0 0-0 2, Allen 1 1 1-2 6, Collier 0 0 0-0 0, J. Cain 6 0 4-6 16, Brooks 0 0 0-0 0, T. Back 3 0 0-0 6, Hull 0 0 0-0 0, Houston 3 0 0-0 6. Miller 0 0 0-0 0, D. Back 0 2 0-2 6, Lowery 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-20, 3FG-3, FT-10-20, PF-16.
Odin (39) – Margrum 2 0 0-0 4, Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, Da. Williams 0 0 0-1 0, Horton 1 0 0-0 2, Hofstetter 0 0 0-0 0, Wood 1 4 2-2 16, Quick 2 0 0-1 4, Niepoetter 3 0 5-7 11.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-7-11, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Odin Bench (2).

CHRIST OUR ROCK LUTHERAN 53, MULBERRY GROVE 52
The Silver Stallions held on for the win in the opening game of the session behind 19-points from senior Austin Grote and 17-points from Caleb Boehne.

The Aces were led by Damian Latham with 20-points and 15-points from sophomore Ty James.