12-30-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Good basketball teams manage to win games when they are not at their best.

Woodlawn did that on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

For the better part of the first half and for a major portion of the final two quarters - New Athens had the Cardinals in trouble.

The Yellow Jackets played a physical game and pushed Woodlawn around on the glass – “Windex-ing” the Birds by a 48-32 count in rebounds.

However an 11-0 surge to begin the second half and some clutch fourth quarter free throw shooting enabled Woodlawn to improve to an impressive 9-0 on the season.

Bronson Verhines topped coach Shane Witzel’s unbeaten Cardinals with 18-points and younger brother Dawson Verhines hit a pair free throws with :08.6 remaining to secure the 51-47 victory.

Verhines – a 6-foot sophomore point guard – calmly hit his final two charities to nail down the Cardinals first holiday tournament title since Woodlawn and junior point guard Shane Witzel won the 1986 Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

New Athens (7-4) came into the event seeded seventh but took down higher seeds Waltonville and Sesser-Valier to reach the title game. Coach Marc Derwort’s club came up five points shy of tournament title.

Woodlawn – who had topped New Athens 66-40 at the Marissa Tournament on December 2 – had their collective hands full with the Yellow Jackets Tuesday night.

“I was really proud of our kids tonight. I thought it was a physical game and I was proud of the way we played with toughness,” said Coach Derwort. “Woodlawn is a physical team, too, and it was a tough game. We rebounded well tonight but it was those runs that they (Woodlawn) made that was the difference.”

On an evening in which the two teams combined to make only 31 percent of their shots (38-of-121) it was Woodlawn who finally got hot enough late to pull out the win.

The Cards hit 5-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter and 6-of-8 from the foul line.

“We had a hard time checking them off the boards but I felt like we did a much better job of that in the second half,” said Coach Witzel. “We got the game going more in our style in the second half which helped.”

Ben Junge topped all scorers with 20-points for NA while teammate Ryan White added 13.

Wanting a slower pace than the first meeting between the two clubs – New Athens kept the game from getting out of hand like it did four weeks before.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an early seven-point lead on the strength of second chance opportunities that Junge took advantage of.

The 6-foot-4 senior forward Junge scored seven of the first nine points with a pair of drives to the basket and a long 3-pointer from the right wing after an offensive rebound by White.

His spin move in the paint for a bucket with 4:46 remaining forced a Woodlawn timeout at 9-2.

The Cardinals made their first run to open the second quarter with D. Verhines and Casey Hammond both scoring baskets to cut the NA lead to 13-12.

But Junge struck again with another long-range shot that turned into a four-point play.

New Athens crashed the boards for three-consecutive offensive rebounds and the ball eventually ended up with Junge launching a 3-pointer from the right wing as Hammond fouled him.

The four-point play put New Athens up 17-12.

Junge finished off his 12-point first half with his third 3-pointer with 1:49 left.

Woodlawn trailed just 25-20 at intermission as a Josh Wiggs rebound basket followed by a Hammond tally for Woodlawn in transition ended the Cardinals’ first half scoring.

“The tempo fit them and we had a hard time scoring in the first half,” said Coach Witzel. “You can’t press if you can’t score and the start of the third quarter we got into our press. We were playing kind of flat and kind of slow and we need to play faster than that to be successful. We did that in the second half.”

Woodlawn’s press was effective and troublesome for NA in the third quarter.

The aforementioned 11-0 run was started by Hammond canning a 3-pointer just nine seconds into the third quarter.

New Athens committed four third quarter miscues that Woodlawn put to good use.

The Verhines brothers produced the next eight points.

Two free throws by Dawson, a Bronson score on an assist from his brother, another basket by Dawson on a pass from Hammond and an offensive rebound score from Bronson closed the run.

Following Bronson’s rebound bucket with 4:47 to go – Woodlawn had taken a 31-25 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets rallied in the fourth quarter to make it interesting.

Following a Woodlawn scoring scamper to open the final period that increased the lead to 41-33 – New Athens closed the gap with Junge and White scoring four points each.

White scored on a pair of running shots in the lane – the second of which cut the Cardinals lead to just 48-47 with :44 left.

But forced to foul late – New Athens sent Verhines to the line.

“He (Dawson) is a big-game player and he hasn’t shot many free throws this year and a lot of that is because we haven’t been in a lot of close games where down the stretch we’d have to hit them,” added Witzel. “We feel like he (Dawson) can make some shots and he made some big ones in the end.”

The Cardinals were just 20-of-58 overall (34 percent) from the floor and just 1-of-11 from behind the arc.

Then again Coach Witzel’s team took care of the ball committing just six turnovers while hitting 10-of-14 free throws.

“We found out this week that we could win games when we don’t play well,” added Witzel. “We had stretches the last two games where we didn’t play up to our capabilities. It is good to get “knocked in the mouth” and see what you are made of.”

New Athens committed 14 turnovers and was just 14-of-51 from two-point range – many of the attempts were of volleyball/offensive rebound variety.

“New Athens is a much better team that what we saw the first time and we knew that coming in from what we saw in this tournament,” Witzel explained. “We got a chance to play a quality team in a good atmosphere and we came out on top.”

Woodlawn will head into the New Year with a matchup with 2A foe Hamilton County next Tuesday at home while New Athens doesn’t play again until they make a trip to New Athens on January 9.

“We didn’t convert from the free throw line tonight (7-of-13) the way we’re going to need to finish big games like this,” Derwort added. “But I think that we showed what level we can play at this week. I think the kids learned this week what it takes to play hard each night and how to win tough games. We have raised the bar for ourselves and I hope we can continue to play well the next two months.”

New Athens (47) – Gaubatz 1 0 0-0 0, Ingles 0 0 0-0 0, Junge 3 0 4-4 20, Kiefer 2 0 2-4 6, White 5 0 3-5 13, Womack 2 0 0-0 4, Meketa 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-7-13, PF-10
Woodlawn (51) – D. Verhines 1 0 5-6 7, Hammond 2 1 0-0 7, Boldt 1 0 0-2 2, B. Verhines 8 0 2-2 18, Green 1 0 2-2 4, Wiggs 5 0 1-2 11, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Simmons 1 0 0-0 2, Wehrheim 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-10-14, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

SESSER-VALIER 66, ZEIGLER-ROYALTON 52
Reversing the outcome of their previous encounter – the Red Devils rallied for a 14-point win behind 27-points from Justin Matyi and 21 from T.J. Eubanks in the third place game.

Coach Danny Kirk’s club improved to 10-2 on the season by breaking open a close game with a 12-1 run to begin the fourth quarter.

Matyi and Eubanks both had big shots in the run.

Matyi converted a three-point play and Eubanks nailed a big 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:20 to go in the fourth quarter.

The run turned a 49-45 S-V lead into 61-46.

Tyler Mitchell led Zeigler-Royalton (7-4) with 19-points while Kyle Fritch pitched home 14.

The Tornadoes were cold from behind the 3-point line – especially in the fourth quarter where they hit just 1-of-10 shots from behind the arc (4-of-17 for the game).

Coach Jaime Moyers’ team finished 26-of-51 overall from the field.

“I thought our first half defense was good but that was the story yesterday, too,” said Moyers. “I thought that the shots we missed tonight in the second half and the shots we missed yesterday in the second half were because of tired legs. Sesser is a good team and we aren’t making excuses but the kids wore down.”

S-V finished a bit better with a 21-of-48 effort overall.

“I thought we played with more energy tonight, especially in the second half,” said Sesser-Valier head coach Danny Kirk. “I was please with the way we came back tonight after a tough loss.”

Sesser-Valier (66) – D. Eubanks 0 0 0-1 0, Tinsley 1 0 1-3 3, Gibson 5 0 1-3 11, Vandekerkhove 1 0 0-0 2, Matyi 12 0 3-3 27, T.J. eubanks 2 4 5-6 21, Smith 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-22, 3FG-4, FT-10-15, PF-12.
Zeigler-Royalton (52) – Vantrease 0 0 2-2 2, Fann 1 1 0-1 5, Hargraves 1 0 0-0 2, Fitch 7 0 1-2 15, Mitchell 8 1 0-0 19, Ingersol 0 1 1-2 4, Ferguson 0 0 0-0 0, Wawczak 0 0 0-0 0, Stevens 0 1 2-4 5, Stubblefield 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-6-11, PF-15.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

WALTONVILLE 60, TRICO 52
The Spartans won the fifth place game with a come-from-behind win over Trico.

Gavin Bassett scored 11 of his game high 23-points in the fourth quarter – including seven straight points in 9-0 Waltonville scoring spree.

Coach Mike Denault’s club improved to 8-3 on the season.

Trico’s Jesse Smith led the Pioneers (8-4) with 19-points while Logan Thies contributed 12.

Coach Shane Hawkins saw his young club commit 20-turnovers in the loss.

Brock Wheatley was second in scoring for Waltonville with 11.

The Spartans overcame nine first-half turnovers by shooting 17-of-33 from inside the arc (51 percent) for the contest.

“We came out flat in all four of our games here this week and we managed to battle back to win three of them,” said Coach Denault. “We have to have someone step up when they (opponents) are doing a good job guarding Witges and Lewis and Bassett stepped up the last two games.”

Waltonville (60) – Lamke 2 1 1-1 8, Bassett 9 0 5-6 23, Wheatley 4 1 0-0 11, Witges 1 1 2-4 7, Stanhouse 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 1 2-5 5, Kash 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 0 4-6 6, Ford 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-14-22, PF-23.
Trico (52) – Witthoft 0 0 0-0 0, Thies 3 1 3-6 12, Smith 4 0 11-15 19, McCaleb 1 1 0-0 5, Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Carlock 4 0 0-0 8, Coleman 1 0 0-0 2, Heins 1 0 4-6 6.
2FG-14, 3FG-2, FT-18-27, PF-20.
Fouled Out – McCaleb, Trico.
Technical Fouls – None.

VIENNA 71, GOREVILLE 55
The Eagles – the tournaments’ defending champions – regrouped after an opening day loss to New Athens to win the consolation title over the Blackcats.

Cory Belcher hit for 29-points for the win for head coach Ross Hill.

Vienna (4-8) also got 14-points from Tyler Murphy.

Goreville (4-6) was led by Martin Powell with 12-points.

Vienna (71) – Belsher 9 0 11-13 29, Langston 0 1 1-4 4, Stevens 2 1 1-2 8, Martin 1 1 0-0 5, Sanders 1 2 0-0 8, De La Cruz 0 0 2-2 2, Ford 0 0 0-0 0, Fitzgerald 0 0 0-0 0, Bessette 0 0 0-0 0, Murphy 1 3 3-6 14, Stram 0 0 1-2 1, Kirby 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-8, FT-19-29, PF-18.
Goreville (55) – Lyell 1 1 0-0 5, Hosier 0 0 0-2 0, Shadowens 1 0 1-2 3, Webb 1 3 0-0 11, Smith 0 1 0-0 3, Trovillion 3 0 0-1 6, Potocki 1 1 2-2 7, Kinder 2 0 0-0 4, Sopczak 0 0 0-1 0, Harner 0 0 2-2 2, Andros 0 0 1-2 1, Rautenstrauch 0 0 1-4 1, Powell 4 0 4-7 12.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-10-14, PF-24.
Fouled Out – Harner, Goreville.
Technical Fouls – None.