WAYNE CITY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Zeigler-Royalton begins tourney with big rally
Tornadoes use 13-0 run to pull away from Thompsonville, start event with early win
Crab Orchard, Wayne City also post victories; two other games postponed

12-14-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY
– It took nearly three quarters of the contest between Zeigler-Royalton and Thompsonville for the Tornadoes to finally exploit their overall quickness advantage.

Then suddenly it happened, Coach Matt Morgan’s squad got the tempo going and its quickness took command.

Z-R began the fourth quarter with a 13-0 scoring move, turning a two-point deficit into a “blink-like” 11-point bulge.

By the time Thompsonville knew what hit them the Tigers were in trouble.

In just under two minutes, nine of those points were scored by Z-R, changing the tide of the contest and giving the Tornadoes an opening round win, 65-54, in the 60th annual Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

“Defensively we were atrocious in the first three quarters. The last quarter we were finally able to get some stops,” said Coach Morgan. “We want to push the ball be we have had some trouble because we have been getting out of control when we try to run. It was a best better effort in the second half, especially the fourth.”

Nick McPhail, the Tornadoes 5-foot-9 senior guard, led all scorers with 22-points and seven rebounds, including 14-of-17 from the foul line.

In fact this senior hit 11-of-13 in that final stanza, helping Z-R hold off Thompsonville for its second win over the Tigers this season.

With the game even at 44-all following a Thompsonville basket by Lance Darnell just seconds into the fourth quarter, Zeigler-Royalton threw a blanket on the Tigers while going on a scoring jaunt.

More exactly, Z-R’s 6-foot senior Brandon Stubblefield took over.

This senior scored three consecutive baskets to start the final crusade.

All three were mid-range shots around the paint, each connecting after either a missed Thompsonville shot or a Tigers’ turnover.

Then McPhail drove the spike right into the heart of the opposition, scoring on a baseline drive that turned into a conventional three-point play.

This turned what was a two-point disadvantage into a nine-point lead.

The made charity put the score at 53-44 Z-R with 3:58 to go.

The Tornadoes finished the run from the foul line with both Brandon Jones and McPhail converting four consecutive chances for a 57-44 lead.

In that run, Thompsonville committed three turnovers and missed eight straight from the field.

That bad combo doomed the Tigers, who failed to exploit their size advantage as they fell to 0-1 in the tourney.

Coach Mike Henson’s Tigers played a close contest until the final eight minutes but wilted late, going nearly six minutes without a point.

Besides McPhail with 22, the Tornadoes got 12-points from Stubblefield and 11-points from Bailey Schimpf as the Black Diamond Conference club improved to 5-1 on the season with the early morning victory.

Payne with 14-points and 12-points from Timmy Henson topped Thompsonville, who fell to 2-3 on the season.

Henson canned four 3-pointers for his total, including a long bomb that cut the Z-R lead to 59-49 with 1:40 left.

In a game that featured 15 lead changes and nine ties, Thompsonville was the club that opened the game strongest.

A 7-0 run, that broke the first deadlock, got the Tigers out to an early 10-3 lead.

Buckets by Lance Darnell and Tate Kerley was sandwiched around Thompsonville’s first 3-pointer (one of seven in the game) by Ryan Darnell put the Tigers in control for a short time.

The quarter closed with senior Jimmy Weddle connecting from 3-point range as Z-R wasn’t going to be outdone as they also hit some from beyond the arc (five in the contest) as Thompsonville led 15-12 at the first buzzer.

The most even of the periods between the two squads came in the second, with all nine of the lead changes taking place.

Schimpf hit a pair of treys in the frame for Z-R while Payne netted six points for the Tigers.

A late 3-pointer with just under ten seconds remaining sent the teams to intermission at 27-26 Thompsonville.

The Tigers were on a verge of making a move of their own in the third quarter, which turned out to be a 10-5 run for a 42-37 lead.

Timmy Henson hit two of his four trifectas in the run and he also picked up an assist on a pass to Payne.

After a Z-R timeout stopped the bleeding, the Tornadoes had their way the rest of the contest.

They scored the quarter’s final seven points to take a 44-42 lead to the fourth quarter.

Z-R closed out the win by dominating the fourth.

“Our size is going to be an issue with everyone we play but this gets back to doing the fundamentals, boxing out and finishing out rebounds,” added Coach Morgan. “Our defensive possessions are not done until we get the ball back.”

The Tornadoes were a bit better offensively in each category.

Zeigler-Royalton finished 22-of-54 from the field overall (40.7 percent) while hitting 5-of-15 from 3-point range.

Coach Morgan’s crew took better care of the basketball in the second half, committing just five of its 15 turnovers in the final 16 minutes.

Thompsonville hit just 21-of-56 (37.5 percent) from the floor, 7-of-17 from downtown.

Both teams get back to action next week at the event with Thompsonville playing Monday night against Grayville at 7 pm while Zeigler-Royalton will play Cisne Tuesday night at 7 pm.

1
2
3
4
-
F
Thompsonville
15
12
15
12
-
54
Zeigler-Royalton
12
14
18
21
-
65

Thompsonville (54) – K Payne 4 1 3-4 14, Parkhill 1 1 0-0 5, L. Darnell 5 0 0-0 10, Q. Henson 0 0 1-2 1, R. Darnell 2 1 0-0 7, Kerley 2 0 1- 5, T. Henson 0 4 0-0 12, J. Darnell 0 0 0-0 0, A. Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Wilce 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-14, 3FG-7, FT-5-8, PF-20.
Zeigler-Royalton (65) – Schmipf 1 3 0-0 11, McPhail 4 0 14-17 22, Moskoff 2 1 0-0 7, Weddle 1 1 0-0 5, Eisenhaur 0 0 0-0 0, Stubblefield 6 0 0-0 12, Brooks 2 0 0-0 4, Jones 1 0 2-4 4.
2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-16-21, PF-12.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

CRAB ORCHARD 73, WEBBER TOWNSHIP 50
The Trojans stayed undefeated on the season with a win over Webber Township in the first game of the evening session.

Behind Caleb Perry and his 24-points, Crab Orchard improved to 8-0 on the season and 1-0 in Pool A of the Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament.

Coach Jon Brown got 18-points from Tyler Deaton and 10-points from Gunnar Galloway in the victory.

Webber Township (0-4 overall, 0-1 in Pool A) was topped by 14-points each from Jaxon Helm and 6-foot-4 sophomore Corey Hammer.

WAYNE CITY 55, GRAYVILLE 50
The hosts held off the Bison in the nightcap of the opening day.

Head coach Russ Gerlach got 33-points from Billy Irwin in the win as the Indians improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Pool B.

Jimmy Mayberry added 11-points for the Tribe.

Grayville (0-4, 0-1 in Pool B) got 28-points from junior Keegan Ready in the loss.