12-03-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAMPBELL HILL - The Waltonville Spartans got out the basketball paintbrushes this week at the Trico Invitational Tournament.

But instead of painting a pretty picture for the folks in attendance, these Spartans were workmanlike in their championship run.

Like a family man weathering his back porch deck, Waltonville 'shellacked' everything (everyone) in sight, including New Athens in a suffocating 44-14 romp in the tourney finale.

Being patient on offense while 'clamping down' on the other end of the floor, the Spartans' relatively easy time of it was of a tribute to the teams overall talent that made this field look overmatched.

"We focus a lot of our time on defense and rebounding because we have some size," said Waltonville head coach Mike Denault. "I'm not sure we are ever going to look pretty doing what we are doing. But we have Kitowski and Ralls that are going to be able to score and we have size in the middle to make it tough on people."

In a tournament that locally will be remembered for a teacher strike and a car accident that took away the life of one of the players expected to play in the event, Waltonville was quietly impressive.

"Waltonville's defense is very good and their big guys clean up the boards," said New Athens coach Eric Hager. "Their perimeter guys did a good job of always having a hand in our face all night. They are a good ballclub with a lot of options. I'm not sure we have seen the best of what they can do."

In the final contest, reserve guard/forward Derek Tepovich score 14-points. This 6-foot-4 sophomore was the only Spartan to hit for double-figures on the day in either game.

Adam Kitowski, the tournament Most Valuable Player, took 30-minutes in the Saturday afternoon game against the host Pioneers to score his first points.

In the New Athens game it took him three seconds.

Taking an assist from Jordan Kabat off of the opening tap, Kitowski put in a short lay in to give the Spartans a quick 2-0 lead.

New Athens (3-2) managed one tie when Drew Schatte scored on back-to-back Yellow Jacket possessions to even things at 4-apiece.

It was another 5:52 of game clock before New Athens scored again.

In that time frame, Waltonville pulled away on a 10-0 run in which four different players scored.

Brandon Spotanski and Jon Kash scored on shots from inside the paint on consecutive trips.

Kitowski followed that up with a shot from the left wing.

Teammate Kabat got on the board by canning a 3-pointer from the right wing after getting an assist from Anthony Lowery at the buzzer to make it 14-4 Waltonville.

The Spartans netted just six points in the second period, but yielded only three.

The six points came from two 3-pointers from reserve Tepovich; one from each corner of the court.

When his second connected from the right corner, the halftime buzzer sounded with the scoreboard reading 20-7 Waltonville.

"Tepovich is going to help us this year," explained Denault. "He is getting more confident in his shot and that is just another weapon that we are going to bring to the court each night."

Waltonville's Kash scored twice in the third quarter.

This 6-foot-5 senior right-hander made a pair of nice moves in the lane showing his skill with his left hand on both scores.

New Athens scored five points in the quarter on a 15-footer by Brian Forrester and free throw and another bucket by Schatte.

That last basket by Schatte on a drive in the lane with :04 remaining in the period made it 31-14 Spartans.

Unfortunately for the Jackets, they wouldn't score again.

Josh Ralls, a 6-foot-7 swingman for the Spartans who was in foul trouble for most of the game, scored five points late in the game on reverse lay in and later on a conventional three-point play which ended the game's scoring.

This junior scored 14-points and grabbed 13-rebounds in a 68-47 win over Steeleville but was a bit under the weather this weekend.

Tepovich's 14 topped all scorers while Kash added eight points.

Kitowski, Kabat and Ralls all added five.

Schatte led the Yellow Jackets with seven points.

Waltonville connected on 18-of-38 from the field (47 percent) with 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.

NA was nowhere close to that, connecting on just 6-of-39 shots overall. (15 percent)

The Spartans out rebounded the Jackets 28-17.

"It's early and I know we are not going to do everything right, right now," added Denault, a Trico grad that won the tournament on a court in which he played his prep basketball. "These kids have worked hard to get better the past two summers and I think we will get better as the season goes on."

Waltonville heads back into action next Friday and Saturday with conference games against Thompsonville and Grayville at home.

New Athens will travel to Okawville next Friday.

Waltonville (44) - Owens 1 0 0-1 2, Ralls 2 0 1-3 5, Tepovich 1 4 0-0 14, Lowery 1 0 0-0 2, Kitowski 1 1 0-0 5, Kash 4 0 0-0 8, Kabat 1 1 0-0 5, Talbert 0 0 1-2 1, Spotanski 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-12, 3FG-6, FT-2-5, PF-11.
New Athens (14 - Z. Parker 0 0 0-0 0, Forrester 2 0 0-0 4, N. Parker 5 0 0-0 10, Schatte 2 1 0-0 7, B. Jansen 2 1 0-0 7, A. Jansen 2 0 1-1 5.
2FG-6, 3FG-0, FT-2-6, PF-12.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

Trico All-Tourney Team
MVP - Adam Kitowski, Waltonville
Neil Powell, Trico
Anthony Lowery, Waltonville
Brandon Spotanski, Waltonville
Jon Kash, Waltonville
Josh Jausel, Steeleville
Drew Schatte, New Athens
Bryan Forrester, New Athens
Jordan Wayne, M-C
Cale Wine, M-C.

WALTONVILLE 34, TRICO 19
Heading into the 5th Annual Trico Pioneer Invitational Tournament, the Waltonville Spartans were the prohibitive favorites.

However after the first four games of the event, they haven't exactly turned any heads.

But the good news for Spartans fans is that they are 4-0, even after a lackluster (both teams) effort in a 34-19 win Saturday afternoon over the host Pioneers.

In a game where no player from either team reached double-figures in points, the Spartans never trailed as they set the table for themselves to win the tournament for the first time with a win over New Athens in the Saturday night nightcap.

"I would rather win an ugly game than to lose one so we will take it," said Waltonville mentor Mike Denault.
"But we defended well. This was the best of the four games that we played defensively. We had trouble scoring against their zone because we couldn't hit any perimeter shots."

Waltonville, the preseason third-ranked ABV Deep South team, never got going offensively.

However it was on the defensive end that they stifled Trico.

Holding the Pioneers to 6-of-35 shooting (17 percent) from the field including 0-5 from behind the arc, Waltonville's defense won this game .

Although the rebounding advantage was just 29-23 for the entire game, the Spartans ruled the glass in the first half.

Trico (1-2) had just a single offensive rebound in the first 16 minutes.

The low scoring opening half had a few highlight.

Waltonville's Josh Ralls and Anthony Lowery shared top scoring honors with seven points apiece and each scored points early to keep Trico from ever gaining a lead.

A drive to the basket by Lowery and a reverse lay in by Ralls spotted the Spartans out to a 4-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first frame.

The advantage reached 8-4 at the first horn after Waltonville's Brandon Spotanski took a nice assist from reserve Derek Tepovich with :16 remaining.

Trico has just a single basket in the second quarter, a fast-break lay in by Kody Chamness after a Spartans' turnover to make it 13-7.

Although it wasn't in dominating fashion, Waltonville pulled away in the second quarter on a 7-0 run.

Ralls scored five points in the quarter. His second field goal on a pass from Lowery got the run started with 2:19 left until intermission.

Ralls and Tepovich combined to make 3-of-4 free throws ahead of a Brandon Spotanski score to finish the first half scoring.

The 6-foot-8 senior took a nice pass from Ralls and scored in the lane to send the teams to the break at 20-7.

"We showed some patience at times but we need to do more with the zone that they played us," added Denault, a Trico native coaching against his former school. "When ever they widen out that middle of the zone, we got to have patience enough to take what they are giving us."

Lowery had his hand in three scores in the third quarter when Waltonville finally got some breathing room.

He made a nice defensive steal that resulted in a fast-break lay in and a 23-9 lead.

Then Lowery set up teammate Tepovich with another assist and when he scored his last points in the run on a lay in, Waltonville was in command 27-9.

A bright spot for Trico was the play of sophomore Allen Brandon, who scored seven points on the night to pace the Pioneer, had four points in the final quarter.

Waltonville finished the game 13-0f-34 from the field but a 'woeful' 1-of-11 from behind the line.

Adam Kitowski, the Spartans senior guard who is nursing a foot problem, connected on just 1-of-7 shots from the field and didn't score until 3:04 remained in the contest.

"We stress to the kids the we don't have to count on one guy to do all the scoring," explained Denault. "Our top two scorers are Kitowski and Ralls and sometimes other guys have to step up and they did today."

Waltonville (34) - Owens 0 1 0-0 3, Ralls 3 0 1-2 7, Tepovich 1 0 3-4 5, Lowery 3 0 2-2 7, Kitowski 1 0 0-0 2, Kash 0 0 1-2 1, McGovern 0 0 0-0 0, Kabat 2 0 0-0 4, Talbert 0 0 0-0 0, Spotanski 2 0 0-3 4.
2FG-12, 3FG-1, FT-7-13, PF-17.
Trico (19) - Barlow 0 0 0-0 0, Powell 0 0 1-2 1, Ky. Chamness 1 0 1-4 3, Ko. Chamness 1 0 0-0 2, Ellett 1 0 0-0 2, Dilday 1 0 0-0 2, Rodewald 0 0 0-0 0, Carlock 0 0 0-0 0, Crain 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon 2 0 3-5 7.
2FG-6, 3FG-0, FT-7-15, PF-16.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

MARISSA 47, STEELEVILLE 45
Brock Scheonbeck's rebound basket at the buzzer gave Marissa-Coulterville a 47-45 win over Steeleville in the first game of the morning session of the Trico Pioneer Invitational tournament.

The 6-foot-2 senior corralled a free throw miss by teammate Andrew Vasquez and his bank shot in the paint beat the final horn to give the Meteors their second win of the year.

Coach Andy Johnson's club had to hang on after blowing all of a 12-point first half lead.

Jordan Wagner topped the Meteors (2-2) with 20-points and Justin Gale added 10.

Steeleville (1-3) was paced by Josh Jausel with 27.

Marissa (47) - Vasquez 1 0 0-0 2, S. Bumann 0 0 0-0 0, Place 2 0 2-5 6, Schoenbeck 2 0 0-0 4, Wine 0 1 0-2 3, Weinman 1 0 0-0 2, Wagner 5 3 1-2 20, Steele 0 0 0-0 0, Gale 3 0 4-4 10.
2FG-14, 3FG-1, FT-7-15, PF-19.
Steeleville (45) - Tiller 0 0 6-6 6, Jausel 7 0 13-16 27, Wente 0 1 3-4 6, Hostert 1 0 0-0 2, Morris 1 0 0-1 3, Dethrow 0 0 0-2 0, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Uchtman 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-1, FT-22-29, PF-15.
Fouled Out - Place, Marissa; Wine, Marissa.
Technical Fouls - None.

NEW ATHENS 55, ELVERADO 34
The Yellow Jackets kept their title hopes alive with a one-sided win against Elverado.

Coach Eric Hager got a balanced offensive effort with ten players scoring.

Nicholas Parker topped the list with 10-points while Jake Montgomery pitched in nine.

Drew Schatte, Band Jansen and Jeramy Crider added seven points apiece for the 3-1 Jackets.

Elverado (1-3) got 14-points from Eric Yearian.

A win tonight over Waltonville will get NA a share of the title.

Elverado (34) - Williams 2 0 0-0 4, Yearian 2 1 7-7 14, Evans 1 0 4-5 6, Snell 1 1 2-4 7, Arnett 0 0 1-2 1, Crane 1 0 0-0 2, Cochran 0 0 0-1 0, Harding 0 0 0-2 0, Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Shain 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-7, 3FG-2, FT-14-21, PF-10.
New Athens (55) - Z. Parker 0 0 0-0 0, Liheken 1 0 0-0 2, Montgomery 3 1 0-0 9, Forrester 2 0 0-0 4, Huetsel 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 0 0-0 2, N. Parker 5 0 0-0 10, Kreher 0 0 0-0 0, Schatte 2 1 0-0 7, B. Jansen 2 1 0-0 7, Crider 3 0 1-1 7, Durbala 1 0 0-0 2, A. Jansen 2 0 1-1 5.
2FG-22, 3FG-3, FT-2-2, PF-17.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.