11-29-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - Behind tournament Most Valuable Player Hunter Wheeler's 21-points and Josh Calloni's eight points and 13-rebounds, the Christopher Bearcats turned Waltonville “inside-out” in a 64-48 triumph in the championship contest of the 40th annual Christopher Turkey Tournament on Saturday night.

Wheeler, a 5-foot-9 junior point guard, pushed the ball up the floor while running the offense from the backcourt.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore Calloni was part of a 36-21 rebounding edge on the inside as the host's held over the Spartans.

Kaleb Pedigo added 12-points for Christopher while Isaac McPhail chipped in 10.

Using a 15-0 run midway through the first quarter and into the second, head coach Eric Stallman's club got a much needed separation from Waltonville.

The more physical Bearcats used that advantage to get the understaffed Spartans into foul trouble early.

Trailing 9-5 in the early going, Christopher scored the game's next 15-points to take a 20-9 lead.

Calloni scored four points in the run and when 6-foot-3 junior Luke Saeger nailed a 3-pointer just before the first quarter horn, the 'Cats led 16-9.

Pedigo took an assist from Wheeler on a fast break score and Calloni added another inside basket for a 24-11 advantage with 5:52 to go before halftime.

“We got into some early foul trouble and we had to play some kids who are not used to playing those kind of minutes,” said Coach Mitchell. “What happened is that we got out of our offensive with key players not out there and we started doing too much 1-on-1. It really took us out of the flow of what we wanted to do. We lose Miller with two fouls in the first two minutes and he is our point guard. It makes it tough when you have foul trouble and you aren't a deep team.”

Wheeler finished with nearly a double-double with seven assists to go with his 21-markers.

“We pushed the ball up-and-down the floor and that is what we want to do. When we get out and push it we do a good job getting lay ups,” said Coach Stallman. “When we rebound well, and we out-rebounded them tonight, we can get up-and-down the court. Hunter does a great job running the fast break for us.”

In the second quarter the fouls piled up for both teams as the two clubs combined to shoot 46-free throws in the championship bout.

The second quarter alone saw a charity stripe parade, with Waltonville hitting 12-of-13 free throws in the second frame to keep the score close.

Dylan Miller, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, led the Spartans with 21-points.

His bucket with just over a minute left before intermission followed by a made free throw by 5-foot-9 sophomore Kolby Gill got Waltonville to within 35-25 at the break.

Coach Tyler Mitchell's Spartans had chances in the third quarter to get back into title contention but couldn't exploit Christopher's turnover issues.

The Bearcats turned it over eight times in the third quarter but Waltonville failed to capitalize on the problem.

The best they could do was get a small 5-0 run to close the frame with Gill hitting a 3-pointer and Miller following it up with a drive to the basket that beat the buzzer to cut the margin to 42-34 heading to the fourth.

Wheeler was a steadying force for the Bearcats in the final eight minutes as he scored 10 of his points while hitting 3-of-4 free throws.The junior guard hit 8-of-10 free throws in the game and when he nailed a 3-point bomb in transition with 4:50 remaining, Christopher led 49-38.

“We took advantage when they got in foul trouble and went on a run,” said Coach Stallman. “But we kind of let them back in after they came back into the game. We didn't keep the pedal down. We shot free throws really well and we closed it out. At the end they had to foul us. We spread the floor out a little bit and knocked down the free throws.”

Miller hit a 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining to cut the the Spartans deficit to just 49-42.

But they would get no closer the rest of the way as they fell to 2-1 in the tournament and overall.

The Bearcats closed out the game by hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the final 2:10 to secure the title.

Following Miller in the scorebook was Braden Kitowski with 10-points and Gill with seven.

The Spartans finished the contest hitting 14-of-44 overall from the field (31.8 percent) while the Bearcats were 20-of-43 (46.5 percent) in the victory, the 'Cats second championship in this event in a row, going back-to-back for the first time since 1988-89.

“They (Christopher) got up and guarded us a little bit and we aren't used to that,” added Coach Mitchell. “Webber did it the other night but Christopher is a little bit more physical. But our guys battled. I'm very proud of my guys. Their effort was unquestionable. I think everyone of the kids can say they played hard tonight,” Mitchell added. “They played tough and they battled. But it just didn't go our way tonight.”

Waltonville (48) – Miller 4 1 10-11 21, Coggins 2 0 1-3 5, Gill 0 2 1-1 7, Kitowski 3 0 4-4 10, Berkemeire 0 0 0-0 0, Bannach 1 0 0-0 2, Majewski 0 0 1-2 1, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-3, FT-17-21, PF-22.
Christopher (64) – McPhail 3 0 4-4 10, Pedigo 3 1 3-5 12, Wheeler 5 1 8-10 21, Schimpf 0 0 0-0 0, Saeger 1 1 2-2 7, Calloni 3 0 2-2 8, Winget 1 1 1-2 6.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-20-25, PF-23.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Webber Township (58) – Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Austin 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0 1-3 5, Girvan 0 0 0-0 0, Stratton 0 1 0-0 3, Neal 8 0 3-6 19, Raymer 3 1 3-3 12, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Mount 0 0 1-5 1, Helm 2 1 0-0 7, Long 0 0 0-0 0, Hammer 2 0 4-8 8.
2FG-17, 3FG-3, FT-12-25, PF-19.
Wayne City (41) – Downen 2 1 2-2 9, Green 0 0 0-0 0, Gammon 0 1 2-2 5, King 0 0 0-0 0, Caudle 0 1 0-0 3, Willett 0 0 0-0 0, Kunce 0 0 1-4 1, Greenwalt 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 3 0 4-6 10, Tubbs 0 0 0-1 0, Henson 1 0 2-2 4, Owens 1 0 0-0 2, Dickey 3 0 1-2 7.
2FG-10, 3FG-3, FT-12-19, PF-22.
Fouled Out – Hammer - Webber Township; Tubbs - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls – None.