02-18-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
WALTONVILLE – For the Waltonville Spartans on Tuesday night in their Midland Trail Conference game against Cisne at home, it was all about executing the game plan.

Spreading the floor and using their quickness, Coach Brian Gamber’s team wore down the undermanned Lions in the final quarter.

Waltonville used a 9-0 run during which the visitors had nine consecutive empty trips down the floor.

Hitting 19-of-21 free throws in the game, including 9-of-10 in the final eight minutes, the Spartans picked up a league win, 52-42, at home in front of a Senior Night audience.

Six-foot-one senior Austin Zahm proved to be the difference maker on this night, as he led the way with 21-points.

Zahm shook loose for several key baskets in the paint and made Cisne pay when he was fouled and sent to the line.

Zahm nailed all seven of his FT attempts as the Spartans improved their overall mark to 9-14 and are now 6-2 in the MTC.

“I really felt like we frustrated them (Cisne) tonight and I thought we did a good job staying with their shooters,” said Coach Gamber. “I felt like we forced some tough shots. I think when were a spreading the floor and getting lay ups and we forced them to guard us for extended periods of time. I thought we forced them out of their rhythm and we made the free throws.”

As for Coach Adam Ellis’ squad, the fast start that they got and the solid play they put together for nearly three quarters all went South in a matter of minutes in the final period.

Leading 38-35 with 1:05 left in the third quarter, Cisne didn’t make another field goal attempt until there was under a minute to go.

By this time, Waltonville had taken control of the contest, sending the Lions to their fourth loss in a row.

Cisne is now 10-15 overall and 3-5 in the Midland Trail.

“We have talked about offensive lapses that we have had and our lapses usually result in turnovers which turn into points for the other team,” said Coach Ellis. “We’ve struggled all year with that. We can’t get away from that two or three minute span, sometimes longer, where we come up with nothing.”

Behind Zahm in the scoring parade for the hosts was Dylan Miller, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, who netted 14-points for his evening of work.

Cisne received 11-points from junior forward Trent Thomason and 10-points from freshman Derek Thomason in defeat.

Up until the fourth quarter collapse, the Lions were in position to win this league game on the road.

Cisne jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, as Waltonville didn’t come out of the gate.

Jayden Hatcher, who finished with seven points for the Lions, converted a conventional three-point play and both of the Thomason’s scored to give Cisne an early advantage.

But Miller and Zahm got the wake up call just in time, as the duo combined for all 11 first quarter points for Waltonville.

Zahm scored twice in the lane and converted both of his foul shots while Miller added a conventional three-point play of his own and his fast break lay in off a Cisne turnover gave Waltonville an 11-10 lead.

T. Thomason closed the frame with a transition score to make it 12-11 Cisne at the end of one.

“Maybe they were caught up in the Senior Night but the start was kind of weird, maybe they were trying to do too much,” added Coach Gamber. “But we went 1-3-1 for a while and it jump-started us. I thought we did a good job pressuring the spots when we could. We were able to get some turnovers which led to some lay ups.”

Waltonville took a 25-22 lead to intermission by forcing five Cisne turnovers and converting two of them directly into points in the second quarter.

Miller added yet another fast break lay in off a Lions’ mistake and senior guard Justin Winchester scored half of his six points on the night by nailing a 3-pointer from the right wing for a three-point halftime advantage.

Six-foot-six senior Nik Kambestad scored eight points on the night with six of them coming in the third quarter as Cisne finally got the ball inside.

His rebound basket finished a brief 6-0 Lions’ roar and a 28-26 Cisne lead with 4:41 remaining.

Hunter Coggins, a 6-foot senior, netted eight points in the contest with six coming in the third quarter

Zahm, who scored six more points, and Coggins finished off the quarter in style.

Zahm scored on a nice baseline move in the paint and Coggins converted a three-point play on a drive to the basket for a 40-38 lead heading into the final quarter.

At this point of the proceedings, the Lions failed to find the mark on the offensive end.

The 9-0 run for the Spartans turned into a 15-1 finish.

Reserve Dalton Banach, a 5-foot-11 freshman, hit a big 3-pointer from the right wing for Waltonville.

His made trey extended the lead to 44-38 with 5:34 remaining.

After 5-foot-8 freshman Jared Taylor broke the Cisne scoring draught with 1-of-2 free throws at the 3:34 mark, the Lions were forced to foul.

The parade to the line that followed buried the Lions as Waltonville’s Zahm (4), Coggins (2) and Miller (2) combined to go 8-of-8 from the stripe.

A 3-pointer from Hatcher with :48 remaining was the only made field goal of the quarter for Cisne.

Coach Ellis’ troops went 8:17 without a successful field goal attempt as the took the loss on the road Tuesday.

As for the game, Cisne shot the ball pretty well until the final countdown.

The Lions finished 18-of-36 overall and 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.

But a 1-of-9 fourth quarter with zero offensive rebounds is not a formula for success at any level.

The Spartans were 15-of-33 overall (45.4 percent) and committed just six turnovers compared to 10 by the Lions.

Although they were outrebounded 19-12, Waltonville took home a big victory on a night in which their seniors were honored.

Waltonville will get back into action with a game against MTC foe Wayne City on Friday, a team that they will turn around and play again on Monday in the opening game of the Christopher 1A Regional.

Cisne will play Webber Township on Friday and then get set for a wide-open Albion Edwards County 1A Regional next week.

“A lot it is with this young group is leadership,” said Coach Ellis, mentioning that two of his starters are out with the flu and one starter out with mononucleosis. “Last year we had guys that would figure out how to get things done and win ballgames and we don’t have that right now.”