12-08-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
WALTONVILLE - The Waltonville Spartans were expected to perhaps take a step backwards after losing a host of seniors from last season’s 20-win team that ran the slate in the Mid-South Conference.

But with a young group of eager kids wanting to put their mark on the school’s history – Coach Mike Denault has his team sitting at 5-1 to begin the 2007-08 season.

Conference rival and co-conference ABV pick Grayville found out on Saturday night that Waltonville wouldn’t be relinquishing its crown without a battle.

Behind an amazing shooting night by everyone wearing white and a career-high 30 points from sophomore guard Skylar Witges – Waltonville improved to 2-0 in the league with a 75-58 thumping of the Bison.

Outscoring Grayville 44-27 in the middle two periods despite foul difficulty the Spartans – behind a 12-of-17 performance behind the 3-point line and 26-of-42 overall – put away Grayville early in the third quarter.

Grayville head coach Will Knight can point to many things on this night that caused his bus ride home to be an unhappy one. However his club’s inability to find the open Spartans’ player behind the arc was tantamount.

“We gave them too many open looks tonight but that has been a problem for us this season,” said Coach Knight. “He (Witges) really stepped up tonight for them. We knew he could shoot but we didn’t expect him to shoot this well. Their whole team shot the ball well. We have struggled defensively this season.”

Two other Spartans hit for double-digits in scoring with Joseph Lewis netting 14 and Gavin Bassett getting 10.

The Bison tried a couple of different methods of defending Waltonville but neither worked.

Trying a half-court trap in the third quarter opened up way too many avenues for the Spartans and this young group capitalized by scoring 24 points in the frame.

“I thought the key for us tonight was how we handled Grayville’s half-court trap in the second half,” said Coach Denault. “We came out in the third quarter and moved the ball pretty well. Luckily our shooters were on tonight.”

They were ‘on’ in a special way hitting 62 percent from the field.

Being in foul trouble didn’t hurt the Spartans either as Grayville connected on just 13-of-23 free throw attempts in the contest.

“They shot the ball well and we didn’t shoot the ball well from the line and that isn’t a good combination,” added Knight. “Everyone has shot the ball well against us and we need to find out how we can keep from making mistakes on the defensive.”

After playing to a 14-14 stalemate in the opening quarter – the Spartans took off on a second quarter scoring jaunt.

Waltonville nailed four 3-pointers in the second quarter and took the lead for good on a quick 13-1 run in just 2:06 of playing time.

Witges went coast-to-coast on a Grayville turnover to open the floodgates.

Already in foul trouble – the Waltonville reserve unit stepped up.

Brock Wheatley and Daniel Kash scored points in the run and when Witges canned a long 3-pointer from the right corner Grayville needed a timeout at 24-15.

“Out bench guys came in and gave us some good minutes,” Denault explained. “We are a young team and we still make mistakes but tonight we handled their half-court trap pretty well.”

Witges hit two more 3-pointers in the quarter from all parts of the court.

Right corner, left wing or top of the arc – Witges nailed the open looks he got from Grayville.

When he buried his third trifecta of the frame from up top – Waltonville led 32-17 with 1:15 left before the break.

Grayville appeared to have some momentum heading into the second half as they mounted a rally via three free throws by DiMaggio and Thad Sexton and a running 3-pointer that beat the second quarter buzzer.

That 25-footer cut the Waltonville lead to just 34-25 at intermission.

The carryover run by the Bison was culminated on the opening possession by Coach Knight’s club.

Drew DiMaggio – who topped Grayville with 19 points – knocked down a 15-footer from the right elbow to cut the Waltonville advantage down to just seven.

But that was as close as Grayville would get the rest of the game.

Waltonville inked another 12-1 scoring sprint in the book.

With Grayville trying to find Witges and slow him down – Lewis and Alex DuRietz each nailed a pair of long-range shots.

DuRietz hit the first two followed by Lewis with back-to-back shots from behind the arc.

When Lewis ripped the nets with 4:13 remaining – Waltonville’s lead ballooned to 48-30.

Witges helped rub it in on the Bison with two more 3-pointers and a nice drive to the basket in the third quarter.

His bomb from the right wing gave Waltonville its biggest lead at 55-33 at the 2:40 mark.

Grayville’s final march at the Spartans began at the end of the third quarter.

A 9-4 run with DiMaggio, Sexton and Logan Bailey putting in shots cut the Bison deficit to just 62-48 early in the fourth quarter.

However Waltonville hit 6-of-10 free throws in the final 4:48 of the game and Grayville never mounted a serious threat.

Coach Denault’s team was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter and – even with running a delay game because of foul trouble – increased the lead the rest of the way.

Our foul trouble made us have to go to a delay the last five minutes of the game because three of my top five free throw shooters are on the bench with foul problems,” added Denault.

Grayville didn’t shoot the ball well enough to hang with the hosts.

The Bison were 22-of-51 overall but a paltry 1-of-10 behind the 3-point line.

Behind DiMaggio’s 19 Grayville got 15 points from Mikey Brown and 13 from Taylor Lynn.

The Spartans and Bison were on even terms in rebounding and turnovers – each club having 27 boards and 17 miscues.

Eight Waltonville players scored for Coach Denault as his club can now turn its attention to two key matchups this week with Hamilton County and Woodlawn next Tuesday and Friday.

“Hamilton County is always a tough game and the Woodlawn game – it doesn’t matter the records when we go there or they come here,” added Denault.

Grayville (5-2 overall, 1-1 in the Mid-South) will try to defend its Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament title this week at Wayne City

“Our guard play is going to have to get better for us to compete at a high level,” finalized Knight. “We are at 5-2 right now and it is the same record we had this time last season. This senior group (five players) hasn’t played as much together in the past three years. DiMaggio and Lynn have played with older kids in the past three seasons and the other kids were on the sidelines. We are looking for a breakout game and maybe we can do that this coming week at Wayne City.”

Grayville (58) - Milligan 0 1 0-0 3, Sexton 2 0 2-5 6, Linneman 0 0 0-0 0, Pinkstaff 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey 1 0 0-1 2, Brown 6 0 3-6 15, DiMaggio 7 0 5-7 19, Lynn 5 0 3-4 13, Koenig 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-1, FT-13-23, PF-20.
Waltonville (75) - Lemke 0 0 0-0 0, Reeves 1 0 1-2 3, Bassett 4 0 2-3 10, Wheatley 2 1 0-0 7, Witges 5 5 5-8 30, Cook 1 0 1-3 3, Kash 0 0 2-2 2, DuRietz 0 2 0-0 6, Lewis 1 4 0-0 14.
2FG-14, 3FG-12, FT-11-18, PF-22.
Fouled Out - Lynn - Grayville.
Technical Fouls - None.