11-26-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - For the Christopher Bearcats, getting to the title game of their own Turkey Tournament is an important part of their season.

After winning this title last November, Coach Eric Stallman was hoping for a shot at defending their crown.

For the first time since 2001-02, the Bearcats will play in “back-to-back” title games.

Using a commanding 25-point performance from sophomore forward Josh Calloni on the inside and getting 16-points from sophomore guard Kaleb Pedigo (mostly from the outside), the Bearcats rolled past Wayne City on Wednesday night and into the title tilt of the 40th annual Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament with a resounding 73-46 triumph.

Coach Stallman's club used its size advantage to an overwhelming 38-19 rebounding edge to start 2-0 for the second consecutive season.

“We rebounded the ball well and I thought going into the game after scouting them that we had to out rebound them and the kids knew this,” said Coach Stallman. “And they did, they (the kids) did really well. They knew it was going to be a key and they took some pride to try and get to the boards.”

Hunter Wheeler, a 5-foot-9 junior point guard, added nine points for the 'Cats and sophomore Issac McPhail tossed in eight points as Christopher took command late in the second quarter and never looked back.

For Wayne City, after a good start, the Indians couldn't contend with the inside-outside strength of the Bearcats and they fell into the third place contest.

“We knew that coming in that they (Christopher) were going to be physical with us and we have some young kids playing inside that are inexperienced. We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Coach Hiller. “I was hoping to see a better effort on the boards. If we don't rebound on that (defensive) end of the floor we are going to get beat. We didn't get back on defense in transition and we didn't rebound.”

After a close first quarter, Christopher took command with a pair of scoring runs to get a double-digit lead at halftime.

Calloni and McPhail did the most damage to the Indians chances in the quarter.

McPhail, a 5-foot-11 guard, scored six of his eight points in the stanza.

His trey from the top of the arc got the first run (9-2) going with Wheeler and Calloni each adding points.

That pair each converted fast break points and when Calloni's scored on an assist by Wheeler, Christopher forced a Wayne City timeout at 19-12 with 5:12 to go.

“Whenever he (Hunter) is out on the open floor he is tough, he has good court vision and he gets the ball to the open guys,” added Coach Stallman. “We swung the ball around well (on offense) and that is something that we do well. We run a motion offense but it is more of a swing and cut. And we were doing that.”

A 3-pointer by Wayne City's Canyon Clark closed the gap to 19-15 but then the next scoring avalanche fell on the Indians' tournament title chances.

McPhail hit 1-of-2 free throws and just seconds later scored in transition on an assist from Wheeler.

Then Calloni delivered a key blow to the Indians hopes as he converted a four-point play as he was fouled by Clark while drilling home a 3-pointer from the left wing.

His made free throws extended the lead to 25-15 at the 3:19 mark.

Six-foot-three junior Luke Saeger got in the book with a basket and Calloni added another score for a 31-17 halftime lead.

Christopher pulled away in the third quarter, taking the drama out of the decision.

Saeger and McPhail each tossed in long-range 3-point bombs and Calloni padded his stats inside with six more points.

When McPhail drained a trifecta from the left corner in front of the Bearcats' bench, the lead had expanded to 42-21 with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Wayne City (1-1) was led in scoring by Clayton Tubbs, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, and Clark added nine points.

Coach Cody Hiller, in his first season at the helm of the Indians, saw his club continue to play hard in the second half despite the margin on the scoreboard.

Besides the lopsided rebounding advantage, the Bearcats shot the ball better than Wayne City.

The Bearcats hit 22-of-52 (43.3 percent) while the Indians were just 15-of-43 for 34.8 percent.

Christopher, despite playing a fast-paced game, committed just seven turnovers while forcing Wayne City into 14-miscues.

The Bearcats also outscored Wayne City from the foul line by ten (23-13).

Christopher will play in the title game on Saturday night against the winner of the Waltonville-Webber Township semifinal game to be played on Friday.

Wayne City will play the loser of that contest at 6:30 pm in the third place game on Saturday with the championship game to follow.

“We had a couple of breakdowns in the second quarter, we let it go from a one-point game to a seven-point game and it seemed after that we stopped running our offense,” added Coach Hiller. “We just kind of let it get away from us in that short time-span.”

Christopher (73) – McPhail 1 1 3-5 8, Pedigo 0 3 7-7 16, Wheeler 3 0 3-4 9, Schimpf 1 0 1-2 3, Huie 0 0 0-0 0, Saeger 2 1 0-0 7, Curry 0 0 0-0 0, Mueller 0 0 0-0 0, Young 1 0 1-4 3, Calloni 7 1 8-10 25, Winget 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-16, 3FG-6, FT-23-32, PF-21.
Wayne City (46) – Downen 1 1 2-4 7, Green 0 0 0-0 0, Gammon 0 1 1-2 4, Kunce 3 0 0-1 6, Greenwalt 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 2 1 2-2 9, Tubbs 2 0 7-10 11, Henson 0 0 0-0 0, Owens 1 0 0-0 2, Dickey 3 0 1-2 7.
2FG-12, 3FG-3, FT-13-21, PF-23.
Fouled Out – Winget - Christopher; Downen, Clark - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls – None.

Egyptian (1-1) got 22-points from 6-foot freshman Ryan Saunders and 14-points from 5-foot-7 freshman Gavin Arnhart in the win.

Thompsonville (0-2) got 19-points from Jaret Murphy and Kyle Shimkus added 16 in the loss.

The Pharaohs outscored Thompsonville 40-26 in the middle two quarters and held on for the win, which puts Egyptian in the consy title game on Saturday.