12-19-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - On Friday night at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament – Cisne kept its hopes alive to repeat as champions with a convincing 66-50 win over Webber Township.

Crab Orchard followed suit and stayed unbeaten in Pool B with a 77-71 aerial assault win over Patoka.

The Trojans and Lions both stand at 2-0 and will face each other Saturday afternoon at 1 pm with the winner to go to the title game at 8:30 pm.

Pool A is a bit more confusing after Thompsonville losing to host Wayne City in the finale Friday night, 54-39.

After Clay City’s near collapse but win over Edwards County, 66-62, the Wolves must now cheer on Ed Co. to beat Thompsonville Saturday morning. An Edwards County win over Thompsonville would give Clay City a trip to the championship game against the Crab Orchard/Cisne victor. Maybe. There is a point differential thing that will break three-way ties.

As for the “Friday Night-Highlights” – it was a strange evening in the City of Wayne.

CRAB ORCHARD 77, PATOKA 71
In a game in which no 3-point shot was left behind – the Trojans managed to hold off a Patoka comeback to improve to 2-0 in the tournament and 9-2 overall.

Coach Jon Brown’s club led for most of the contest but had to withstand a rally from the Warriors in the final moments to secure the win.

Freshman Ben Kissing was a pain in the paint for Patoka as this Trojan scored 25-points while also converting 9-of-12 free throws. He made 3-of-4 crucial charities in the final quarter.

If you think the future looks bright in Crab Orchard because of Kissing – Coach Brown has more to smile about with another freshman – 5-foot-8 guard Drew Johnson – that was second in scoring with 13.

Those two performances helped overshadow the Warriors’ Derek Back who stepped to the front with a 29-point onslaught – mostly from long-range. Back nailed seven 3-pointers in the game that included five in the second half as he lead the Patoka rally.

With Kissing scoring three consecutive buckets in the lane during a second quarter run – Crab Orchard led 33-17 with 3:10 before intermission.

But Back – with help from teammate Luke Murfin – cut into the Trojans lead.

Murfin scored six points late in the second quarter a fast break bucket that turned into a convention three-point play.

Murfin later added a long 3-point bomb from the right wing as the half closed at 37-29.

Guard Lorence Killen added 13 points for Crab Orchard. He hit a pair of big shots in the third quarter including rebounding his own missed shot for a score to close the frame at 54-49.

Patoka had the game in its clutches when a 10-0 run – sparked by long trifectas by Back and Murfin found the mark late in the fourth quarter.

Two consecutive drives to the basket by Murfin and Drew Baldridge gave the Warriors a 71-68 lead.

However Patoka wouldn’t score another point as Crab Orchard closed the final 1:49 with a 9-0 run of its own.

Senior Tyler Fauver found himself open for a 3-pointer from the right wing and his connection evened the score at 71.

Johnson’s drive to the basket was the final field goal for the Trojans, which gave them a 73-71 advantage.

Patoka missed its final five field goal attempts and Kissing closed out the contest at the line.

Coach Joe Eddy’s Warriors were pretty even with Crab Orchard on the night except for two noticeable categories.

Crab Orchard held a 46-33 advantage in rebounding (including a 20-9 edge on offensive boards) and outscored the Warriors 12-4 from the foul line.

Patoka was just 4-of-12 from the stripe in the game while CO was 12-of-18.

Patoka (71) – Baldridge 5 0 2-4 12, W. Jenkins 1 0 0-0 2, D. Murfin 0 0 0-0 0, Whisler 4 0 0-1 8, L. Murfin 2 4 2-3 18, Allen 0 0 0-4 0, Back 4 7 0-0 29, Wimberly 1 0 0-0 0.
2FG-17, 3FG-11, FT-4-12, PF-20.
Crab Orchard (77) – Johnson 6 0 1-2 13, Hutchins 0 2 0-0 6, Kissing 8 0 9-12 25, Fauver 1 2 0-0 8, Anderson 3 0 0-0 6, Perry 3 0 0-2 6, Hutson 0 0 0-0 0, Killen 4 1 2-2 13.
2FG-25, 3FG-5, FT-12-18, PF-17.
Fouled Out – Baldridge - Patoka.
Technical Fouls – None.

CLAY CITY 66, EDWARDS COUNTY 62
One of these teams committed nine fourth quarter turnovers and missed 12 fourth quarter free throws.

If you guessed Edwards County, guess again.

Clay City built a huge lead and nearly gave it all back.

However Coach Adam Ellis’ squad had enough left to hang on for dear life in a four-point win.

The Wolves received 24 points from Cody Lewis and 15 points from Brandon Duvall in the victory to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the tournament.

Sprinting out to a commanding lead early while seeing Edwards County struggle to find the mark from the field – Clay City was cruising into the fourth quarter thinking about winning its Saturday morning game against Grayville while hoping for a Thompsonville loss.

But Clay City nearly put the cart in front of the horse by allowing Edwards County to score 31-fourth quarter points.

The Lions rally came after a horrendous offensive start in which they connected on just 2-of-17 shots in the first quarter and a half of the game and trailed 25-8 with 3:01 left before the break.

Edwards County’s Stephen Vallette scored seven of his team-best 17 in the fourth quarter and when his second consecutive driving lay in found the mark – his club trailed just 60-57 with :40 remaining.

However the comeback ended at that point when Clay City hit six-straight free throws after struggling from the line.

Edwards County (6-4 overall) hit just 22-of-60 shots from the floor in falling to 2-1 in Pool A.

Clay City survived 22 turnovers by hitting half of its field goals (23-of-46)

Following Lewis and Duvall in scoring was Skylar Frank with 13.

The Lions had two other double-digit scorers with Michael Aaron and Chad Smith with 14 and 12 points respectively.

Edwards County (62) – Columbia 1 1 3-5 8, Vallette 4 3 0-0 17, Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 3 0 6-12 12, Aaron 2 3 1-6 14, Fisher 4 0 0-0 8, Weinmiller 1 0 1-3 3, Head 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-7, FT-11-26, PF-22.
Clay City (66) – Duvall 6 0 3-5 15, Duff 1 0 0-0 2, Frank 1 2 5-7 13, Lewis 6 2 6-9 24, Fehrenbacher 3 0 1-6 7, Eastin 2 0 1-2 5Bayler 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-4, FT-16-29, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Aaron, Fisher, Winemiller - Ed Co.; Duvall - Clay City.
Technical Fouls – None.

CISNE 66, WEBBER TOWNSHIP 50
These Lions went wire-to-wire in a win over winless Webber in the Friday night opener.

Sophomore Mathew Byars led Cisne with 19 points as three players hit for double-figures for Coach Kevin Bowen’s team.

Zach Talbert and Andy Thompson chipped in 15 and 12 in the victory for a 2-0 Pool B mark.

Webber Township (0-3 in Pool B) got 24-points from 5-foot-9 sophomore Ethan Gowler in the loss.

Cisne broke away with a 24-11 third quarter to set up a game with Crab Orchard on Saturday with the winner to reach the title game.

WAYNE CITY 54, THOMPSONVILLE 39
The host Indians spoiled the night for the Tigers with a victory in the final game Friday night.

A Thompsonville triumph could have put Coach John Robinson’s club in line for the title game with another win Saturday against Edwards County.

But the Tigers must now beat Edwards County Saturday morning and hope for a scoring margin differential to favor them to get to the championship contest.

Seventeen points each from Cody Thomason and Tyler Porter were enough to give Wayne City a 2-2 mark in the tournament and a 6-5 overall record.

The Indians could play in one of the final three games on Saturday night – which spot depends on the Saturday morning results.

Jake Nielson led Thompsonville with 12 points while Tyler Browning added 11.