12-14-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - In the storied history of the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament, the Crab Orchard Trojans have played in a total of four championship games, without a title.

Coach Jon Brown and his club have title opportunity in its fifth sojourn to finale at the WCHT as a result of a strong defensive effort and some added offensive spark in Thursday nights’ victory.

Behind 24 points from David Brainard and a defensive stand that forced 26 Thompsonville Tiger turnovers, the Trojans will make their first tournament title appearance since 1998 courtesy of a 60-47 triumph.

Jumping out to an early lead and never allowing Thompsonville back off the first round deck, Crab Orchard improved to 7-5 overall and 3-0 in winning Pool B.

Tommy Kissing added 15 points and freshman teammate Adam Perry chipped in 12 for the Trojans.

After a rough beginning of the season, Coach Brown is seeing some solid improvement from his squad in this tournament.

“We were really struggling coming into this week as we were trying to get something going,” said Crab Orchard head coach Jon Brown. “I thought we played better against Galatia on Friday night and I think we are starting to come together a little bit.”

Crab Orchard and Thompsonville traded a couple of 3-pointers in the early going before the Trojans took off on its first big run.

Nine consecutive points with seven of those by Brainard set the tone of the game that Crab Orchard likes to play.

With a total of 21 offensive rebounds in the match up, Crab Orchard scored five times on direct put backs and kept several possessions alive that turned into points.

Five of those offensive boards came in the first period as Brainard stuck back a pair of them for points.

His second rebound bucket, which followed his first of two 3-pointers on the night, made it 12-3 with 1:09 left in the frame.

Having played Crab Orchard twice this season and seemingly at least three times each season in the recent past, Coach John Robinson talked to his kids about what to expect.

“That is one of the things that Jon (Coach Brown) has always done; try to turn the tempo up and make you do things their way,” said Thompsonville head coach John Robinson. “For the most part we defended the ‘three’ tonight but when we would forced them into a bad shot, we didn’t box out and they would get the offensive rebound.”

Thompsonville finally answered with a bucket by Jordan Browning on an assist by Alex McClerren.

However Kissing got his first points of the night on a fast break lay in to end the first quarter at 14-5 CO.

The fact that Thompsonville committed ten turnovers in the opening eight minutes but trailed by just nine points seemed to give some credence to a potential Tiger comeback, and one good run in the second quarter had Thompsonville on the verge of doing just that.

An 8-1 sprint sparked by a strong offensive rebound by Seth Sickmeyer put Thompsonville back in the hunt.

Sickmeyer stuck in a rebound of a missed free throw by teammate Josh Fisher, who had scored on a short bank shot in the lane while being fouled by Dakota Morris.

The rebound turned into a four-point trip and Thompsonville suddenly found themselves down 15-13.

Crab Orchard closed out the second quarter - like they opened the game - with a big scoring run that went unanswered.

Following a Fisher basket to cut the score to 17-15 Trojans, Coach Jon Brown’s team scored nine points in a 1:26 stretch.

Two of the baskets were from offensive rebounds.

Perry contributed a pair of free throws and fast break score after a steal. His transition basket got the lead to double-figures for the first time in the game at 26-16.

“One of our biggest improvements recently has been the play of our freshman kid (Adam) Perry,” Brown stated. “He has been a big help for us with his defense and rebounding and also scoring some points for us. Giving us that third scoring option has been big.”

Thompsonville reserve Jesse Williams drove the left baseline for a bucket to stop the CO run.

However Kissing had a part of two quarter ending salvos.

His drive in the lane produced a lay in with :39 to go.

Following Thompsonville’s sixth turnover of the quarter, Kissing worked the clock and then found teammate wide open in the left corner. His 12 footer from the baseline just before the horn made it 30-18 at the break.

“Our defense has improved immensely in the past week and our trapping gets us some points although we missed some easy shots tonight on break-away lay ups,” Brown added. “But we are doing a lot of things well right now. There is always room for improvement but I’m pretty pleased with our defensive effort.”

Alex McClerren had his best quarter of the evening in the third.

He came out of the intermission ready to go by scoring nine points.

He hit an 18-footer from the right corner and followed that up with a couple of offensive rebounds.

His second stick back cut the Crab Orchard lead to 38-31 with 1:32 left.

However he picked up his fourth foul early in the period and his stay in the game wouldn’t be long term.

The Trojans answered with two ‘stabbing’ trifectas to end the third quarter.

Brainard connected from the left wing from behind the arc with just :47 remaining.

Then, after a Fisher bucket, Kissing took the ball the length of the floor and launched a trey from the top of the arc. When the ball sailed through the basket, Crab Orchard led 44-34 heading home.

A 7-2 jaunt to begin the final stanza ended the mystery.

In that time of events, McClerren picked up his fifth foul on a reach in some 35 feet from the Crab Orchard basket. With 5:50 remaining McClerren went to the bench – and with it – the remainder of the Thompsonville optimism.

“It is frustrating because we are trying to find our identity and right now we are not sure what it is,” added Robinson. “We have to make better decisions on the floor as a team. Tonight we weren’t ready to play and they (Crab Orchard) were ready. Our effort wasn’t there.”

Brainard helped seal the win from the foul line.

Crab Orchard showed some unusual patience in the final quarter and paraded to the charity stripe to hit 10-of-12 freebies when the Tigers were forced to foul.

Brainard hit his 9-of-10, as his team is now a single win away from the program’s first Conrad Allen Championship.

“Brainard had a big game for us tonight and when he does that it takes some of the heat off of Tommy (Kissing) offensively,” added Brown. “Although he didn’t shoot the ball as well from outside tonight as he is capable, he did have some shots rim out that if he hits that would have given us a bit more distance from them (Thompsonville) tonight.”

Part of the reason Brainard ended up on the foul line so often in the final minutes was the absence of Kissing, who turned his already ailing left knee and left the game with 4:20 to go.

“It was scary there at the end when Tommy went down but I think he will be alright and ready to go tomorrow night,” Brown explained, talking about Tommy Kissing re-injuring his knee by falling awkwardly in the fourth quarter.

Neither team shot well from the field as Crab Orchard was just 20-of-67 overall (30 percent) while hitting just 4-of-30 from behind the arc.

Thompsonville’s aim wasn’t much better. The Tigers shot 18-of-51 (35 percent) from the field and just 2-of-10 from downtown.

The separation in this game came from the mistakes made by Coach Robinson’s team who fell to 5-6 overall and 2-1 in the tournament.

“We came in here wanting to make some progress. We were two games under .500 coming in here and if we lose on Friday night then we will leave here two games under .500,” finalized Robinson. “It isn’t about winning a trophy tomorrow night, it is about taking steps to get better as a team. I keep telling the kids that we need consistency and we aren’t getting it from anyone. We’ve got guys that will score one night and be non-existent the next.”

Fisher and Browning topped Thompsonville with 12 and 10 points respectively while McClerren chipped in nine.

Crab Orchard will take on Grayville in the championship game Friday night.

The Bison earned their way to the final with a 54-39 win over Cisne in the other battle of 2-0 teams in Pool A.

“We still have to get more from our inside people and not necessarily scoring but our defense and rebounding inside has to get better,” added Brown. “To beat Thompsonville twice this season we feel pretty good about that. It is nice that we are in a position to win the title. Our school has never won this championship and we’ve been in this tournament for a long time. We are ready.”

Thompsonville (47) – McClerren 3 1 0-0 9, Householder 1 0 0-0 2, Browning 4 0 2-4 10, Fisher 3 1 3-5 12, Sickmeyer 1 0 1-2 3, Ja. Neilson 2 0 3-4 7, Gaithers 0 0 0-0 0, Jo. Neilson 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Kerley 1 0 0-1 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-9-16, PF-22.
Crab Orchard (60) – Kissing 4 2 1-2 15, Brainard 4 2 10-12 24, Perry 4 0 4-7 12, Morris 1 0 0-1 2, Boester 2 0 0-1 4, Pierce 1 0 0-0 2, Anderson 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-16-25, PF-18.
Fouled Out – McClerren, Thompsonville; Morris, Crab Orchard.
Technical Fouls – None.

GRAYVILLE 54, CISNE 39
The Bison are looking for the school’s third Conrad Allen title and they will get a chance on Friday night after improving to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in Pool A.

Taylor Lynn led all scorers with 24 points as Grayville broke open a close game in the second quarter to move past the Lions (2-1) into the title game.

Grayville also received 13 points from Drew DiMaggio and some important points from Greg O’Neal.

With the score tied 12 apiece heading into the second quarter, the Bison stampeded to an 11-4 advantage to lead at the half as Lynn tallied nine of those points.

Cisne tried to rally late but Grayville’s O’Neil hit 5-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Brandon Kincart led the Lions with 14. Ryan Vaught added 11 before fouling out late in the game and Tyson Lowe popped home 10.

DiMaggio scored six of his points in a third quarter run.

WEBBER TOWNSHIP 42, PATOKA 29
The Trojans and new head coach Lance Boldt are heading back for a third game with Wayne City this season after trouncing the Warriors in the Thursday night opening contest.

Three Webber players reached double-digits as they won their third game of the season and stand at 1-3 in the tournament.

Cody Snow led the Trojans with 11 points while teammates Jared Lowery and Nick Skorch added 10 each.

Patoka saw its tournament end with its third loss of the week.

The Warriors Jordan Potter was the lone bright spot with 12 points as his club trailed from the outset and by a 22-12 score at the half.

Webber Township (42) – Scott 0 1 5-8 8, Snow 4 0 3-4 11, Lowery 3 0 4-8 10, Keil 0 0 1-2 1, Skorch 3 0 4-6 10, Shields 1 0 0-2 2, Catron 0 0 0-0 0, Beal 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-1, FT-17-30, PF-10.
Patoka (29) – D. Murfin 0 0 0-0 0, Fowler 0 0 0-0 0, Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Belcher 0 0 0-0 0, Beard 1 0 0-0 2, Myers 0 0 0-0 0, Back 1 0 0-0 2, Potter 3 2 0-0 12, McKinley 0 0 0-0 0, Hames 3 0 0-0 6, Murray 1 0 0-0 2, Carroll 0 0 5-8 5.
2FG-9, 3FG-2, FT-5-8, PF-22.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.