02-06-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - On Saturday night the Wayne City Indians proved once again that in the world of sports, wins all count the same.

Pretty or not so pretty, they all add up.

The Tribe took at least partial advantage of the Edwards County Lions' mistakes in a successful encounter for Coach Don Kueper.

Getting to the foul line for nearly the entire game, Wayne City parlayed the parade into a 48-35 win in front of a packed house at home.

The Indians proved quantity can sometimes be better than quality as they made enough free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from the guests as they improved to 16-8 on the season.

Defensively, the Indians used their quickness to force Edwards County into a lot of problems.

After picking up an overtime win on the road at Red Hill on Friday night, Edwards County could do little right on Saturday night.

When you commit more turnovers (18) than total made field goal attempts (12) it makes for a long evening.

“I looked up and the clock and it was with 4:40 left. From that spot on I thought our defensive effort was flawless. We had hands on passes, we might not have gotten to them all but we frustrated them (Edwards County) and forced them to do things they didn't want to do,” said Coach Kueper. “Chad Dickey and Taylor Owens both came up big for us in the fourth quarter grabbing rebounds. I thought we checked out on our rebounding really well tonight.”

Wayne City was led by the backcourt tandem of Nick Downen and Eric Green.

Downen, a 5-foot-11 senior, led the foul shooting parade by hitting 9-of-14 from the stripe while added a couple of third quarter field goals for 13-points.

Green, a junior guard and also 5-foot-11, added 11-points for Wayne City.

Six-foot-ten senior Taylor Owens added seven points and came up big with a couple of blocked shots in the fourth quarter.

Edwards County got in foul trouble early and it didn't end for Coach Russ Gerlach's club as they had difficulty guarding the quicker Indians on this night.

Whistled for 25 fouls in the contest resulted in Wayne City shooting 43-free throws, making 26.

It turned out to be the difference maker as the Lions fell to 14-11 overall.

“We couldn't hit a shot in the first half except a banked three at the buzzer. We tried to force it inside when we shouldn't have. It was one of those nights when nothing went right,” said Coach Gerlach, who coached several of the Wayne City kids two seasons ago in his final year at the school before going to Edwards County. “They (Wayne City) are a hard team for us to guard with that many guards on the floor. I don't think we have three kids quick enough at any level to keep up with most of their guys.”

The Lions had 11 of the turnovers in the second half, six in the fourth quarter which helped stop the potential comeback.

For the evening, Wayne City hit 10-of-24 field goal attempts but they hit 2-of-3 3-point shots, both by Green.

Edwards County wasn't very good in any aspect offensively, connecting on just 12-of-41 overall (29.2 percent).

Nathaniel Schmittler, a 6-foot-5 junior, scored 17-points for the Lions.

No other Lion had double-figures in scoring.

Schmittler scored six of his points in the opening quarter, including a rebound bucket that gave Edwards County a 9-8 lead at the end of one.

Teammate Maverick Troyer, a 6-foot-5 senior, hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter as he finished the night with eight-points.

Although Coach Gerlach's team wasn't playing well, they were staying in the contest.

Wayne City committed five of their eight turnovers of the match up in the second quarter as they were trying to be deliberate with their offense.

This stat helped keep the Lions close.

Edwards County's Eli Mosson, a 6-foot senior guard, launched a 30-foot shot just inside the halfcourt line that banked home to beat the buzzer as the Lions trailed just 18-17 at halftime.

A 3-pointer from Troyer and a pair of free throws by Mosson early in the third quarter had the game tied at 22-all.

Downen netted six of his points in the third on a pair of drives to the basket and two free throws.

He took the ball to the goal in the final seconds of the frame and his lay in made it 30-26 Wayne City heading into the fourth.

The Indians managed to separate themselves from their guests with Green canning a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to open the fourth quarter scoring.

This triggered a 7-2 run, as Owens added a bucket and Clayten Tubbs and Owens each hit 1-of-2 from the foul line.

To say that the Lions had chances in the final eight minutes to rally would be an understatement.

Wayne City missed 11-free throws in the final quarter but Edwards County kept turning the ball back over to the Tribe.

In a three minute stretch where the Indians weren't feeling charitable from the line, the Lions committed six of their 18-turnovers.

The Indians finally got the foul line problems ironed out and closed out the game for the win.

Green, Downen and 6-foot-4 junior forward Chad Dickey combined for six-consecutive made freebies to close out the rout.

“You have to give them (Wayne City) credit, they were well prepared. They knew what was coming,” added Coach Gerlach. “We still could have executed better but it seems like back-to-back nights we don't play well. We usually aren't very good on the second night. I hope in the regionals we don't have to play on consecutive nights.”

Another of the stats that was a bit misleading was Edwards County's 29-19 rebounding edge.

But of the Lions 19-defensive boards, eight of them came in the fourth quarter off of the WC missed FT's.

The quicker Indians kept the tempo in their favor and picked up the victory, one that could have been much more lopsided.

Wayne City committed just eight turnovers, and only two in the second half.

“It was tough giving up the buzzer beater at the end of the half but I thought after the first couple of minutes of the third quarter we were in control,” said Coach Kueper. “This is the type of game we want to play. We had a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and I told the kids that is where we want to be. We are quicker than them (Edwards County) but they are lot stronger than us inside. They are big, strong and physical but we were able to execute and eventually make free throws.”

Both teams head back into action next week with Wayne City hosting state-ranked and ABV 1A second-ranked Woodlawn on Tuesday while the Lions play at Clay City on Monday.

Edwards County (35) – Schnicker 0 1 0-0 3, Clodfelter 0 0 0-0 0, Brake 0 0 0-0 0, Waller 0 0 0-0 0, Mosson 0 1 2-3 5, Troyer 1 2 0-0 8, Kelsey 0 0 2-2 2, Schmittler 7 0 3-4 17.
2FG-8, 3FG-4, FT-7-9, PF-25.
Wayne City (45) – Downen 2 0 9-14 13, Green 1 2 3-4 11, King 1 0 2-2 4, Kunce 1 0 2-6 4, Greenwalt 0 0 0-1 0, Tubbs 1 0 3-4 5, Owen 2 0 3-6 7, Dickey 0 0 4-6 4.
2FG-8, 3FG-2, FT-26-43, PF-11.
Fouled Out – Brake - Edwards County.
Technical Fouls – None.