12-16-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – The Wayne City Holiday Tournament has an all-tournament team but the event doesn't name a Most Valuable Player.

If they did, there is little doubt who would have taken home the trophy.

Webber Township's 6-foot-4 senior forward Charles Neal had a dominating week and it was culminated with an outstanding effort on Saturday night in the championship game against host Wayne City.

Neal racked up 25-points, grabbed 10-rebounds and was 12-of-13 from the foul line as he led his Trojans to the championship with a 46-43 victory over the Indians to finish the week 4-0.

He was “money” when the game was on the line late, hitting six-consecutive free throws in the final minutes as Webber Township held off a rally by Wayne City to claim this tournament title for the eighth time in the 64 years of the event.

Coach Brad Beaty's kids got the ball to where it needed to be in the final stanza and Neal didn't disappoint, hitting the key shots that improved the Trojans to 9-1 overall.

“It shouldn't have been any other way; Webber Township and Wayne City, it was a battle and the first time that these two teams have met for the championship game here since 1993,” said Coach Beaty. “Tip your hat to them (Wayne City) they get after it on defense. I'm proud of our guys. In the fourth quarter when we needed them we got some open looks and knocked them down. I thought we did a pretty good job against their press tonight. I know it has given some teams some fits.”

Senior teammate 6-foot-1 Dalton Hart added 11-points, many of them coming at key times in the low scoring contest.

“We finally got settled down and got the ball to Charles,” said Coach Beaty. “We went to a 2-1-2 offense against their zone and just wanted to get it to him in the middle and let him go to work,” said Coach Beaty. “He is strong and when he gets it around the rim he gets to the foul line. You get him to the line and he is automatic. He's not going to let the team down.”

Wayne City saw their overall mark slip to 8-2 under new head coach Jeff Morris despite 16-points and five-rebounds from junior point guard Jayzale O'Neal.

The Indians got nine-points each from senior Remington Henson and sophomore Travis Dickey in the title game loss.

If one was to point to a certain statistical category that separated the two combatants on Saturday night, it would be the rebounding battle.

Webber Township, led by Neal and reserve senior Markieth Davis (nine rebounds), dominated the glass 29-18.

More importantly the Trojans grabbed 12-offensive boards in the title game.

“One of our points of emphasis going into the game was offensive rebounding, I told them we have to get on the glass on the offensive end,” said Coach Beaty. “When you have kids like we have that can score the basketball, then you want to give them as many chances as you can so offensive rebounding is very important for us.”

The hosts had chances, several in the fourth quarter, to bring home the program's 16th championship in this long standing event.

However too many missed opportunities doomed Coach Morris' crew as they had to settle for the runner-up spot.

The Indians committed four of their 10-turnovers in the final minutes when they needed to score.

“When we made a run we had some costly turnovers, we rushed some things and we panicked,” said Coach Morris. “We were trying to get seven points back in one possession. We would make a run and then we would try to do something we couldn't do and those are things we have to work on.”

Webber Township survived its own problems handing the ball as they coughed up 15-turnovers.

Webber, and Neal, got going early as they took a quick 7-1 lead.

Neal hit a pair of free throws, scored on a offensive rebound tip in and then nailed his own long range 3-pointer from the right corner for a six-point lead.

Davis took a pass from Neal late in the opening quarter and he scored his only points of the contest on a reverse lay in for a 9-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Webber increased their advantage in the second quarter with Neal and senior Brody Mount both scoring for a 14-8 lead.

But Wayne City quickly responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from O'Neal and Dickey to tie the game at 14.

The two teams, namely Neal and Henson, traded conventional three-point plays to close the closely played first half at 17-17.

Webber committed five turnovers in the second quarter, which hampered the offensive effort to extend their lead.

Coach Beaty's squad came out of the intermission on a mission.

The went on a 7-0 run with Hart scoring on a drive in the lane and a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Neal added a basket on another drive to the goal that forced a Wayne City timeout at 24-17 with 4:57 left in the third.

The Indians responded with a 7-0 run of their own to even the score.

Two free throws by Henson, a drive by O'Neal and a 3-point bomb by senior Jaxon King tied the game at 24-all.

Webber's senior guard Dylan Stratton scored five-points on the night, with a 3-pointer as his only field goal coming at the 2:23 mark for a 27-24 lead.

Wayne City had just one brief lead in the game, which came at the end of the third.

Henson made 1-of-2 free throws and, after a defensive stop, junior Dalton Smith canned a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Indians a 28-27 lead with just over a minute left in the quarter.

The Trojans answered with Neal hitting two more free throws after being fouled with just :00.3 on the clock.

His pair put Webber back on top for good.

Dalton Hart came up big again to begin the fourth quarter.

He scored on a drive to the basket to begin the final frame and his steal and fast break lay in gave the Trojans a 33-28 lead.

Hart added another crucial shot, scoring on a drive to the basket while falling down.

The ball somehow banked in for a 40-33 lead with 2:47 to go.

“Baskets like that, when they somehow go it, I think it is just meant to be sometimes,” said Coach Beaty about Hart's shot.

O'Neal helped Wayne City rally to get to within two-points in the final minute.

He scored six-points on two free throws, a drive to the basket and a key rebound that cut the Webber lead to just 42-40.

However that was as close as the Indians would get.

Senior's Stratton and Neal sealed the deal with four-consecutive made free throws, with Neal's two pushing the lead to 46-40 with :13.8 remaining.

Dickey canned a long 3-pointer with the clock ticking down in the final moments.

But without any timeouts, the Trojans didn't have to inbound the ball as the clock ran out and the Webber Township celebration began.

“These guys have worked hard, I'm proud of them,” said Coach Beaty. “When we did our walk through today, I didn't have to say much to them. They knew what tonight was all about. They were talking to each other about what needed to be done. That is a senior team right there. They know what to do.”

Both teams' defenses showed up on Saturday night and the offensive numbers reflected to struggles.

The Trojans were just 14-of-36 overall from the floor and just 3-of-10 from the arc.

Wayne City finished 14-of-39 and 7-of-19 from the 3-point line.

“The key was keeping them, and him (Neal) off of the offensive glass. He just out battled us tonight, we tried everything but he was able to get them and convert,” said Coach Morris. “And we ended up putting him at the line and when he gets there he is going to hurt you.”

Coach Beaty was already thinking about the Trojans next game, a conference battle on Tuesday night at home against Woodlawn.

“We will celebrate this tonight, and get back to work on Monday and get ready for Woodlawn on Tuesday,” said Coach Beaty. “It's a big conference game and our first home game so it's next up for us. We use a dry erase board, erase this game and go on to the next one.”

The Indians have three weeks to regroup as their next game isn't until January 5 against Patoka.

“The kids played hard. Our ball press isn't so much about creating turnovers as it is about pushing the pace of the game. We didn't get the turnovers we needed but I think overall our defense was good,” said Coach Morris. “Not a lot of people thought we would be 8-2 right now. We are still getting better and I hope we get a lot better through the year.”

After falling behind early to the Salukis 19-9, Gallatin County rallied for the win behind 25-points from junior Audie Goebel and 17-points from Dawson Hish.

Teammates Garrett Rushing and Robbie Prince added 13 and 10 for Gallatin County who is now 7-3 on the season.

Red Hill (5-6) got 10-points from Andy Wells as he was the only player in double-figures for the Salukis.

Drew Moore and Corbin Shoulders added seven-points each in the loss.

Senior Cameron Stephens added 14-points while sophomore Hunter Throgmorton added 13 in a contest in which Crab Orchard nailed 11 3-pointers.

The Trojans improved to 9-4 on the season for Coach Jon Brown.

North Clay was led by junior Aelon Rinehart with 15-points.