11-25-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - Last February when the Webber Township Trojans ended their season with an opening round loss to the host Bearcats at the 1A Christopher Regional, Webber head coach Brad Beaty was optimistic that 2014-15 was going to be better than 2013-14 was.

The Trojans didn't win a varsity boy's basketball game last season (0-24) but with kids coming back and kids coming into the program from a successful grade school season, Coach Beaty was confident things were going to get better.

In the opening game of the season on the same floor that the Trojans' season ended, a new season began with a much better result.

Webber Township started the game off well, held off several Cobden rallies and guard Jaxon Helm nailed two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Trojans ended their long win-less streak with a 57-54 win over the Appleknockers at the 40th annual Christopher Turkey Tournament.

The 5-foot-9 sophomore Helm hit his second trey with :30 left and 6-foot-4 freshman Charles Neal hit 1-of-2 free throws with :09.5 remaining to give Webber a three-point lead.

Cobden (0-1) had a shot at tying the game but Logan Splat missed a 3-pointer in the final moments and Helm snagged the rebound as the horn sounded.

Webber jumped out to an early lead and held that advantage for most of the game to open the season 1-0 while advancing to the championship side of the bracket where they will play Midland Trail Conference rival Waltonville, who topped Zeigler-Royalton 64-48, in the second semifinal.

Coach Beaty's club was led by Neal, who topped the Trojans with 17-points.

Ryan Johnson added 15-points while Brody Mount chipped in 12. Corey Hammer added seven points while Helm's only six points of the game came on two huge trifectas in the final stanza.

Cobden wasted opportunities in the contest and also the effort of 6-foot-4 senior Parker Flamm, who led all scorers with 19-points.

Webber, who last season would have probably not finished this contest strong, overcame several late moves by Cobden and hit the shots at the end to secure the victory.

Coach Beaty's club jumped out to an early 13-7 first quarter advantage, sparked by an 8-0 run to open the contest.

It was the freshman Neal who got things going for Webber Township, scoring on a pair of rebound baskets while teammates Johnson and Hammer each hit shots.

Neal added a lay in off a lob pass and when Neal scored in transition off of an Appleknocker turnover, the Trojans led 13-5.

Cobden head coach Rhett Barke saw his club rally in the second quarter and take a brief lead with Flamm and JT Moore scoring on the inside and Splat splashing down a trio of long range bombs.

A 10-2 run, highlighted by two Moore baskets and two Splat 3-pointers tied the score for the first time at 20-all with 2:24 left before halftime.

Hammer closed out the half for Webber with a basket and a made free throw for a 27-26 advantage at the break.

Cobden outscored the Trojans, 17-14, in the third quarter to take a lead heading into the final frame.

An 8-3 run closed the period with sophomore Austin Lewey scoring twice in the run and Flamm scoring again in the paint.

Lewey's baseline score with just over a minute remaining gave the Appleknockers a 43-41 lead at the horn.

When Flamm opened the fourth quarter with another rebound score, Cobden appeared on the way to putting away the pesky Trojans, leading 45-41.

However Webber Township didn't fold up the tents like this club would have done last season and rallied for the win.

The Trojans made some mistakes in the fourth quarter but Cobden was unable to take full advantage.

Webber missed four free throws and committed four turnovers in the final eight minutes.

Flamm managed to shake loose from the Webber defense one more time, scoring on a drive to the basket with :57 left to give Cobden its final lead at 54-53.

The Appleknockers wouldn't score again and Helm and Neal closed the book.

Splat had two 3-point looks in the final minute but neither connected as Cobden fell into the consolation bracket for the second year in a row.

Behind Flamm, Splat finished with 12-points on four 3-pointers.

Cobden, in a game that was nearly identical on the stat sheet, finished 23-of-52 from the field (44.2 percent) and were 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.

The Trojans ended up going 23-of-46 from the floor (50 percent) while hitting 5-of-14 from 3-point distance.

The turnovers were even at 15-each while Webber held a slight rebounding edge at 28-22.

Neither team shot the ball well from the foul line but the Trojans hit 6-of-14 from the stripe compared to 3-of-7 for Cobden. Meaning Coach Beaty's bunch took exactly twice as many FT's and made exactly twice as many shots as the Appleknockers.

Webber will face a familiar foe in Waltonville at 7:45 pm Friday night while Cobden and Z-R will hook up at 6:15 pm

“It's been a while since Webber has been out here on Friday night at 8 o'clock but I told the guys in the locker room we aren't going to just settle for this one (win),” said Coach Beaty. “I'm just proud of those guys. I told coach (Travis) Helm I don't know what to expect. We have 12 kids and seven of them are not old enough to drive. This is a great atmosphere and Christopher is a great tournament so I didn't know what to expect. But it is crazy how young kids will surprise you and we got off to a good start.”

Webber Township (57) – Austin 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 7 0 1-2 15, Stratten 0 0 0-0 0, Neal 5 1 4-8 17, Moount 3 2 0-0 12, Helm 0 2 0-0 6, Hammer 3 0 1-4 7.
2FG-18, 3FG-5, FT-6-14, PF-13.
Cobden (54) – Inman 1 0 0-0 2, Moore 3 0 2-2 8, Spalt 0 4 0-0 12, Russell 1 0 0-0 2, Cohen 1 1 0-0 5, Flamm 9 0 1-5 19, Lewey 3 0 0-0 6, Duty 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18, 3FG-5, FT-3-7, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Hammer - Webber Township.
Technical Fouls – None.

Waltonville (64) – Miller 4 0 3-3 11, Coggins 0 1 0-0 7, Gill 2 1 0-1 7, Kitowski 2 3 1-2 14, Griffith 0 0 0-0 0, Berkemeire 0 0 0-0 0, Bananch 3 0 1-4 7, Majewski 8 0 2-4 18, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-7-14, PF-18.
Zeigler-Royalton (48) – Whiting 0 2 0-0 6, Newton 0 1 0-0 3, Eastwood 0 1 0-0 3, Anderson 2 0 7-7 11, Saddler 2 0 2-5 6, Domineck 1 0 00-1 2,Anderson 3 0 1-1 7, Risley 0 0 0-0 0, Bollinger 2 0 0-0 4, Humerickhouse 0 0 0-0 0, Hall 3 0 0-2 6.
2FG-13, 3FG-4, FT-10-16, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Risley - Zeigler-Royalton.
Technical Fouls – None.