02-25-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNT CARMEL - On Friday night before the regional championship game at Mount Carmel, most experts around the state picked against the small school from Jefferson County as Webber Township took on Fairfield.

Despite a number two seed in the sub-sectional and the highest of the seeds in the regional, Webber Township was not expected to survive.

These 'so-called' pundent's picked Fairfield while spouting the old clichés about 'playing a tougher schedule' and 'being more physical.'

All of those sayings and a $1.07 will get you a cup of coffee at a truck stop, but it won't win you a regional title.

The game is won or lost on the court and this week at Mount Carmel, Coach Clarence Gross' team was clearly the best.

Overcoming a 'tight' shooting first half and some missed opportunities, Webber Township closed out the Fairfield Mules with a 17-7 fourth quarter to advance to the NCOE Class A Sectional with a 'come-from-behind' 58-50 win in front of a packed house at Mount Carmel.

Wearing down the Mules with their full court pressure, the Trojans outgunned Fairfield late in the contest to advance to play Eldorado, a 75-49 winner over Galatia at the Harrisburg Regional.

Six-foot-three senior Jabe Michel took command late in the game for Webber who, when put to the test in the final minutes, answered the bell with a dominating run.

Michel netted nine of his team high 19 in that final frame, leading this strong willed veteran group to its biggest goal of the season, winning a regional crown.

"We wanted to speed the game up in the second half and put more pressure on them defensively," said Coach Gross, whose club is now an eye-popping 26-3 on the season. "We wanted to get the game into our tempo and we did it on the defensive end. We saw they (Fairfield) were grabbing their shorts and they were getting winded and that made us want to turn it up even more. I am so proud of this group. We have accomplished most of our goals this year and this was the biggest one."

After hitting just 6-of-21 shots in the opening half, Webber responded with a 15-of-29 performance in the final 16 minutes.

Coach Gross' club forced Fairfield into six fourth quarter turnovers, including five in five-straight possessions with the Trojans scoring on each one.

"They (Webber) are quick and they beat us to the ball all night long," said Fairfield coach Tim Pearison, whose team has come up short in two straight regional title games. "Whether is was on an offensive rebound or a lose ball they just beat us to every basketball that was out there tonight."

The way the game opened, Webber was jittery at best and quickly fell behind Fairfield.

Setting some great screens to free up spot up shooters, the Mules fired away from behind the arc in the opening quarter.

Three different Fairfield players connected from 3-point range in the first frame.

Kenny Basnett drilled the first one of the quarter, taking a pass out near the top before finding the mark with 6:01 to go to give the Mules a 5-2 lead.

Josh Braddock was next in line from behind the stripe, breaking a 9-9 tie with his only 'trifecta', which put Fairfield back up with 1:56 remaining.

Todd West finished off the trio of 3-pointers in the quarter with a blast from the left wing with :37 to play.

But while Webber was struggling to find itself offensively, Cody Swartz and Cory Braden stepped out from the Ullery/Michel/Porter shadows to more than carry their own weight.

Swartz hit for seven points in the first eight minutes on a 3-pointer and a pair of in close baskets.

Braden scored on a reverse lay in with under a minute left.

After the West trey gave Fairfield a 17-11 lead, Brad Porter's 3-pointer from the left wing hit home to cut the margin to three at the first horn.

Michel (rebound basket) and McKenzie (lay in) scored consecutively to cut into the Mules advantage in the second quarter.

But a 5-0 run gave Fairfield their best first half separation from Webber.

West scored on a drive to the basket after picking up a deflected pass and Matt Thomason scored his only bucket of the night on a pass from Braddock that made it 28-21 and forced a Webber timeout with 3:00 left.

Webber rallied right before halftime on yet another score from Swartz and late basket by Porter on a 'dish' from Michel to end the half at 30-25 Fairfield.

"Cody Swartz kept us in the game in the first half when we couldn't hit our shots," added Gross, who joined southern Illinois coaches Matt Laur of Steeleville and Todd Tripp at Goreville in winning their first regional titles Friday night. "It is a credit to our kids. We got some guts and we got some heart and it showed tonight. We could have been dead in the water at halftime but our kids wouldn't allow it to end."

Fairfield appeared on a verge of putting the Trojans down for the count as they hit their largest advantage with 4:28 left in the third quarter.

West connected on another 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 38-30.

But as was the case for most of the season for Webber Township, they 'pumped up the volume' on the defensive end and the Mules simply couldn't handle their pressure.

Michel began to find openings in the Fairfield defense as this senior leader's five points late in the quarter helped change the momentum.

A spinning shot in the lane and a 3-pointer from the left wing made it 41-39 Fairfield.

Braddock answered for Fairfield on a drive to the basket.

However Joey Ullery's acrobatic lay in with under a minute to go closed the quarter at 43-41 as the two teams headed to the final eight minutes to determine a regional titlist.

In a 'shark-like' run against a wounded prey, Webber smelled blood and attacked Fairfield with a defensive flurry, as they took over the game in the final minutes.

Forcing the Mules into five consecutive turnovers, Webber took command.

Michel 'snatched' a rebound of a missed Porter 3-pointer and his put back evened the score at 43 with 7:17 to go.

Ullery gave Webber its first lead of the ballgame with 5:52 remaining with another drive to the basket that forced Coach Pearison to use a timeout.

"We go out and play as hard as we can each night and we play as a team," said Webber's Joey Ullery. "We talked at halftime about working on our defense and to continue to play hard. I just tried to take the ball to the basket in the second half and it paid off."

Michel gave the Trojans even more cushion as the senior hit his second 3-pointer of the night as the lead grew to 48-43.

Fairfield had some fight left in them as a West 3-pointer and a Basnett score on a driving shot in the lane were sandwiched around another Michel score in the paint to make it 50-48.

But as they have done all season long in close contests, the Trojans finished off their adversary from the foul line.

After a Swartz score on a back door cut and pass from Ullery, Webber hit six straight free throws, two by Michel and a door-closing four from Ullery.

A Fairfield rally fell short as three straight missed 3-pointers finished off the Wayne County teams' chances.

When Bryce McKenzie got the ball back after a defensive rebound, he dribbled the ball into the frontcourt as time ran out on the Fairfield season and the Webber Township regional drought.

"We just gave it everything we had tonight, we didn't hold anything back," said Webber's Jabe Michel. "You can't win a regional without hitting free throws and bunnies and we hit our shots in the fourth quarter tonight. That (tough defense) is what we did all year and it got us this win tonight."

The Trojans were led by Michel with 19 points while Ullery added 17 and Swartz chipped in 10.

For the game, Coach Gross' club shot 21-of-50 overall after the poor shooting start in the opening half.
Not known as a 3-point shooting team, Webber hit 4-of-8 from behind the line.

And the kicker to the whole regional tournament was their accuracy from the foul line.

After a 14-of-14 effort against Mount Carmel on Wednesday night, Webber followed that up with a 12-of-15 showing in the finale. A total of 26-of-29 for the week is the stuff of champions.

Webber beat the Black Diamond East champions on the boards, holding a slight 23-18 advantage.

Basnett led Fairfield with 18 while West and Braddock closed with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Mules shot the ball pretty well, connecting on 21-of-44 for the game with 5-of-13 from behind the arc.

But the 10 turnovers in the game forced by Webber, including six in the final quarter doomed the Mules.

"You have to give them (Webber) credit, they have some good athletes over there and they just flat out beat us on the boards. We knew coming in that they were a quality ballclub and they proved that by winning the Carmi Tournament. I wish them the best of luck next week," added Pearison.
"It was a situation that they have so many kids that can step up and score. Two of their kids could have a bad night but the other three will step up and score. They do a great job of attacking the basket and I am a firm believer that if you attack the basket that good things will happen and they do it extremely well. "We did get into some foul trouble but they just wore us down in the second half."

The Trojans will look for the schools first ever-sectional victory Tuesday night at a gym they play at once a year.

"Our seniors set some lofty goals this year," added Gross. "All three of the tournaments we wanted to win. We won two of those and got second in another one. We wanted to win the conference and we went undefeated in the league and now this regional title. Everything from now on is gravy."

Fairfield (48) - Thomason 1 0 0-0 2, West 3 3 0-0 15, Braddock 4 1 1-2 12, Basnett 7 1 1-1 18, Ukena 0 0 1-2 1, Tucker 0 0 0-0 0, Robson 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-3-5, PF-14.
Webber Township (58) - McKenzie 1 0 0-0 2, Ullery 4 1 6-6 17, Porter 2 1 1-2 8, Swartz 4 0 2-2 10, Michel 5 2 3-5 19, Braden 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-12-15, PF-9.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.