02-23-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNT CARMEL - Heading into the Mount Carmel Class A Regional, Coach Clarence Gross of the favored Webber Township Trojans knew that if his club were to reach Friday nights' title game, they would have to deal with the host Golden Aces in the semifinals on their own floor.

He also knew that the contest would be much closer than the 70-39 Webber victory over MC the first time the two teams met back on January 16th at the Carmi Invitational Tournament.

Trailing 35-29 at the half and clearly in trouble, Webber's team leaders stepped up in the final 16 minutes to extend its now school record-tying season.

Fueled by 15 points each from Jabe Michel and Bryce McKenzie and a 14-of-14 performance from the free throw line on the night, Webber Township ended Mount Carmel's season with a 58-51 in front of a boisterous crowd at MCHS.

The win, which was the 25th of the campaign for the Blue and Gold clad Jefferson County squad, sends this school to its first regional title game since 1996.

Shutting down the Aces in the second half was a key point that Coach Gross expressed at halftime and his team responded by holding MC to just 7-of-22 shooting in the final two quarters.

"We did some dumb things in the first half and we shot entirely too many 3-pointers," said Coach Gross, who will coach in his first regional title game of his career on Friday. "We came out in the second half and got back to our game plan. We wanted to put some pressure on their guards and it paid off in the end. I challenged the seniors and I told them in the locker room at halftime that 'this might be the last 16 minutes of your basketball life' and they responded."

From the beginning of the game, in was clear that the Trojans were in for a fight from the home standing Aces.

Caleb Knepper, Mount Carmel's 6-foot-6 sophomore forward who at times thinks he is a guard, connected on four first half 3-pointers.

His first bomb from behind the arc connected to give the Aces an 11-10 lead with 2:35 left in the opening quarter, which forced a Webber timeout.

He hit another one after a Webber turnover to extend the lead to 14-10.

But Joey Ullery scored on a lay in on a pass from teammate Brad Porter and two Jabe Michel free throws evened the score at 14 after one quarter of play.

Mount Carmel opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run with another Knepper 3-pointer to go along with 'back-to-back' baskets by Nate Yarbor and Steven Alka.

When Alka scored on a shot underneath the basket, the Aces led 21-16.

Webber tied the game again with a Porter 3-pointer making it 23-all.

However Mount Carmel finished off the frame by outscoring the Trojans 12-6.

Grant Stoltz hit the fifth first half 3-pointer for the Aces in the scoring stretch, and his club marched off of the court with an upset within reach leading 35-29.

"Our kids kind of got tentative in the early going and they (Mount Carmel) hit some early shots, but I told the players that they were not going to shoot the ball that well for the whole game," added Coach Gross. "We put some full court pressure on them in the second half which they didn't handle that well. And we didn't get rattled down the stretch."

Showing the urgency of the moment, the Trojans came out in the second half with an intensity that Mount Carmel failed to match.

A 12-4 Webber advantage in the period gave Webber back the lead.

Nine of those points came from Michel, as this 6-foot-4 senior lefty scored from all over the court.
His only 3-pointer of the game, following Porters' only 'trifecta' of the night, got Webber back even at 37-all.

He then got a lob pass inside the lane and his turnaround shot found the mark with 1:25 left for a 39-37 Trojan lead.

He added two more free throws while being fouled while taking the ball to the basket by Mount Carmel's Alka.

A Stoltz basket with :20 remaining set the stage for an exciting fourth with the Webber leading 41-39.
Mount Carmel jumped back in front to open the final eight minutes as Knepper hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night from the right wing, which gave the Aces back the lead at 42-41.

"Caleb (Knepper) has averaged about four or five 3-pointers a game for us all season and he is one of those players that if he hits his first one you can mark him down for three or four more in a row," added Wilcox. "Nate Yarbor played well again for us in the paint tonight. We probably should have gotten him the ball more inside but they defended us well in the second half."

In the next 4:34 of the game, the fans on hand would see six lead changes before Webber Township finally wore down the young Aces.

As it has been the case for Webber for most of this stellar season, anyone of the five starters could step up at anytime and make big plays.

On this night in the final five minutes of the contest, it was Bryce McKenzie.

He scored nine of the Trojans' final 13 points.

His 3-pointer with 4:34 left on the clock gave back the lead to Webber at 48-47.

Mount Carmel's final advantage of the game came on the Aces next possession on an inside bucket by Yarbor with 3:59 left.

Then McKenzie made two extraordinary plays under pressure.

He split two Mount Carmel defenders near the foul line and slashed to the basket for a score to give Webber back the lead for good.

After an empty trip by MC, Ullery put the hammer down on the Aces with a short hook shot in the lane to give Coach Gross' club some breathing room.

After yet another missed shot by Mount Carmel, Webber forced the home club out of its zone defense by spreading the floor.

Once again McKenzie struck with an offensive blow that would seal the game.

He again proved to be too quick out front, beating a double-team while scoring on a 10-foot pull up jumper in the lane to stretch the lead out to 54-49.

Alka scored one final basket for Mount Carmel on a drive to the basket with :52 remaining.

Having four fouls to give, it took :21 seconds to finally get Webber Township to the free throw line.

McKenzie and Ullery put the game out of reach with each Trojan combining to hit a pair of foul shots.

Coach Wilcox's club missed three straight 3-pointers in the final seconds as time ran out on their season.

"They (Webber) held their composure and made the shots when they needed to tonight," said a clearly dejected coach Ronnie Wilcox. "We had chances late in the game but the ball just wouldn't go down for us on several shots that just sort of hung on the rim but fell off. I can't complain about my kids' effort tonight, they played hard and took care of the ball for the most part. But give Webber credit, they made the plays when they needed them."

After McKenzie and Michel's 15-points each, Ullery added 12 and Brad Porter nine in the victory.

Webber struggled from the field in the opening half but settled down to finish 20-of-48 from the field, 9-of-18 in the second half.

Yarbor and Knepper led Mount Carmel with 15 each. Stoltz, like Yarbor, finished his career on this night, adding nine points to the Aces total.

The future looks bright for MC with just three seniors departing and an incoming freshman class that had a brilliant postseason as eighth graders, Coach Wilcox will have a lot to look forward to next year.
"It just came down to making or missing shots and we didn't hit the shots we needed to tonight," finalized Wilcox, whose team finished a brutal Indiana-stacked schedule at 9-18.

The Trojans will play Fairfield, a 61-50 winner over Carmi-White County in the other semifinal contest on Wednesday night, on Friday.

"No one thought we would get this far this season. We are the top seed here but we are the underdogs," added Gross. "We sort of relish that role and we hope it works to our advantage. We've got five athletes out there that are basketball players and know how to play the game and not too many teams can say that."

Mount Carmel (48) - Buss 1 0 0-0 2, Alka 3 0 0-0 6, Hanley 1 0 0-0 6, Yarbor 7 0 1-2 15, Lewis 1 0 0-0 2, Knepper 0 5 0-0 15, Stoltz 2 1 2-2 9, Dardeen 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-6, FT-3-4, PF-14.
Webber Township (58) - Porter 2 1 2-2 9, McKenzie 5 1 2-2 15, Ullery 4 0 4-4 12, Michel 3 1 6-6 15, Swartz 1 1 0-0 5, Braden 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-14-14, PF-10.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.