Webber makes early lead stick
Helm, Neal come up big in Trojans' victory; 14-1 run sets tone in triumph
12-06-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
BLUFORD
Setting the tone of a contest early against a conference rival can be very beneficial.

The Webber Township Trojans jumped out to an early lead and never allowed Midland Trail Conference sibling Odin back in the contest.

The Trojans were in no mood to “help a brother out” on Tuesday night, jumping out to a 14-1 advantage in route to a 67-49 win over the Eagles in the league opener for both clubs.

Coach Brad Beaty saw his team hold the opponent to zero field goals in the first 7:43 of the game and never looked back, improving to 4-1 on the young season and 1-0 in the MTC.

The Eagles rough beginning was something that they couldn't overcome as they fell to 4-4 on the season, 0-1 in the league standings.

Coach Mark Burton's club missed their first seven attempts from the floor and committed six of their 13-turnovers in the first quarter.

By the time they made their first bucket of the contest, they trailed the hosts 14-3 at the end of one.

Webber Township got their usual 1-2 scoring punch from senior Jaxon Helm and junior Charles Neal.

Helm, a 6-foot guard, netted 20-points to pace Webber while Neal, a 6-foot-4 forward, did his damage in the lane for the most part.

Neal grabbed a game best 14-rebounds to go with his 19-points.

“There is a senior for you, it is nice to have those seniors,” said Coach Beaty, talking about Helm stepping up. “Here's a kid that has the mind of a coach out there that knows when to settle the team down and he knows when to push the tempo. It's always nice to have 'number 31' out their on the floor for us.”

The Eagles got 21-points from junior Set Nix and 10-points from freshman Lucas Shaffer in defeat.

From the outset, the Trojans were focused, getting off to a quick early offensive run.

Webber scored a couple of early baskets by Dalton Hart and Helm, with helm forcing one of the early Odin turnovers with a steal and fast break lay in.

Brodie Mount, a 6-foot-1 junior, nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing.

When Neal scored his second basket of the frame on a drive in the lane for a pull-up jumper, Webber was up 13.

“We came out in a zone and it was flat from the beginning. Usually that is our strong point. We find the ball and hustle after it, but tonight it wasn't there,” said Coach Burton.

Odin got seven-points from 5-foot-9 sophomore Gage Roberts as he was the one that got the Eagles first basket with :17 left in the opening stanza.

The Trojans advantage ballooned to 16-points in the second quarter as Webber got a 3-point bomb by Helm to open the quarter and consecutive scores by Neal and Mount for a But 22-6 spread.

Roberts and Shaffer attempted to keep the game within reach for Odin, each scoring from beyond the arc in the frame.

But Webber answered each attempted run with points as Hart, junior Dylan Stratton and Helm all scored in succession.

Helm nailed another 3-point bomb as Webber took a 29-9 lead with 3:03 left.

Odin's best run of the half closed the second quarter with Roberts and Shaffer again netting points.

A three by Roberts and a drive by Shaffer got the lead down to just 31-17 at the break.

“The freshman kid (Shaffer) is a good player and difficult to guard,” said Coach Beaty. “And they have a couple of other kids that can knock them down. I thought we did a good job of forcing them to take a shot with a hand in their face.”

The Trojans again extended the run with a jump-start at the beginning of the third quarter.

Neal scored nine of his points in the third quarter, including three straight scores.

A back door lay in on a nice assist from Helm started the Neal run.

A rebound basket followed by a 3-pointer from the 6-foot-4 junior pushed the lead to 40-20 with 5:30 remaining.

Helm took over near the end of the third quarter, going on his own run.

He scored three straight baskets on drives to the goal, with his last one closing the frame with Webber up comfortably at 49-32.

Helm added to his night of scoring with two more drives in the paint for points while Stratton and Hart scored on back-to-back fast break lay ups.

Mount put the finishing touches on the victory with a conventional three-point play on a drive for a score.

His made free throw with 4:34 left made it 63-39 before both coaches emptied their benches.

Webber finished the game 26-of-62 overall (5-of-14 from the arc) shooting the ball, which isn't a great shooting performance (41.9 percent).

But the Trojans ruled the glass, grabbing 40-rebounds compared to Odin's 27.

Nineteen of the boards were on the offensive end as they cleaned up most of mess.

Odin was just 18-of-51 (35.2 percent) with just 5-of-19 from the arc.

Webber faces Thompsonville on Friday night before tackling the field at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament that begins on Saturday.

Odin host Woodlawn on Friday night.

“I told the kids, we are juniors and seniors now, we're not freshmen and sophomores anymore. When we go to the lockerroom with a 16-point lead I fully expect them to not only hold the lead but to expand it,” said Coach Beaty. “And it has to come from our defense. As I have said for the last week and a half, we have got to do a better job off the ball on defense. I thought we did a much better job of that tonight.”

1
2
3
4
-
F
Odin
03
14
15
17
-
47
Webber Township
14
17
18
17
-
67
Odin (49) – Organ 0 0 0-0 0, Shaffer 2 2 0-0 10, Nix 4 2 7-10 21, Friend 1 0 0-0 2, Roberts 3 0 1-5 7, Smith 3 0 0-0 6, Byers 0 0 1-2 1, Lusch 0 0 2-2 2, Norman 0 0 0-0 0, Arnold 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-11-19, PF-18.

Webber Township (67) – Helm 5 2 4-5 20, Girvan 0 0 0-0 0, Neal 7 1 2-4 19, Stratton 4 1 0-1 11, Hart 2 0 0-0 4, Mount 2 1 1-5 10, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Launay 0 0 0-2 0, Adcock 0 0 0-0 0, Howard 0 0 0-0 0, Bravard 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-7-17, PF-16.

Fouled Out – Organ - Odin.
Technical Fouls – Hart - Webber Township.