02-23-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
TRENTON - Heading into Saturday night's regional title game at Trenton-Wesclin the biggest news was that Nashville head coach Darin Lee would not be allowed in the building because of being ejected from his teams' semifinal win against Carlyle on Wednesday night.

But the real story of the night was the play in the fourth quarter of Wesclin seniors Sean Rakers and Casey Ainslie.

Trailing for most of the contest – the Warriors rallied around their two veterans to move into the Nashville Sectional with a come-from-behind 54-49 win in front of a near sellout crowd on their home turf.

In a near carbon copy of the two teams previous encounter (a 45-37 title game win over the Hornets at the Nashville Invitational Tournament) Wesclin wore down Nashville late in the game.

The 6-foot-7 Rakers owned the glass on both ends of the floor as he finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

“We didn't want to lose our last game at home,” said Trenton-Weslin's Sean Rakers. “We were down at halftime and we were in the exact same position as we were at the Nashville Tournament. We just regrouped in the second half because we knew that we had to get it done. They are a difficult team to play because they always play hard.”

Ainslie hit three huge 3-pointers including a pair of daggers in the final eight minutes.

The Ainslie/Rakers duo combined for 16 of Wesclin's 20 fourth quarter points.

“He (Ainslie) is a third and fourth quarter type player and we are happy to get the ball to him in those situations because usually he is going to do something positive,” said Wesclin head coach Brent Brede. “It was a fist-fight, it really was. Nashville was excellent in their half court offense. They did a marvelous job picking us apart. But our kids sucked it up and hit some big shots when we need to and got some big stops.”

Tommy Pelczynski finished his stellar career at Nashville with 21 points to match his jersey number.

Nashville led the first 25 minutes of the contest but they couldn't hold off the Wesclin fourth quarter run.

“We definitely wore down. We got off to a good start and had them down nine and forced them to call timeout,” said Nashville coach C.J. Cruser who was in charge of the bench with Coach Lee's absence. “The guys that we thought would hit shots (Rakers and Ainslie) hit shots so the credit goes to them. We just ran out of gas tonight.”

Using a deliberate offense and hitting some key shots – Nashville took the lead from the outset.

Five-foot-eleven sophomore Greg Guest hit his first two looks at the basket on a back door lob and 3-pointer from the top of the key to stake the Hornets to a quick 5-0 lead.

Rakers kept his team close in the opening quarter with six points.

His score on a spinning move in the lane cut the Warriors deficit to 9-7 at the 2:41 mark.

However Pelczynski hit a pair of shots in the final moments of the frame.

His 17-footer from the left wing beat the buzzer to give the Hornets a 13-9 lead after one quarter played.

Each time Wesclin tried to make a run the Hornets responded in a back-and-forth second quarter.

Guest – who finished with 12 points on the night – connected from long range twice in the second quarter.

His second bomb exploded on a shot just left of the top of the circle with 4:53 remaining to make it 20-13 Hornets.

Wesclin outscored Nashville 7-4 to close the half.

When Charlie Blair hit two free throws with 1:27 left – Wesclin trailed 24-20 at intermission.

Nashville put together a 6-1 run to open the second half to put Wesclin in serious danger of losing on its home court.

Jordan Snead, Michael Moeller and Pelczynski all scored baskets in the scoring burst that forced Wesclin to use a timeout trailing 30-21.

The time stoppage worked for the Warriors as Coach Brede's club went on its first big scoring rush.

Ainslie and Nate Fuhler both dialed long distance in the run.

Ainslie's 3-pointer from the left wing sliced the Nashville advantage to 34-31.

Rakers scored on a fast break following a pass from Ainslie. Rakers added 1-of-2 free throws to close the quarter at 34-all.

“We knew we could make a run but we just hoped that we didn't expend too much energy on the defensive end that we couldn't get over the hump,” added Brede.

The low fuel light on the Nashville dashboard began to blink as the fourth quarter started.

Following another Ainslie 3-pointer which put Wesclin in front 37-36 – Nashville made its final scoring push.

Pelczynski hit 3-of-4 free throws wrapped around an assist to teammate Daniel Carson with a pass in the lane for a score to give Nashville its final lead of the game.

Ainslie nailed a NBA range trifecta right in front of the Wesclin bench to even the score at 42.

“That one shot he (Ainslie) hit was a killer,” added Cruser. “We thought that Guest had him covered but he can get his shot off. He needs no room to get his shot off.”

Rakers took an interior pass and spun to the basket for a score while being fouled by Moeller. His free throw gave Wesclin back the lead for good.

On a spread (four-corners) offensive set – Fuhler drove the lane for a bucket to give Wesclin a four-point lead.

Nashville had a final chance to tie the game trailing 49-47 after forcing Ainslie to travel with the ball against the press with :39.9 remaining.

But Pelczynski missed a 3-point shot that bounced out of bounds back to Wesclin.

Fuhler put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws.

A Hornet turnover gave the ball back to Wesclin.

Ainslie throw a three-quarter court pass to Rakers for a lay up while being fouled by Carson.

His made free throw iced the game.

Pelczynski hit a 18-footer to close his career in the final seconds.

“I thought Charlie Blair and Tyler Shaw made him earn his points,” explained Brede on the defensive effort on Pelczynski. “You know he is going to get his points you just have to make him have to fight to get them.”

After a Nashville time out with :01.8 remaining – Wesclin inbounded the ball to Rakers who batted the ball into the front court as time expired to set off a celebration.

Wesclin was 19-of-44 in the contest which included 6-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc.

Nashville finished 16-of-35 from the field and outrebounded Wesclin 24-23.

In a clean played game – both clubs combined for just 11 turnovers.

“This (game) should do us good as we move on down the road,” finalized Brede. “We are fortunate to get out of here with a win.”

Nashville (49) - Guest 1 3 1-2 12, Harre 0 0 0-0 0, Pelczynski 7 0 7-10 21, Snead 3 0 0-0 6, Spenner 0 0 0-0 0, Conner 0 0 0-0 0, Moeller 3 0 0-2 6, Carson 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-8-14, PF-15.
Trenton-Wesclin (54) - Shaw 0 1 0-0 3, Ainslie 2 3 0-0 13, Fuhler 1 2 2-2 10, Bair 1 0 2-2 4, Haselhorst 0 0 0-0 0, Raker 9 0 6-10 24.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-10-14, PF-15.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.