01/14/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - For Wesclin and head coach Brent Brede this has been a learning season for his mostly young kids playing in a new division of their long standing Cahokia Conference.

While the non-conference schedule has been difficult, including games against former Mississippi Division programs, the Warriors have managed to thrive so far in the Illinois Division.

Wesclin, with a win over Sparta on Friday night on the road, now stands at 5-0 and sits in first place.

Coach Brede's bunch has wins over all five of the other teams (Red Bud, Okawville, Carlyle, Chester and Sparta) in the division.

The Warriors got off to a good lead and held off the host Bulldogs late in the game with some clutch free throw shooting in their 51-45 triumph.

This victory improves their overall mark to 8-11.

With a starting lineup that consists of a senior, a junior and three sophomores, the term 'learning as we go' fits this group and they picked up an important win (and lesson) on Friday night.

The two top scorers for the season so far led Wesclin to the road win.

Six-two junior guard Grant Fridley, one of the few kids returning from last season with much varsity experience, topped the Warriors attack with 23-points while sophomore teammate 6-6 forward Seth Macke added 18-points and eight-rebounds.

Those two combined for nearly all of the offensive production needed to pick up the win.

Teammates junior Brandon Oelrich (four), sophomore Luke Tasker (three) and senior Trey Marks (three) added the other 10-points.

“He (Macke) is too unselfish. We sometimes have trouble getting him the ball and he has to be more assertive and try to get baskets for us,” said Coach Brede. “He's been able to step out and hit shots for us which has helped us out. We just have to make sure he stays aggressive.”

Sparta head coach Jordan Beckley also has a young club with not a great deal of varsity experience that was coming off of a winless 2020-21 Covid19 campaign.

However the Bulldogs are vastly improved since then and are 6-11 overall and 0-5 in the Illinois with most of the losses being competitive results.

After a 1-8 beginning of the season, Sparta had won 5-of-7 games heading into Friday night.

“We didn't play with enough discipline tonight and our shot selection wasn't good. We got into our plays (offense) but we didn't run them very well,” said Coach Beckley. “We needed to be more patient on offense. We always battle and our kids have done that all year and I have been pretty happy about that. But it's still disappointing not to come away with a win. We have probably exceeded everyone's expectations. Right now we're 6-and-11 and we feel like we should be 11-and-6. But we just need to keep battling.”

Two junior standouts led the Dawgs in scoring with 6-3 guard/forward Ethan Willis scoring 16-points and 6-0 guard Brayden Henry adding 14.

Five-ten sophomore guard James Pillers added six-points while Coach Beckley got contributions from reserve sophomore Zach Bodeker and senior Colin Sheldon with four and three points respectively.

One of the top scorers for the team, 5-10 senior guard Dauntay Merideth, was saddled with early foul trouble and hit just one shot (second quarter) for two-points before fouling out in the fourth.

“It wasn't pretty and we probably didn't have the right energy or focus. We are definitely not great but we've been better at home than on the road,” said Coach Brede. “We made some mistakes but it beats losing. Sparta has some kids that can score. They have three guys (Willis, Henry and Merideth) that are tough covers for out guys. We're happy to get out of here with a win.”

A third quarter run by Wesclin (10-0) got the Warriors the breathing room they needed and they canned the free throws in the fourth quarter for the win.

After breaking the game's only tie score in the second quarter, Wesclin did enough the rest of the way and led 27-22 at halftime.

Macke proved his versatility by scoring points from the inside and the outside, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

His first one was early in the game and Oelrich hit his only field goal of the contest (also a 3-pointer) as the Warriors were in front in the first quarter.

Fridley added two baskets as Wesclin led 12-6 with 1:14 remaining.

Coach Brede talked about the Sparta offensive threats and the Bulldogs rallied in the first with a 3-pointer from Pillers and buckets by Henry and Willis.

Two free throws by Willis closed the quarter and despite six first quarter turnovers, Sparta was down just 12-11.

After a 3-pointer by Tasker for his only points, Sparta tied the game on consecutive scores from Willis and Merideth's only basket on a drive down the left side of the lane.

Wesclin closed out the quarter with 3-point goals by Marks, Macke and Fridley.

Added to the Tasker 3-pointer, Wesclin was 4-of-8 from the arc in the second.

Holding the ball for final :45 in the remainder of the half, Wesclin turned the ball over with :01.8 as they led by just five-points at the break.

Following a Sheldon score in the lane on an assist by Pillers to begin the second half, Wesclin made their scoring move to get away.

All of the points came from Fridley and Macke.

Fridley scored twice with a nice move down the lane for a score and then the junior guard closed the run with a trey from the top of the key.

In between Macke scored in the paint twice; on a conventional three-point play while being fouled by Sheldon and then on a pass from Fridley inside.

The 10-0 run gave the Warriors a 37-24 lead at the 3:19 mark.

Sparta managed to respond with a score by Bodeker and a 3-pointer from Henry.

Wesclin added a Macke bucket and 1-of-2 free throws by Fridley.

As it turned out that would be the only free throw the junior would miss.

Sparta managed one final rush to get back within range.

Three-point bombs by Henry and Willis, along with two free throws by Willis, got the Bulldogs close at 42-37 with just over four minutes remaining.

Wesclin was able to pick up a couple of key offensive rebounds during their free throw parade in the last 2:15.

Fridley snagged a rebound off of an Oelrich miss and he and his teammates spread the floor and ran clock, keeping the ball away from Sparta for nearly a minute.

The junior scorer made six-straight free throws in the last 1:18 as the Warriors held on for the win.

Although this wasn't a beauty of a triumph, it counts the same in the standings as a 50-point blowout.The Warriors ended up just 15-of-41 from the field (36.5 percent) but they outscored Sparta from the foul line by hitting 14-of-20 compared to 9-of-13 for the hosts.

The Bulldogs weren't much better from the floor, connecting just 16-of-46 overall (34.7 percent) and 4-of-16 from long range.

The teams ended up with 10 turnovers each while the rebounding edge went to Sparta, 30-25.

“We haven't won a game in the new conference but we have won some games and eventually we will get to winning those conference games that we will compete in,” said Coach Beckley. “We just need to do everything just a bit better and then the results will change. We have to just keep working at it.”

Both of the clubs head back into action next week in mid-winter tournaments.

Sparta hosts the 56th annual Sparta “Mid-Winter Classic” next week as they open play on Tuesday against Freeburg in Pool A.

Wesclin plays at the Okawville Invitational Tournament where they will play Waterloo Gibault in the bracketed event, matching up on Tuesday.

Gibault topped Wesclin, 43-32 on the road back on January 4.

“We're not a really good free throw shooting team and we missed some early but we're a young team. We start three sophomores and a junior and for a young team we are getting a better,” said Coach Brede.