03-03-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
BRIDGEPORT - For the first time the program’s history the Woodlawn Cardinals are headed for a sectional championship game in boy’s basketball.

On Tuesday night they took down another quality opponent by doing the same things that they have done all season.

Woodlawn used its bench, size and skill to wear down Altamont – ending the Indians season with a 61-51 win.

Despite their faults on the night (14 turnovers and five missed free throws in the fourth quarter) the Cards improved their record to 27-1 with the win in a battle between the number one (Woodlawn) and number three (Altamont) ranked teams in the final A Baseline View.com Carbondale Supersectional Class 1A regular season rankings.

All season long Woodlawn has come up with different ways of winning.

Tuesday night’s victory came on the defensive end of the floor.

The Indians had averaged 69.5 points a game coming into the sectional showdown but Woodlawn held them to 28 percent shooting overall (15-of-53) which included just 4-of-25 from behind the 3-point line.

Six-foot-seven sophomore forward Josh Wiggs came off the bench to score 17-points for Woodlawn and junior guard Casey Hammond added 16-points – including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers in the third quarter for Coach Shane Witzel’s state-ranked club.

Altamont had four players in double-figures in scoring but they were held in check as a team by Woodlawn’s transition defense that allowed too few fast break opportunities for the run-and-gun Tribe.

For Altamont head coach Doug Hill the season came to an abrupt end at 25-5 at the hands of a Cardinal club that exposed some weaknesses.

The Indians were led in scoring by Kieffer McCarron with 12-points while Brian Suckow and Devin Frailey added 11 each. Landon Duckwitz – the Indians 5-foot-7 senior point guard - added 10-points before fouling out with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter.

“They (Altamont) are hard to guard because they have multiple guys that can score,” added Witzel. “But I felt like we did a pretty good job of contesting their shots. Bronson (Verhines) blocked some shots for us and contested a few. I really thought that we defended the 3-point line pretty well.”

Defense and poor offensive execution dominated the action in the first quarter as the teams combined for 14-turnovers with each team committing seven.

But Woodlawn closed the frame with a 5-0 run with Wiggs scoring on an assist from Dawson Verhines and Bronson Verhines made a steal and scored in transition to give Woodlawn back the lead at 11-9.

Altamont had some brief scoring runs but nothing like that had accomplished throughout the sesaon.

Six-foot-nine center Greg Sperry took a pass from Duckwitz on a 3-on-1 fast break for a lay in with 5:34 remaining to cut the Woodlawn lead to just 16-14.

This score was significant as it was the first fast break points for Altamont in the game.

Woodlawn kept Altamont from getting easy points in transition – a stat that was not lost by the two mentors after the game.

“They didn’t get a lot of steals and we do attack the glass pretty well so that I felt like that was one of our key components was our transition defense,” added Coach Witzel.

“They were very aggressive and took the ball right at us and forced us to stop them one way or another,” said Coach Hill. “Offensively we couldn’t get a run going tonight like we would have liked to. If we don’t get any runs during a game we are in trouble and tonight we didn’t get any runs. We have to get out and score and we have to get the game into the 60’s and 70’s to have the game to our liking. If we are in the 50’s we’re in trouble against a solid team like Woodlawn.”

Altamont put together its best offensive push to end the first half when they outscored the Cardinals 9-1 with McCarron, Sperry and Frailey all hitting shots.

Frailey sent the teams to the halftime break at 27-all with a 3-pointer from the left wing.

“We shoot the ball a lot and we aren’t shy about that and when they are going in then there is our run,” Hill added. “I’ve never have told the kids to quit shooting and be patient above all else because I never know if I’m going to be taking a possible run away from us.” “We’ve not been outrebounded a whole lot this season but they got us tonight,” added Coach Hill. “The second chances that they (Woodlawn) got hurt us – especially the early stick backs.”

Woodlawn took the lead back for keeps in the early part of the second half with Wiggs doing more damage.

He scored eight points in the third quarter - which included a couple of offensive rebounds.

“(Josh) Wiggs off the bench had a big game for us tonight and I really think that sparked us and Casey (Hammond) had a good run as well. He is pretty good about getting to the basket and he hit a couple of big 3’s to take advantage of their zone defense.”

Hammond toed the 3-point line and took a couple of nice assists from Bronson Verhines for back-to-back long-range bombs that found the target from the left wing.

When his second shot fell through the net with 2:29 remaining – Altamont needed a timeout trailing 39-32.

“Our zone was doing pretty much what I wanted it to do but they heated up in the second half from outside,” explained Coach Hill. “Hammond hit a couple of big shots for them in the second half but I thought our zone was working pretty good inside-out.”

Woodlawn seemed to have stuck a dagger into the Indians heart when Jase Green nailed a shot from 18-feet on the right wing to extend the lead to 44-34 with four second left in the third quarter.

But McCarron took a quick inbounds pass and heaved a 75-foot one-handed shot that ripped the nets for an unlikely 3-pointer to cut the lead down to seven heading into the fourth quarter.

“The third quarter has been kind to us this year and we did a good job of sticking to the game-plan tonight,” said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel. “We started out a bit keyed up and that is understandable because of the crowd and excitement. We got pretty sloppy with the ball early but after that we did a better job.”

McCarron – playing in his final prep game – hit a pair of 3-pointers and totaled eight points in the final quarter.

His trey from the top of the circle cut the Woodlawn lead back down to 53-47 with 1:38 remaining.

But it was Woodlawn that advanced because the Cardinals didn’t fold up under the pressure late as they ran clock offensively and forced the Indians to foul.

Six-foot senior forward Kyle Boldt came up big by leading the Cardinals with seven rebounds in the matchup and his back door lay in on a pass from Bronson Verhines extended the Woodlawn lead to 55-47 with just under a minute to play.

Hammond then iced the game with a pair of free throws and then a late fast break score as Woodlawn reached its first ever sectional championship contest.

“They are nine deep like a St. Anthony is and they attack you well and shoot it well,” said Hill in comparing the Cardinals to their NTC rival. “They compare very well to St. Anthony in that they run a lot of motion and they can penetrate. They also rebound it well and kept us from getting many second shots so that compares to what T-Town (Teutopolis) does.”

Following Wiggs and Hammond was Bronson Verhines with 13-points.

The Cardinals were 21-of-47 from the field and out rebounded Altamont 32-27.

Woodlawn also used its bench once again as nine players saw minutes and seven scored points.

“That has been the story for us this year in that we’ve gotten contributions and you never know where it is going to come from,” added Witzel. “Boldt was our leading rebounder tonight and those guys that come off of the bench usually give us a surge of energy and do some positive things. They (bench) did their part tonight.”

Woodlawn will play the winner of the Wednesday night Neoga/Red Hill sectional semifinal. They will meet the victor on Friday night.

Woodlawn (61) – D. Verhines 1 0 4-6 6, Hammond 4 2 2-2 16, Boldt 2 0 0-0 4, B. Verhines 5 0 3-8 13, Green 1 0 0-0 2, Wiggs 5 0 7-8 17, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, Wehrheim 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-16-24, PF-13.
Altamont (51) – Duckwitz 1 0 8-8 10, Suckow 4 0 3-5 11, McCarron 3 2 0-0 12, Ruff 0 0 0-0 0, Frailey 1 2 3-5 11, Kuhns 0 0 1-2 1, Sperry 2 0 2-4 6.
2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-17-24, PF-22.
Fouled Out – Duckwitz - Altamont.
Technical Fouls – None.