03-10-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA

On Saturday afternoon, in its third trip to Peoria for the state basketball finals, the Woodlawn Cardinals took home the biggest trophy of them all.

Senior guard A.J. Webb knocked down the biggest shot in the school's history, the team's tenth made 3-pointer of the game, as this southern Illinois Class 1A powerhouse finally claimed the big prize.

Rallying from a early fourth quarter deficit, Coach Shane Witzel saw his club make the big plays when they counted to bring the 1A state championship back to the South with a 48-45 win over Carrollton.

Since the state went to four classes in 2007-08, Woodlawn has had a great run of success.

But the state championship had eluded this hard working program.

That all changed on Saturday afternoon.

Playing smart basketball and overcoming Carrollton's huge rebounding advantage (35-21) the Cardinals won its 29th game of the season.

Trailing 45-43 in the final seconds, Webb found himself open on the right wing and this 5-foot-11 senior guard stepped up with a 20-footer that found the bottom of the net with :16 left.

“We ran a quick hitter to get Gabe (Owens) freed up but A.J. is more than willing to step up and take a big shot,” said Coach Witzel. “He has done it time and time again for us. And that was a huge shot.”

Senior Christian Hollenkamp, standing alone at the free throw line with :02.1, calmly sank a pair of free throws for the final margin.

A steal on an in-bounds pass moments later by Webb and subsequent jump ball call gave the ball back to Woodlawn.

Getting the ball in-bounds the Cardinals celebrated their victory.

Trailing 41-37 heading into the final quarter, junior guard Gabe Owens got his club back in the game with a pair of 3-pointers.

His bomb from the left corner breathed life into the Woodlawn championship lungs and he followed that up with another trey, this time from the right wing.

Carrollton got a final lead when Joey Coonrod, who finished with 16-points and 17-rebounds, drove the baseline for a score with 1:55 remaining to make it 45-43.

However when the championship was on the line, the Hawks missed a pair of free throws that could have put Woodlawn away.

In one-and-one situations in back-to-back trips, Carrollton failed to convert.

When Luke Palen missed his free throw with :35.8 remaining, Woodlawn had the ball back with a chance to tie.

But Webb knew what to do when he found himself open from the 3-point line.

His shot put the Cardinals up for good.

“I thought this was a very good ballgame, I don't know what the biggest lead of the game was for either team but it wasn't much,” said Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumweide. “We just couldn't stop that barrage of 3-pointers and lets give credit to them (Woodlawn) because most of those were defended. They are just a tremendous outside shooting team.”

Carrollton head coach Jeff Krumweide saw his club do everything but win the game Saturday afternoon.

But in the post-game news conference, he talked about the Woodlawn player that hit big shots when the Hawks went into their gimmick mode in the first half.

Sophomore Jayson Hapeman hit a pair of first half 3-pointers as the Cardinals battled back to take a 30-27 halftime lead.

The Hawks had taken control in the second quarter with Coonrod hitting a pair of long range bombs, with the second one giving Carrollton a 21-15 lead.

“I don't know what his name is but he was number 31. He hit a pair of shots when we went “triangle-and-two” and those were big shots,” added Coach Krumweide.

Hapeman and finally Hollenkamp canned long range shots.

Hollenkamp closed the half with a shot from the top of the arc for the three point lead at intermission.

In the third quarter Woodlawn started fast and took a 37-32 advantage with Owens and Hollenkamp hitting big shots.

Carrollton appeared to have taken control of the championship contest with an 11-0 scoring march.

Jordan Harr scored twice on rebound baskets, a problem for the Cards in this game, as Carrollton grabbed ten offensive boards.

Coonrod also added a second chance score and when 6-foot-5 senior forward Cody Kraut nailed a baseline shot, Carrollton was ahead 41-37 at the end of the third quarter.

But Woodlawn rallied, and when the dust had settled on the Carver Arena floor, it was the red clad Cardinals that ruled the roost.

The Cards were 17-of-46 from the floor in the game, but in the big picture they were very good from downtown.

Hitting 10-of-25 from behind the 3-point line, Woodlawn got 30 long range points.

They hit all four of their free throw attempts and didn't commit a first half turnover.

“That is amazing that you don't have a turnover in the first half of the state championship game but that is one of the things that we always preach is execution,” said Coach Witzel. “The one thing that we have impressed upon our players is that defense doesn't have slumps. Today we did a good job defensively.”

Hollenkamp, a 6-foot-5 senior who was a starter on the Cardinals' third place team last season, led Woodlawn with 15-points.

Owens added 11-points while Webb netted 10.

“I can't be pleased more for the players that came through our program and this is just a culmination of all that (the work),” said Coach Witzel. “I was a Cardinal, too (1988 grad) and this is a special group to bring home a championship to our school.”

Carrollton, who finished 30-5 on the season, got 12-points from Harr and 11-points from Fraley.

The Hawks were just 18-of-43 overall in the contest and, despite their domination on the glass, get the runner-up prize.

“I thought we did a nice job of hanging with them. We had a great opportunity with our free throws at the end and even our last shot was a good shot opportunity. We certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. I thought we played very well and I'm awfully proud of these guys. We'll get over the disappointment of the final score and start will realize the history the program was able to make this weekend up here because of kids I have had the opportunity to work with this season,” finalized Coach Jeff Krumweide.