12-27-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER – Woodlawn sophomore Blake McKay has really stepped up his game this week at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

Wednesday evening the 6-foot-1 guard “stepped on” Johnston City, lighting up the Indians with 32-points in leading the Cardinals into the tournament's semifinals for the tenth consecutive year with a 63-43 triumph.

McKay had scored 31-points the previous day against Zeigler-Royalton and he continued to offensively attack in the quarterfinals.

While the Cardinals struggled early on offense, the defense made things tough on head coach Scott Burzynski's club.

Johnston City fell into the fifth place bracket in part to McKay but most of the problems the Indians had were at the other end of the floor.

Woodlawn forced JC into 20-turnovers and a 16-of-44 shooting showing (36 percent).

Coach Brian Gamber's club got 10-points from senior Blake Fewkes, eight-points each from Jackson Bennett and six-points each from Race Rynski and Chase Hollenkamp.

The 4-8 Indians were led by junior long-range shooting guard Chase Selby, who hit three 3-point shots and ended up with 16-points.

Senior guard Matt Campbell added 12 for the Tribe.

“He (McKay) is one of the best players in the tournament and we knew coming in that we had our hands full,” said Coach Burzynski. “He can score and we also knew that they (Woodlawn) can get ahead of you and spread the floor and then cut to the basket.”

Woodlawn, who misfired on its first six shots from the field, trailed early 3-0 after Selby hit the first of his 20-footers.

After McKay converted the sixth missed shot for a points on an offensive rebound and nailed a pair of free throws, Woodlawn briefly took back the lead at 4-3.

Campbell, who hit two 3-point shots in the contest, connected on his first shot from the arc to give the Indians a 6-4 advantage with 3:54 left in the quarter.

It turned out to be their final lead.

Woodlawn assumed control, as Bennett converted a three-point play and followed that score up with a 3-pointer from the right wing.

In the remaining 2:18 of the quarter, Woodlawn outscored JC 12-2 to lead 20-10.

McKay, who scored seven of the points, and Rynski added points.

Consecutive steals and fast break scores from Rynski and McKay followed McKay's first 3-pointer.

Holding the ball for a final shot of the quarter, sophomore Chase Hollenkamp knocked down a 3-point shot from the left wing to close the frame with Woodlawn up 10.

The Indians managed to hang close in the second quarter but they couldn't any closer than five-points.

That occurred with a brief 7-1 run that forced a Gamber timeout at 27-20.

Selby added six-points at the end of the quarter on a 3-pointer and a drive to the basket for a three-point play.

But again, working for the final attempt of the half, Woodlawn scored when McKay found Fewkes open for a shot that closed the scoring at 36-28 at the intermission.

Five more turnovers by Johnston City and eight more points from McKay was a bad combination for Coach Burzynski as the third quarter began.

By the time McKay grabbed a pair of rebounds in the lane for stick backs, the lead was 51-38 heading to the fourth.

The Indians' Houston Hall, a junior guard for Johnston City, hit his only 3-pointer of the game to briefly give the Indians a gleam of hope.

That hope diminished quickly as Bennett, repeating what he did in the first quarter, put together back-to-back offensive trips for points.

Another drive to the goal while being fouled turned into three points.

Bennett hit a pair of free throws and so did McKay, giving Woodlawn a 58-41 lead.

McKay closed out his performance with two drives to the basket, with the final tally coming in transition on an assist by Fewkes who had made a steal.

The two coaches emptied the benches with 1:41 left.

“It wasn't perfect today, we had some defensive lapses and some careless turnovers but those things can happen. But this is what we want, we want to be in championships and in the final night. Whether it is Sesser or Cobden, it's going to be a good atmosphere,” said Coach Gamber. “We need our kids to play in atmospheres and in big games, like what they are going to get tomorrow night.”

Johnston City managed a slight rebounding edge at 27-24 but Woodlawn was better with the ball (11-turnovers) with just three of the miscues coming in the first half.

After missing those first half dozen field goal attempts, the Cardinals ended up 22-of-47 overall.

Led by McKay drives to the basket, Woodlawn was 17-of-30 (56.6 percent) from inside the arc.

Woodlawn is quite familiar with its semifinal opponent, the host Red Devils.

The two schools, along with Waltonville, form a three-way cooperative for football each fall.

Sesser-Valier romped past Cobden in the late quarterfinal game on Wednesday night.

“We thought that we could get after them in the half court. I didn't necessarily feel like we needed to press, I thought our guys were good enough and quick enough to just get after them,” said Coach Gamber. “Sometimes you're not going to make shots and you're going to have days like that. But if you guard hard, you're going to be in games. Our defense has done that. We are going to have to make shots tomorrow night.”

The top four seeds in the tournament all made it to the semifinals with Goreville and Christopher set to meet Thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm in the first semi.

Johnston City will meet Cobden Thursday night at 6:30 pm which will be followed by Woodlawn and Sesser-Valier at 8 pm.“We play hard and that is one of the things that we do, we're going to compete,” said Coach Burzynski. “We played a really good team today. We put Woodlawn in the same category as Benton, Goreville and A-J; teams that are good that we have played. We have played some good teams and it is making us better. We are going to play some games this year where we will have a better chance to win and I hope we continue to get better.”

Tyler Winchester drilled Cobden with 28-points.

The 6-foot-2 junior hit a trio of 3-point shots and canned 9-of-9 free throws for Coach Shane Garner.

Six-foot-three junior Seth Boles added 13-points, off the bench, as did senior starter Preston Launius.

Addison Page tossed in 10-points for the Red Devils who improved to 7-4 on the campaign.

Cobden saw its mark fall to 9-7 on the season as the Appleknockers got behind early and never mounted a big enough rally.

Coach Rhett Barke had just one player, sophomore Joe Brumleve, in double-digits in points with 14.

Seniors Clayton Eck and John Russell each added eight-points.

Sesser-Valier outscored Cobden 51-34 in the middle two quarters to take a 70-46 lead into the final frame.

Coach Todd Tripp got 22-points from senior guard Braden Webb and 14-points each from classmates Tanner Dunn and Peyton Massey as Goreville improved to 8-2 with the victory.

The Blackcats got off to a good start as they led Steeleville 16-6 at the end of the first quarter and held the lead throughout to set up a semifinal against fellow Black Diamond Conference West Division rival Christopher.

The Warriors saw their mark slip to 6-6 on the season despite a game-best 25-points from junior Owen Gross.

Unfortunately no other Warrior produced double-figures in scoring.

Sophomore Austin Hagel and junior Bradley Mevert added nine-points apiece.

The Warriors will face Randolph County rival Chester in the fifth place bracket semifinal on Thursday.

Coach Rod Wallace also got 14-points each from senior's Ben Mitchell and Austin Pritchett.

Stevens nailed home four 3-point shots as Galatia as a team hit six shots from beyond the arc to improve to 5-8 on the season.

Head coach Conrad Widdersheim saw his Yellow Jackets get eliminated from the tournament as their record slipped to 4-6 overall on the year.

New Athens was led in scoring by 5-foot-9 senior guard Landon Deutschman and 16-points from senior forward Jaxon Heintz.

The Yellow Jackets had chances in the fourth quarter as Galatia hit only 4-of-11 free throws down the stretch.

Four difference M-C players, all underclassmen, hit for double-digits in scoring with 6-foot-3 sophomore leading the Meteors with 17-points in the victory.

Another sophomore; Logan Jones, added 14 to the total while 13-points came from junior guard Cameron Bowlby.

Sophomore Blake Steinwagner chipped in 12-points for Coach Scott Wine's team that improved to 5-5 on the year.

Century bowed out of the tournament with Cason Hight, a 5-foot-9 senior, scoring a team-high 16-points.

Senior Colin Ryan scored 15-points and senior Marcus Davis popped in 11 for the 5-6 club.

Coach Pete Gordon's troops did just enough to survive the scare and move into a match up with Odin on Thursday in the second consolation bracket semifinal.

Taking a 30-28 halftime edge, Thompsonville and Waltonville each scored 13-points in the third quarter and eight-points each in the fourth frame.

Three Tigers led the way with junior guard Tyson Kessler topping Thompsonville with 16-points.

Sophomore Corbin Fitch added 12-points and 6-foot-7 junior Anthony Darge put in 11.

The Tigers could have made things easier on themselves but they made just 2-of-7 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Waltonville's tournament came to an end for Coach Anthony Lowery and his young team with junior Jaylon Malone leading the Spartans with 15-points.

Six-foot-three sophomore Dillon Banach scored 12-points and senior Gage Berkemeier added 11.

The Spartans record slipped to 2-8 while Thompsonville is now 5-6.