SESSER-VALIER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Woodlawn keeps title hopes alive
Cardinals survive foul trouble, advance past Meteors, 52-44
Waltonville, Christopher, Sesser-Valier join Cardinals in semifinals
12-27-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER – Playing without one of their key players in the first half of their quarterfinal game on Tuesday afternoon against Marissa-Coulterville, the Woodlawn Cardinals were ripe for an upset at the 36th annual Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

Coach Brian Gamber saw his senior leader Blake Wollerman go to the bench early in the first quarter after picking up a pair of early personal fouls.

But with Wollerman on the pine, the rest of the young Cardinals stepped up and weathered the Meteors' storm.

When the 5-foot-11 senior returned to the floor, he made a big difference in the outcome as his all-around play sparked his club.

Driving to the basket and getting the ball to his teammates, Wollerman helped get his defending champions back into the semifinals for the ninth consecutive year.

The senior finished with just nine-points but he helped get the ball inside to his teammates who did the scoring.

As the lone returning starter from last season's state tournament team, he got his teammates involved by dishing out 10-assists to go with his nine-points.

All of the points and assists came in the second half of the Cardinals' 52-44 win.

Woodlawn will face Waltonville on Wednesday afternoon in the championship semifinals.

“We want to win and advance but more than anything we want to play well. Today I thought we did a better job. With Wollerman going down (fouls) early we had some guys step up and give good minutes. We were able to hang in there,” said Coach Gamber. “In the second half he (Wollerman) made a lot of big plays.”

The Meteors got a game-best 27-points from senior guard Kyle Smith and 11-points from senior Tony Stoddard.

But it was the defensive end that failed Marissa-Coulterville as Coach Scott Wine saw his club fall victim to drives to the basket by Wollerman, who would score or dish to teammates for easy looks at the basket.

“The difference was their guard (Wollerman) when he came back into the game. He only played about three mintues in the first half. When he was in there he was getting into the lane at will and dumping it off to his teammates for lay ups,” said Coach Wine. “We can't give up that dribble penetration, when we do we're not very good.”

The other side of the defensive equation, the Cardinals excelled, making it tough on the Meteors to get anything going offensively other than Smith.

Marissa-Coulterville finished a paltry 11-of-29 from the floor and just 5-of-12 from the arc. Not the numbers that Coach Wine was hoping for.

If it wasn't for Smith getting to the foul line often, the margin could have been higher.

Smith is a four-year starter and team leader for M-C and he is within 50 points of becoming the school's all-time leading scorer.

And he has spent most of his career getting to the basket and drawing fouls. He came into the tournament averaging 23 points a game and he is a 77 percent free throw shooter.

After hitting for 26-points against Johnston City, he added 27 against Woodlawn.

However he didn't get a lot of help on either end of the floor.

The Cardinals, with Wollerman picking up two quick personals, carried on without him for nearly the entire first half.

Woodlawn scored the last seven points of the first quarter with a basket by junior Trey Isaac and four straight free throws by freshman Blake McKay.

Another charity by senior Zach Ashby made it 11-6 at the end of the frame.

“Offensively, we are just different when he is not in there,” said Coach Gamber about Wollerman. “Our younger kids are learning how to play and that is a big adjustment for them. I'm happy with the effort.”

The Meteors fell victim to the normal Woodlawn defensive effort as the Cardinals forced five turnovers in the opening quarter.

But M-C rallied in the second with Smith and Stoddard doing most of the scoring.

They both hit 3-pointers in the quarter and when Smith drove the lane and pitched it to Stoddard near the top of the circle, the long distance shot found the mark for a 20-18 Marissa-Coulterville lead with 1:05 left in the half.

After an Isaac score, Stoddard added a pair of free throws to give his club a 22-20 lead at the break.

With Wollerman back on the floor in the second half, the Cardinals hit their stride.

He immediately scored points on a mid-range shot just seconds into the third.

He later set up Jordan Hoppa, a 6-foot-2 senior, with a pair of nice assists.

Hoppa led the Cardinals with 17-points, 13 of which were scored in the second half during an eight-point run as he accounted for all of those points with a pair of 3-pointers and a drive to the basket.

His second trey forced a Marissa-Coulterville timeout at 34-29 Woodlawn.

Wollerman closed the quarter with his only 3-point bomb for a 37-31 lead.

The senior guard also did a better job in the second half guarding Smith, making it tough on the Meteors' top scorer.

“He (Wollerman) is physical and he guarded Kyle (Smith) and that is what most teams want to do against him, get physical,” said Coach Wine. “He is used to it, it has happened to him for four years.”

The Meteors rallied twice in the final quarter, cutting the lead down to just three-points each time.

Smith and Stoddard each hit 3-pointers, with the second one cutting the margin down to 43-30.

But Hoppa converted a three-point play and Ashby scored a couple of late baskets with under a minute remaining as Woodlawn ran time off the clock and advanced to the Final Four.

The Cardinals held a 20-16 rebounding edge, holding the Meteors to just three offensive rebounds.

Woodlawn was more productive from the floor, hitting 20-of-39 overall.

“I thought we did a better job in the second half by not settling. Getting to the rim and getting good shots,” said Coach Gamber. “I liked our defense other than we fouled him (Smith) in some bad spots. We put him at the free throw line more than we wanted to. It's a good win and we are in the semifinals now. Obviously we are well aware of who our opponent is. So it is round two.”

1
2
3
4
-
F
Woodlawn
11
09
17
15
-
52
Marissa-Coulterville
06
16
09
13
-
44
Woodlawn (52) – Isaac 3 0 0-0 6, McKay 2 1 4-4 11, Wollerman 3 1 0-0 9, Bennett 0 0 0-0 0, Devore 0 0 0-0 0, Hoppa 5 2 1-3 17, Ashby 3 0 3-4 9.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-8-11, PF-15.

Marissa-Coulterville (44) – Daugherty 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 4 2 13-15 27, Stoddard 1 2 3-3 11, Parkinson 0 0 0-0 0, Diercks 0 0 0-0 0, Knope 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 1 0-0 3, Inman 1 0 1-2 3.
2FG-6, 3FG-5, FT-17-20, PF-12.

Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Knope - Marissa-Coulterville.
SESSER-VALIER 59, STEELEVILLE 57
The Red Devils rallied from 17-point halftime deficit to upend the Warriors to advance to the championship semifinals.

Coach Shane Garner's club made the most of their opportunities to improve to 4-6 on the season behind 15-points from Lukas Gunter and 13-points from Tyler Winchester.

The Red Devils also got eight-points each from Charles Farmer and Preston Launius.

Farmer hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and Gunter hit 13-of-18 free throws, 10-of-13 in the final quarter as S-V outscored Steeleville 21-14 in the fourth quarter to finalize the comeback.

Steeleville, who led 37-20 at halftime, dropped into the fifth place bracket with the loss as its record stands at 7-4.

The Warriors were paced by senior forward Reid Frederking and 12-points from sophomore Owen Gross.

RJ Smith and Dusty Sutton each netted eight-points in defeat.

1
2
3
4
-
F
Sesser-Valier
08
12
18
21
-
59
Steeleville
19
18
06
14
-
57
Sesser-Valier (59) – J. Gunter 1 1 0-0 5, L. Gunter 1 0 13-18 15, Winchester 1 2 5-6 13, Farmer 2 1 1-2 8, BBaxter 0 0 0-0 0, Launius 4 0 0-0 8, Bales 0 2 0-0 6, Lance 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-11, 3FG-6, FT-19-26, PF-18.

Steeleville (57) – Sutton 1 2 0-2 8, Gross 3 0 6-7 12, Smith 3 0 2-6 8, Frederking 6 1 3-3 18, Grafton 3 0 0-0 6, Valleroy 2 0 1-2 5.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-12-20, PF-19.

Fouled Out – Smith - Steeleville.
Technical Fouls – Steeleville Bench.
CHRISTOPHER 63, CHESTER 54
The Bearcats bested the Yellow Jackets to advance to the semifinals with a nine-point win.

Coach Eric Stallman got 21-points from 5-foot-9 senior guard Kaleb Pedigo and 17-points from junior forward Jared Curry in the win to improve to 5-4 on the season.

Six-foot-four junior forward Bradley Young added 15-points for the Bearcats while 10-points came from senior guard Gabe Schimpf.

Schimpf helped get Christopher going in the second half, leading the charge in a 19-10 third quarter with eight of his points on a pair of 3-pointers and another score.

Pedigo added a pair of 3-point bombs of his own in the contest as the Bearcats hit eight long range shots from beyond the arc.

Chester saw its mark slip to 8-3 overall as Coach Brad Norman saw his club not being able to get to the foul line, hitting just 5-of-8 free throws while Christopher hit for 13-of-17.

Senior guard Savion Smith paced Chester with 16-points while junior guard Nick Heffernan added 14 for the Yellow Jackets.

Jacob Golding and Jack Weir tossed in 10-points each.

Christopher will face the winner of the Steeleville/Sesser-Valier quarterfinal Wednesday evening.

1
2
3
4
-
F
Christopher
16
09
19
19
-
63
Chester
16
11
10
17
-
54
Christopher (63) – Snell 0 0 0-0 0, Pedigo 2 5 2-3 21, Schimpf 2 2 0-0 10, Young 5 0 5-7 15, Pratt 0 0 0-0 0, Curry 4 1 6-7 17.
2FG-13, 3FG-8, FT-13-17, PF-14.

Chester (54) – Harberberger 0 1 1-2 4, Cushman 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Smith 7 0 2-3 16, Bollman 0 0 0-0 0, Heffernan 4 2 0-0 14, Golding 4 0 2-3 10, Weir 2 2 0-0 10.
2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-5-8, PF-16.

Fouled Out – Heffernan - Chester.
Technical Fouls – None.
WALTONVILLE 53, GOREVILLE 35
The Spartans punched their ticket into the semifinals with a knockout of the Blackcats, jumping out to an early 23-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter and pulled away in the second half to improve to 8-2 on the season.

Senior forward Zane Wilson drilled home 25-points for Waltonville, with 10 of the points coming in the opening frame.

Isaac McPhail, a senior guard, added 11-points while junior Tanner Spihlman added eight.

Goreville saw its mark slip to 4-5 with junior guard Braden Webb leading Coach Todd Tripp's troops with 14-points. Tanner Dunn added eight-points for the Blackcats, who will now face Marissa-Coulterville in the fifth place bracket.

Six-foot-six senior Brant Glidewell was held to just six-points by the Spartans defense.

Coach Tyler Mitchell's Spartans will face Woodlawn in the first semifinal game on Wednesday.

Waltonville topped the Cardinals back on December 16, 55-47 in overtime on the road.

1
2
3
4
-
F
Goreville
14
06
11
04
-
35
Waltonville
23
06
15
09
-
53
Goreville (35) – Dunning 0 0 0-0 0, Geyman 0 1 0-0 3, Glidewell 3 0 0-0 6, Webb 3 2 2-2 14, Tosh 1 0 0-0 2, Dunn 4 0 0-1 8, Massey 0 0 2-2 2, Helton 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-4-5, PF-11.

Waltonville (53) – McPhail 4 0 3-4 11, Banach 2 0 0-0 4, Jourdan 2 0 1-2 5, Spihlmann 2 1 1-2 8, Wilson 9 1 4-4 25. 2FG-19, 3FG-2, FT-9-12, PF-9.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.
In other games at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament, the Odin Eagles topped Cobden, 64-56 in the consolation bracket behind 20-points from junior guard Set Nix and 16-points from sophomore Dylan Friend. Cobden was topped by junior John Russell with 14-points.
Johnston City rebounded from a first day upset and eliminated Zeigler-Royalton, 74-37 in the consolation bracket. Ten different Indians scored in the win, led by senior EJ Thompson with 13-points while Matt Campbell added 12. Senior Brendan Whiting topped the Tornadoes with 20-points.
Century advanced in the consolation with a 70-51 win over New Athens, behind 21-points from sophomore Christian Halvorsen and 19-points from junior Marcus Davis. Junior Cason Hight added 15-points for the Centurions. New Athens was eliminated from the tournament as freshman Joe Range led the Yellow Jackets with 13-points and senior Noel Ivester added 12. Century led 54-29 at the end of the third quarter and coasted home.
Behind 26-points from senior Luke Lawrence, Galatia topped GEC rival Thompsonville 64-50, to advance in the consolation bracket. Junior Ben Mitchell added 13-points for Coach Rod Wallace's team.
The Tigers were eliminated despite 20-points from freshman Corbin Fitch. The Bearcats hit 23-of-29 free throws to help hold off Thompsonville, 15-of-20 in the fourth quarter.