01-15-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - The Odin Eagles got off to a fast start in their Midland Trail Conference road contest at Woodlawn on Friday night.

However the Eagles were just delaying the inevitable as the Cardinals shook off their initial problems and dispatched the visitors, 68-50 to take command of the MTC regular season championship climb.

Coach Shane Witzel saw his Cards deal out four quick turnovers in just over one minute to open the game but the crew settled down and gradually ran away in the second half to improve to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in the league.

Casey Hammond topped the Cardinals offensive attack with 22-points on the night and hit three very important 3-pointers against a bevy of Odin gimmick defensive formations.

Dawson Verhines added 12-points for Woodlawn while senior reserve Bryan Johnson belted out 10-points off the Cardinals’ bench.

Johnson was also a benefactor of the Odin defensive philosophy – being left wide-open for some shots that found the mark.

Woodlawn smashed the smaller Eagles on the glass by out rebounding its foe 32-16 while allowing just four offensive rebounds – three of which came in the final minutes of the already decided outcome.

“This was our worst performance of the year and give Woodlawn credit for that,” said Odin head coach Mike Finckbone. “For whatever reason on our offense we just stood around. We didn’t move and we didn’t set screens. We have been averaging four or five players in double-figures this year but tonight we stood around and watched Tyler. For us to be successful we have to have other kids score.”

The domination – which took a while to unfold – put the Cardinals in prime position to run the table and win its second consecutive conference crown since entering the league in 2008-09.

“I was caught off guard on how we started the game. I really thought that we would start the game off quick and take advantage of the things that we worked on as far as our game-plan was concerned,” said Coach Witzel. “We had some bad turnovers and we don’t get into our press offense right and we have to burn a timeout. But I was really happy the way the kids responded and we got back on track on what we were trying to do. I thought we did a good job once we got over the first three or four minutes of the game.”

Odin was led in scoring – as per usual – by Tyler Parrish with 23-points.

This 6-foot senior and four-year starter is the program’s all-time leading scorer and his ten first quarter points helped the Eagles forge a 15-7 lead with two minutes left in the opening quarter.

In the run Parrish canned a pair of long-range trifecta’s when he dished out an assist to a streaking Tyson Minor for a fast break score – Odin had its eight point bulge and looked like they might shock the Cardinals.

But Woodlawn closed with a run as Josh Wiggs scored twice in the lane on a rebound and later on a nice assist from Verhines that set up a conventional three-point play while being fouled by Odin’s Ryan Cluck.

Hammond picked up a loose ball and his lay in just before the horn cut the Odin advantage to 15-14 after one.

“Once they (Woodlawn) came back I could see it in our kids’ eyes that they were deflated about that,” added Finckbone. “We talk about once you get someone down you better finish them off.”

After Parrish opened the second quarter with his third trey of the night – Woodlawn put together its first big offensive crusade.

A 10-0 march with Verhines scoring six of the points pushed the Cards back to the lead for the rest of the night.

One of the scores was from a defensive rebound in which the 6-foot-2 junior point guard took the ball the length of the floor for a lay in that prompted an Odin timeout with 5:59 remaining in the half.

Hammond connected on a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back trips up the floor while finding himself wide-open both times. One shot from the right corner and a second shot from the other side of the floor but in the same spot pushed Woodlawn to its irst double-digit advantage at 30-20.

Odin’s C.J. Spitler hit a 3-pointer late in the half and the two teams exited with the score 32-25 at intermission.

“As far as taking care of the basketball that is probably the worst we have done all year and they were unforced errors and that was the thing. They were just silly passes that we didn’t need to make,” added Witzel. “The kids felt like they could get over that and it was good to comeback and get a good second quarter. After the bad start we bounced right back.”

The Eagles also had trouble handling the ball – coughing up nine turnovers of their own in trailing by seven at the break.

Coach Mike Finckbone witnessed his Odin team get zero offensive rebounds in the opening 16-minutes.

“On the boards was just a nightmare for us tonight,” Finckbone added. “It is one of those games you learn from and hopefully we will get a couple of more shots at them.”

The Eagles tried a box-and-one defense on Hammond to try and slow up Woodlawn but it clearly didn’t work.

Woodlawn senior Christian McNeil scored twice in the second quarter to help Woodlawn keep its lead while Johnson hit a big shot and dished out a nice assist to Hammond in the lane.

Johnson found himself without a single Odin player within ten feet of him on the left side of the floor behind the arc.

Johnson drilled home the 3-pointer with 3:39 left in the third to get the Woodlawn lead back to double-digits.

When he found Hammond with a pass for a lay in – the Cards were in complete control at 47-33.

Johnson scored twice more – hitting a 3-pointer and a 15-footer from near the foul line to opening quarter number four and Hammond delivered the TKO with a conventional three-point play.

Johnson’s bomb from the left corner followed by Hammond’s drive in the lane and subsequent made free throw put the game out of reach at 57-39.

“When we got into foul trouble both John (Cavender) and Bryan (Johnson) gave us some good minutes off of the bench and that is important. I was real pleased with what those guys gave us tonight,” Witzel added. “I liked the fact that when they (Odin) went box-and-one that we attacked the rim. It was important that we rebounded well. We talked pretty heavily about getting offensive rebounds against their zones.”

On the offensive end the Cardinals spread the floor the remainder of the game as Odin was forced to scrap the “smoke and mirrors” to go “de hombre a hombre.”

Woodlawn senior John Cavender got in the scoring act with a fast break score - while being fouled by Minor late in regulation.

His made charity made it 68-47 with 1:48 to go.

The Cardinals – besides the turnovers that added up to 18 in the contest – were a robust 29-of-53 overall from the field (55 percent) while hitting half of their ten 3-point attempts.

Odin shot the ball well (15-of-33 overall) but got too few second chance opportunities (four total offensive boards) to cut into Woodlawn’s advantage.

Coach Finckbone’s team got to the foul line more than the Cardinals – thanks in part to Woodlawn’s foul trouble.

The Eagles were 15-of-22 from the stripe compared to Woodlawn’s 5-of-10.

“We talked after the game with the kids about maybe playing them again in a week at the tournament (MTC),” finalized Coach Witzel. “Our whole focus right now is that we think that we can be better and get better and we have a big game tomorrow night at Lebanon. We have been challenged on the road this year and we hope this makes us better.”

Odin (50) – Parrish 4 3 6-10 23, Spitler 0 2 0-0 6, Minor 2 0 0-0 4, Shaffer 4 0 3-6 11, Cluck 0 0 6-6 6, Keller 0 0 0-0 0, Soper 0 0 0-0 0, Hodge 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10, 3FG-5, FT-15-22, PF-14.
Woodlawn (68) – Verhines 5 0 2-3 12, Hammond 6 3 1-2 22, Wiggs 4 0 1-1 9, Dunbar 4 0 0-1 8, McNeil 2 0 0-0 4, Cavender 1 0 1-1 3, Johnson 2 2 0-2 10.
2FG-24, 3FG-5, FT-5-10, PF-20.
Fouled Out – Cluck - Odin; Dunbar - Woodlawn.
Technical Fouls – None.