11-30-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
OKAWVILLE – Senior guard Taylor Walton provided a fourth quarter finish of a 20-0 run that fueled a come-from-behind win for the Okawville Rockets on Friday night in the title game of their own Post-Thanksgiving Tournament.

Walton scored seven consecutive points (17 for the contest) during a nearly eight minute defensive stand against defending tournament titlist Woodlawn to ensure a victory as the Rockets grabbed their second tournament title in this event in three years.

Jeremy Weeke was second on the scoring parade with 10 with Austin Schwankhaus adding eight points.

Trailing Woodlawn 35-30 with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter, Okawville forced eight of the Cardinals' 15 turnovers in the remainder of the contest and turned that five point deficit into a 50-35 advantage.

Walton knocked down a 3-pointer to open the final quarter and a shot from the left wing gave the Rockets their first double-digit advantage.

“He (Walton) kind of took over there in the fourth quarter stretch for us. He was very difficult to guard,” aid Okawville head coach Jon Kraus. “He can do that. We have waited for him the last couple of years to be the one that can step up and take charge of a basketball game and he is a senior that we are going to rely on and tonight he did it.”

Woodlawn (3-1) would get no closer than ten the rest of the way in the loss.

Coach Jon Kraus saw his club wear down a Woodlawn team that had played four consecutive nights in the round-robin affair as eventually the Cardinals ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

Woodlawn was led by a game-high 19-points from Gabe Owens in defeat.

Owens nailed a trio of 3-pointers and was 6-of-7 from the foul line.

However the Rockets held this 6-foot-5 junior guard to just six points in the second half.

“I really felt like our depth was a key, I think they got tired. It seemed like in the third quarter stretch our pressure in our depth eventually got to them,” Coach Kraus said. “Owens was tired and he is a really good player. He got 19-points tonight and he earned every one of them. When he went to the bench we 'revved it up' a little bit and that was a really big stretch for us.”

Christian Hollenkamp was second on the Cardinals' club with eight points and his 3-pointer midway through the third quarter gave Woodlawn a five-point advantage.

However the Rockets scoring rush after that shot turned the tide.

Weeke scored twice in the 10-0 sprint to end the third quarter and teammates Ryan Burrough and Brandon Buss chipped in points.

Weeke took advantage of Owens being on the bench as he made a big steal for a fast break bucket.

Burrough found Buss on a back-door cut to the basket and his lay in closed the quarter at 40-35.

Okawville salted away the game with 10 more points before Woodlawn could answer.

A 3-pointer by Austin Schwankhaus from the left corner pushed the Rockets lead to 15.

“We really just got out of rhythm late in the third quarter and starting the fourth and that was enough to allow them to get some baskets in transition. That is kind of what they (Okawville) thrive on,” said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel. “We just really had one bad stretch and they took advantage of that.”

Woodlawn made a brief run (5-0) in the final 3:07 but couldn't keep Okawville from putting the game away.

Owens nailed a three from the top of the arc from about 25-feet and Logan Isaac made a steal near midcourt for a fast break lay in to cut the lead to 50-40.

However forced to foul, Woodlawn paraded the Rockets to the free throw line where Schwankhaus, Weeke and Buss hit 5-of-6 to end this episode.

Despite taking a few bad shots late in the contest, Okawville was never in any danger of giving up the lead.

“I wasn't really happy with our decision making in the fourth quarter. We wanted to run some clock but we took some bad shots,” added Coach Kraus. “But it is early in the year and hopefully we can learn from this.”

Owens scored eight of his points in the first quarter.

After hitting a pair of free throws, Owens netted a 3-pointer from the left corner and then drove the right side of the lane for a score while being fouled by Schwankhaus.

Owens cashed in the free throw to finish the three-point play for a 10-9 Cardinals' lead.

Woodlawn junior Kris Harlow also contributed with a conventional three-point play and a score in the lane for five total points in the second quarter.

But Okawville finished the quarter strong and took a halftime lead when Ryan Holtgrave grabbed his own rebound and stuck it home with :02 left for a 27-25 intermission advantage.

“In the first half we didn't get any stops. They either scored or got to the foul line,” Coach Kraus explained. “In the second half we got stops.”

After back-to-back scores from Hollenkamp which gave the Cardinals a five point lead in the third quarter, Okawville dominated the game and took home the championship.

“Then once you got behind you have to start gambling and we rushed some shots. Those are things that we will get better at as we get more experience,” added Coach Witzel. “But overall we guarded well, good enough to win. We still got some good looks at the end during that stretch but we couldn't get them knocked down, three or four of them were 'in-and-out' and we really needed a basket bad at that point in time. It was in that stretch that the game was won.”

Neither team shot the ball well for the game, with the defenses stepping up for both squads.

The Rockets hit 18-of-43 from the floor overall but did the most damage from long range.

Okawville hit 5-of-12 3-point attempts and held a slight 24-21 rebounding edge.

Woodlawn finished 11-of-33 overall, 3-of-10 from behind the arc.

Perhaps the biggest stat for the winners was just seven turnovers in a game that was dominated by defensive stands.

The Rockets had the best stand of the night and took home the championship and a 4-0 record.

“It was huge to get a win against them (Woodlawn) tonight,” finalized Coach Kraus. “I told the kids that tonight you are playing against one of the best 1A basketball programs going right now. They have a lot of confidence and they have been to state two out of the last three years. Where are we at? That is how we approached this game. I know it is early in the season but hopefully this is a big win for us. Those guys (Woodlawn) know how to win big games. Can we win big games? I thought we did tonight.”

Okawville (55) – Obermeier 0 0 1-2 1, Brammeier 1 0 2-2 4, Koenigstein 0 0 0-0 0, Weeke 3 0 4-4 10, Burrough 1 0 0-2 2, Walton 3 3 2-4 17, Hensler 0 1 0-0 3, Holtgrave 2 0 1-2 5, Blumhorst 0 0 0-2 0, Schwankhaus 1 1 3-4 8, Buss 2 0 1-2 5, Thoeming 0 0 0-0 0, Kolweier 0 0 0-0 0, Yehling 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-13-22, PF-17.
Woodlawn (40) – Owens 2 3 6-7 19, Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac 2 0 2-2 6, Hollenkamp 1 1 3-8 8, Harlow 3 0 1-1 7, Hapeman 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Phelps 0 0 0-0 0, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, Coleman 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-3, FT-12-15, PF-18.
Fouled Out – Hollenkamp - Woodlawn.
Technical Fouls – None.

Smith, a 6-foot senior point guard, netted 26-points for M-C as they outlasted Cahokia Conference rival New Athens on Friday night.

He scored all of his field goals in the first three quarters and then hit 3-of-4 four free throws in the final frame to help ensure the meteors' win to improve to 2-2 overall for the season.

Lucas Baird added seven points for Coach Dirk Miller's team as M-C held off the Yellow Jackets late.

Coach Marc Derwort saw his New Athens (2-3 overall, 1-3 in the tournament) team finish with both Adam Ingles and Blake Ragland with eight points while Chance Wacker added seven.

Marissa-Coulterville (44) – Smith 10 1 3-4 26, Phelps 1 0 0-2 2, Knope 0 0 2-4 2, Greer 0 0 0-2 0, Baird 3 0 1-2 7, Place 0 1 0-4 3, Neal 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-6-18, PF-13.
New Athens (35) – Ingles 4 0 0-0 8, Stolte 0 0 1-2 1, Wacker 0 2 1-2 7, Marlow 1 0 0-0 2, Hepp 0 0 4-4 4, Ragland 4 0 0-1 8, Meyer 2 0 1-3 5.
2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-7-12, PF-18.
Fouled Out – Meyer - New Athens.
Technical Fouls – Meyer - New Athens.