02-02-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Total domination.

That is the easy and nicest way to describe Woodlawn’s 63-41 victory Tuesday night at Sesser-Valier.

The Cardinals won every battle – statistically and physically - and left the gym with an 10-game victory march that puts the club at 16-5 on the season.

Head coach Shane Witzel’s squad avenged a 53-43 loss to the Red Devils in the third place game of the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament by shutting down the hosts.

Woodlawn held S-V to a 17-of-46 shooting night (37 percent) and out rebounded the Devils’ 27-19.

Casey Hammond – a 5-foot-11 senior guard – lead the scoring attack for Woodlawn with 18-points.

Dawson Verhines ran the show offensively – dishing out seven assists and scoring 13-points.

Josh Wiggs netted 13-points as well while Kirk Dunbar added 11-points.

Christian McNeil grabbed a team best 11-rebounds.

Woodlawn forced 16 Sesser-Valier turnovers with 11 of them coming on steals by Woodlawn.

The Cards shot the ball well – connecting on 28-of-51 shots overall – and handled the ball well with just six turnovers.

“We played well on both ends of the floor but it really started defensively – especially early in the game we got some stops and were able to push the ball down the floor and get some transition baskets,” said Coach Witzel. “We were able to score in our half-court offense and that was the thing that we stressed the most. Being able to set some good screens and use those screens better we were able to create something in the half-court. We rebounded well and that allowed us to control things.”

The more you analyze the numbers – the worse this game looked for Sesser-Valier.

The Red Devils’ lone bright spot was once again Justin Matyi.

The 6-foot-4 senior center poured in 22-points for Coach Chip Basso’s bunch and he could sue his teammates for a lack of support.

No other S-V player scored more than three points as the Red Devils looked like a “broken-down” SUV while being blown out of their own gym.

Eight of Matyi’s points came in the fourth quarter after the outcome had long been decided.

The Cardinals sent clear message to the rest of Southern Illinois with this shellacking.

“They (Woodlawn) are a scrappy bunch and Hammond and Verhines make them go,” said Coach Basso – whose team slumped to 15-7 on the season. “They came out with intensity in their eyes and a fire that we just didn’t have tonight. Verhines is a very good player and a lot of people look at his offensive firepower but he is such a good defender also. He does all of the little intangible things that you can’t measure. That is what makes teams like Woodlawn good.”

After a tough start to the regular season - the defending Carbondale Supersectional champs in 1A from a year ago – Woodlawn is playing like a team on a mission to get back to Peoria.

“I’m happy for these kids because they have went through some adversity this season and we knew that it would be rough going. We kept talked about how we wanted to get better,” added Coach Witzel. “It is a long season and players can get ‘beat-up’ both mentally and physically. We want to keep them focused on getting better every practice and every game.”

From the outset Woodlawn looked like a different club than the one that Sesser-Valier handled back on December 30.

The Cardinals trailed just once – 3-0 early as Sesser’s T.J. Eubanks hit a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Woodlawn – with Verhines scoring seven points – netted the next nine points to take the lead for good.

The Cards’ 6-foot-2 junior point guard Verhines closed the run on nice reverse lay in for a conventional three-point play after getting fouled by Matyi. His made charity made it 9-3 at the 5:17 mark.

Dane Eubanks scored on a drive to the basket to cut the score down to 11-7 a few moments later.

The significance to that bucket is that Eubanks – the second leading scorer for S-V – didn’t score again in the contest.

Woodlawn blanketed Sesser-Valier – forcing the Devils into a 3-of-13 first quarter which ended with a McNeil basket on a pass from Hammond to push the lead to 18-9.

Matyi scored ten points in the second quarter and his 3-pointer from the right corner cut the Cards lead to 20-16 with 6:16 to go before the break.

A 9-2 Woodlawn run closed the half with Verhines starting and finishing the scoring spree.

Holding the ball for the last :44 seconds – the Cardinals got the ball in Verhines’ hands and his driving shot on the right baseline while fading away found the mark just before the buzzer.

When Verhines got off the floor and headed to the lockerroom – his team was in command at 33-21.

Hammond and Wiggs combined to score the first eight points of the third quarter – giving Woodlawn its contest deciding march.

As Hammond scored on a fast break from another assist from Verhines with 6:03 left – Woodlawn led 41-21.

An additional 8-0 cruise gave the Cardinals its largest spread with Verhines picking up three more assists in the frame.

He found both Hammond and Dunbar in the paint and then Hammond scored on a fast break from Verhines for a 49-24 advantage.

Matyi closed out the fourth quarter with eight more points for his 22-total – with all of them coming well after the game was decided.

“I feel like this is the first time this season that we really didn’t compete,” said Coach Basso. “With a senior led group like we have those kids have to step up and show accountability for this loss.”

Coach Witzel again got quality minutes from his senior group that didn’t play much varsity last season but are improving each day.

“It takes time for them (the inexperienced players) to figure out was it takes to play at the next level. Those kids have adjusted pretty well,” Coach Witzel explained. “A key component for us is that those kids are playing well for us. It is a big win for us obviously because Sesser is a good team. We played well for four quarters. It is a long season and your main objective is to keep your kids focused on getting better.”

Woodlawn heads back to action hosting Cisne on Friday night while the Red Devils host Zeigler-Royalton Friday.

Woodlawn (63) – Verhines 6 0 1-3 13, Hammond 8 0 2-2 18, Wiggs 6 0 1-2 13, Dunbar 4 0 3-4 11, McNeil 1 0 0-0 2, Cavander 1 0 0-0 2, Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Holenkamp 0 0 0-0 0, Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Owens 0 0 0-1 0.
2FG-28, 3FG-0, FT-7-12, PF-13.
Sesser-Valier (41) – D. Eubanks 1 0 0-0 2, Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Tinsley 0 0 0-0 0, DelBene 0 0 0-0 0, Pitchford 1 0 0-0 2, Gibson 0 0 2-2 2, Jenkins 1 0 0-1 2, Donovan 0 0 0-0 0, T.J. Eubanks 0 1 1-2 4, Mayti 9 1 1-1 22, Vercellino 1 0 0-0 2, Stanley 1 0 0-0 2, Edwards 1 0 1-2 3, Rock 0 0 0-0 0, Dorris 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-5-7, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.
Editor's Note: The original story stated that Woodlawn had won 11-straight when in fact is just 10-straight. ABV counted the Sandoval game that was snowed out a win.