01-24-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - The Waltonville Spartans set their collective basketball alarm clocks for Thursday night at 8 pm but the snooze button seemed to be too easy to press.

Finally the Spartans crawled out of bed just in time to make it to work in the final quarter of their game against Wayne City on Thursday night at the Woodlawn Invitational Tournament.

Using a 13-0 scoring burst ignited by full court pressure that forced six Wayne City turnovers in the final eight minutes – Waltonville (3-0) stayed undefeated in the Woodlawn Invitational Tournament with a come-from-behind 58-51 win.

After a poor shooting performance in the first three quarters of play – head coach Mike Denault's club caught fire at the right time by going 7-of-8 from the field in the final frame to stay in contention for the WIT title.

Skyler Witges was the top scoring leader for Waltonville with 17 points as this 6-foot sophomore hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to help the Spartans escape with a hard fought victory.

Wayne City fell to 0-3 in the event despite a stellar effort in a contest in which they led for nearly two-and-a-half quarters.

Coach Russ Gerlach's Indians received 14 points each from Cody Thomason and Tyler Porter in the loss that dropped Wayne City to 4-16 on the season.

“We weren't making shots tonight so it was important that we got to the (free throw) line,” said Coach Denault whose team finished 18-of-23 from the charity stripe. “We've had some games – the last two especially – that we haven't shot the ball well.”

Wayne City outrebounded the Spartans 37-24 but 20 turnovers in the game - including the crucial six in the final quarter - kept the Indians from pulling a major upset.

“Their pressure definitely wore us down late in the game,” said Coach Gerlach. “But I am proud of our effort tonight. Our guard play has really improved since the beginning of the season.”

The Indians took advantage of a poor shooting night by Waltonville as the Spartans opened the game by missing their first 12 3-point attempts to fall behind 22-15 at the half.

The first quarter was an omen of things to come for Coach Denault's crew.

Although they managed a 10-8 lead at the end of the frame – they were a cold-shooting 5-of-18 from the floor.

Witges scored four of his points early with his second basket on a drive in the lane made it 8-4 Waltonville.

Wayne City made its best run of the game to take the lead by scoring 15 unanswered points to end the first quarter and start the second.

Thomason scored four of the points on a rebound basket and a pair of free throws.

When Gage Green hit a shot from the right side – Wayne City led 15-10.

The Indians lead reached its largest at 22-14 with a Tyler Porter drive to basket to make it 22-14 with :19 to go before intermission.

Waltonville's Jason Cook closed the half by making 1-of-2 free throws to send the teams to the lockers at 22-15

The Spartans made their first real move in the contest to open the second half.

On a 9-2 run with Witges scoring four of the points – Waltonville pulled even at 24-all.

Witges followed a 3-pointer from Justin Lewis with a scoring drive to the basket - after a Wayne City turnover - that tied the game with 4:54 remaining in the half.

Not known as a 3-point shooting club – the Indians hit three shots from behind the arc in the third quarter.

Porter connected on two of them with Travis Deitz accounting for the other trifecta.

Deitz hit his long range shot to give the lead back to Wayne City at 27-24.

Porter's second 3-pointer followed by a score from Thomason sent the Indians into the final quarter up 37-34.

However after Porter took and inbounds pass and scored underneath the basket for a 39-34 lead – the Tribe failed to score for the next three minutes.

That 180 seconds were long enough for the game to suddenly change in favor of the Spartans.

Brock Wheatley, Lewis and Witges all collected points in the game-clinching scoring jaunt.

Off an inbounds play – Witges found himself in the clear in the left corner and buried a 3-pointer to put Waltonville up 43-39.

Lewis cashed in on an offensive rebound to finish the breakout at 47-39 with 5:15 to go.

Wayne City committed three of its turnovers during the Waltonville momentum shift.

“We picked it up full court in the second half and we turned them over a few times to give ourselves some chances,” added Coach Denault. “You have to give them (Wayne City) because they are scrappy and they played us well the last time we played them.”

Waltonville's Alex DuReitz scored on a off-balanced shot in the lane on an assist from Lewis which he converted into a three-point play after getting fouled by Porter
As his free throw went down so did Wayne City's chances at 50-41.

The last hurrah for the Indians came about with Porter and Thomason hitting a pair of free throws each to whittle the lead to 53-47.

But then the Spartans hit 5-of-7 free throws in the final 1:50 to earn the victory and keep the title hopes alive in the final year of this 16 year event.

“They (Wayne City) always play us well. They are quick enough and athletic enough to give us problems,” added Denault. “They did a good job of clogging the lane and making us shoot from the outside in the first half. I think our pressure defense hurt them late in the game. I think they finally wore down at the end.”

The Spartans finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field overall (18-of-52) and just 4-of-19 from behind the arc.

Following Witges' 17 points was Lewis with 12 along with Wheatley and Gavin Bassett with 11 and 10 respectively.

Wayne City hit for 18-of-46 (39 percent) with Deitz adding 11 points to the totals following the 28 points from Thomason and Porter.

Both teams are back at it on Friday night with Wayne City taking on Sandoval at 5 pm while Waltonville will meet up with Christopher at 8 pm.

Wayne City (51) - Evans 0 0 0-0 0, Shreve 1 0 1-3 3, Smith 2 0 1-3 5, Green 2 0 0-0 4, Thomason 4 0 6-6 14, Porter 3 2 2-2 14, Deitz 3 1 2-2 11, Meritt 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-12-16, PF-21.
Waltonville (58) - Lamke 0 0 0-0 0, Reeves 0 0 2-2 2, Bassett 3 1 1-2 10, Wheatley 3 0 5-5 11, Witges 6 1 2-5 17, Cook 0 0 1-2 1, Kash 0 0 0-0 0, DuReitz 1 1 0-0 5, Lewis 1 1 7-7 12.
2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-18-23, PF-18.
Fouled Out - Shreve - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls - None.

WOODLAWN 64, CHRISTOPHER 32
The Cardinals used a big first quarter to get the lead to a comfortable margin and then finished with a strong final eight minutes to stay unblemished in the event.

Nine Cardinals scored in the game with Ethan Shurtz and Casey Hammond tying for top honors with 14 points each.

Jesse Hart also hit for double-figures with 11 as Woodlawn kept pace with Waltonville by remaining unbeaten in the tournament.

Coach Shane Witzel witnessed a 40-30 rebounding edge by his club over the smaller Bearcats.

Woodlawn opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers by Hammond and Hart for a 6-0 lead that ballooned to 18-6 at the end of the quarter.

Shurtz – the Cardinals 6-foot-6 senior center - scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to end the quarter.

The second score was on a nice assist from freshman guard Dawson Verhines on a lob pass in the paint.

Hammond scored six of his points in the second quarter. His spinning baseline shot pushed the Woodlawn lead to 29-11 with under a minute remaining before intermission.

Shurtz scored ten points in the third quarter on five baskets.

Four of the scores were on offensive rebounds. When he snagged his own missed shot and stuck it back home with 1:15 left – Woodlawn led 43-26.

Christopher put the Cardinals on the foul line in the fourth quarter and the hosts connected on nine consecutive free throws with Hammond, Jase Green and Verhines all scoring.

Verhines 1-of-2 free throws with 3:32 left made the score 54-30.

The Bearcats were led in scoring by Shawn Menckowski with 15 points.

No other Christopher player had more than four points in the game as these Cats hit on just 13-of-53 shots and only 1-of-9 from 3-point range.

Woodlawn was 22-of-52 from the field.

Christopher (32) - Phillips 1 0 2-2 4, Menckowski 5 1 2-2 15, Harrison 0 0 0-0 0, Swisher 2 0 0-0 4, R. Fourez 1 0 0-0 2, Perry 0 0 0-0 0, Miklos 0 0 0-0 0, J. Fourez 1 0 0-0 2, Davison 0 0 1-6 1, Greenwood 2 0 0-0 4, Kirchner 0 0 0-0 0, Parnell 0 0 0-1 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-1, FT-5-12, PF-19.
Woodlawn (64) - B. Verhines 0 0 1-2 1, Green 0 0 7-8 7, Shurtz 7 0 0-1 14, Hart 4 1 0-0 11, Hammond 4 1 3-4 14, Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, D. Verhines 1 1 5-5 10, Wiggs 0 0 0-0 0, Gaither 1 0 0-0 2, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Wehrheim 2 0 0-0 4, Hails 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-19, 3FG-3, FT-17-23, PF-14.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.

PATOKA 60, SANDOVAL 38
Coach Joe Eddy saw his club keep Sandoval winless on the season with the win.

The Warriors are still in the championship hunt for the tournament title with a 2-1 mark after three nights of action.

Derek Back led all players with 17 points as Patoka improved its overall record to 9-11 on the season.

Jeremy Whisler and Drew Baldridge added 11 and 10 points in the victory.

Sandoval (0-19) had Tony Marchetti and Blake Holstlaw scoring nine points each.

Patoka led just 27-19 at the half but outscored Sandoval 33-19 in the final two quarters for the win.

Sandoval (38) - Marchetti 3 0 3-7 9, Holstlaw 3 0 3-4 9, Ju. Boatright 3 0 0-0 6, Jezek 2 0 1-2 5, Gurn 0 0 0-0 0, Quick 0 0 2-2 2, Hopkins 1 0 0-0 2, Neu 0 0 0-0 0, Oestrich 0 0 0-0 0, Dremkpohl 0 0 0-0 0, Carrol 1 0 3-4 5, Jo. Boatright 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-0, FT-12-19, PF-15.
Patoka (60) - Baldridge 4 0 2-3 10, Jenkins 3 0 0-0 6, D. Murfin 0 0 0-0 0, Whisler 4 1 0-1 11, L. Murfin 3 0 3-6 9, Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Potter 0 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0 0-0 0, Back 6 1 2-2 17, Despres 0 0 1-2 1, Murray 1 0 2-4 4, Wimberly 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-22, 3FG-2, FT-10-18, PF-18.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.