01-18-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - When Waltonville's Jon Kash gets off to a good start, the Spartans are usually in good shape.

But when he gets off to a great start, it makes coach Mike Denault's team even that much better.

The 6-foot-5 junior scored his teams' first ten points, finishing with 21-points and 14-rebounds in the Spartans 51-46 win over rival Woodlawn on the road Tuesday night.

With the win Waltonville moved into second place all alone in the Mid-South Conference standings with a 5-2 mark, 9-7 overall.

The victory also avenged a 52-50 loss to Woodlawn at home on December 17th.

"He (Kash) is capable of doing that," said Waltonville coach Mike Denault about Kash's performance. "He is a big body in there and he plays physical. He came ready to play tonight I can tell you that."

Playing against a smaller lineup that the Cardinals put on the floor, Waltonville crashed the boards and held a substantial rebounding edge of 36-17, including 12 offensive rebounds.

From the outset, it was Kash that 'cashed in' on most of the second chance opportunities.

He scored Waltonville's first 10 points of the game.

After being fouled just seconds into the contest on an offensive rebound by Jody Kabat, Kash made two free throws to give his club a 2-0 lead.

His first bucket under a minute later produced a 4-0 lead and more importantly the Spartans set the tone with six first quarter offensive rebounds.

"That is something we have struggled with all year. Good teams that have size are going to give us problems," said Woodlawn coach Shane Witzel, whose team fell to 10-9 overall, 3-4 in the Mid-South Conference race. "Playing zone with four-guard line up we had a hard time trying to check out their players on rebounds."

Two more inside baskets by Kash, including a short bank shot on a lob pass from sophomore Josh Ralls gave Waltonville an 8-0 lead at the 4:06 mark.

Woodlawn finally got on the scoreboard with a John Kindle free throw and later a 3-pointer from Mike Tiemann.

But a late 3-pointer from top of the arc by junior defensive specialist Anthony Lowery ended the quarter for Waltonville at 13-4.

The Spartans hit just 5-of-15 from the field in the first eight minutes of the game, but they got six early offensive rebounds, three of which resulted in points.

Waltonville increased its lead to double-digits for the first time midway through the second quarter.
Lowery hit yet another 3-pointer and Adam Kitowski followed that score up with a mid-range shot from the left side to extend the Spartans lead to 20-8 with 5:46 to go before halftime.

Kash and Ralls both had rebound baskets in the second quarter.

When Kash stuck back a Waltonville miss with 1:30 to go, Waltonville was up 24-12.

But Woodlawn stayed within striking range, thanks to a couple of second quarter baskets by Kindle and a late score on a lay in from Justin Bonifacius, which ended the first half scoring at 24-14 Waltonville.

"Anthony (Lowery) hit some big shots for us tonight early in the game and he and Kitowski both did a good job defensively. They were determined that they (Pool and Tiemann) weren't going to beat us," added Coach Denault.

Defensively Woodlawn started to bother the Spartans in the third quarter, forcing some Waltonville miscues that directly resulted in Cardinal points.

Tiemann made a steal and scored on a fast break to open the second half scoring.

After a Jordan Norris score put Waltonville back up by ten, Woodlawn scored the games next five points.

Jason Langhauser and Bonifacius both connect on short shots exploiting the Spartans gimmick defense.

Another Kindle free throw cut the deficit to 26-21.

But Waltonville answered right back with Kash and Kitowski combining to score on three consecutive offensive trips.

Kash scored first on the inside for a short bank shot. A pair of free throws by Kash followed up a long 3-pointer from the right side from Kitowski. Kabat picked up his third personal when he sent Kash to the line with 4:00 to go.

But Waltonville committed five turnovers in the quarter, three of which produced immediate points in transition for its Jefferson County rival.

Two Pool drives to the basket off of those Spartan errors got the Cardinals within six at 33-27.

However Waltonville, namely Kash, continued to exploit the Cardinal shortcomings in the frontcourt as he scored in the paint on a spin move with under a minute left to close the quarter at 36-27.

Coach Denault's team appeared on the verge of blowing out Woodlawn in the early part of the final stanza as Kash and Kitowski struck again with baskets. When Kitowski's baseline lefthanded lay up fell through the basket, Waltonville was up by double-digits once again at 40-29.

But a 12-4 run, with Langhauser, Pool, Tiemann and Kindle all scoring got Woodlawn, and its large crowd, back into the game.

The last six of those points came off of three Waltonville turnovers. When Langhauser scored on a fast break followed by a Pool 15-footer from the right wing, the Spartans needed a timeout with the score 44-41 with 3:26 left.

"We got a little bit passive late in the game and we turned the ball over a few times," added Denault. "We needed to attack more but give Woodlawn credit, they pressured us late in the game."

However the Cardinals at this point were forced to foul and Waltonville managed to run some clock before Woodlawn could send them to the free throw line.

The Spartans closed the game out by hitting 5-of-8 from the stripe to open up a 51-43 lead.

Woodlawn had some late chances, but they miss three straight shots, including a Bonifacius shot that was blocked in the lane by Kitowski.

Langhauser closed the scoring with a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Woodlawn, to make the final 51-46.
"Offensively we didn't handle their 'triangle and two' for the most part," added Witzel, referring to Waltonville's overplay on Pool and Tiemann. "You can't get behind early like we did tonight and expect to win many games. We did get some other kids to step up tonight and make some shots. Kindle is starting to get more confidence with his shot and if we are going to see defenses like that, players other than Pool and Tiemann are going to have to score."

Kash topped all scorers with his 21-points and teammates Kitowski and Ralls added eight points each.

"Give their kids a lot of credit. He (Kash) played a good game and we have a hard time defending big guys," added Coach Witzel. "We tried to press a bit more and get some things in the open court. But when you do that you are going to give up some things underneath the basket and we did that tonight."

Pool and Kindle scored 10-points apiece for Woodlawn with Tiemann and Langhauser each adding nine.
Woodlawn shot just 37 percent from the floor (19-of-52) while Waltonville was a bit better at 18-of-44 (44 percent).

But the Waltonville rebounding edge overshadowed ten, second half Spartan turnovers and Coach Denault's club outscored Woodlawn from the free throw line by six.

"Jon (Kash) is a focal point of our offense and we talk about it every night to make sure we get him some touches," added Denault. "When we get him the ball good things happen for us. I thought our guards tonight did a good job of getting him the ball in positions where he could score. He got off to a good start tonight and that is always important to us. We get them (Woodlawn) again in a week and I am sure they will make some adjustments."

Waltonville and Woodlawn both have the rest of the week off to prepare for the Waltonville Invitational Tournament, which starts next Monday. These two teams will hook up again next Saturday night in the tournaments' finale.

Waltonville (51) - Norris 3 0 1-3 7, Kitowski 2 1 1-2 8, Lowery 0 2 1-2 7, Kash 8 0 5-7 21, Spotanski 0 0 0-0 0, Ralls 2 0 4-6 8.
2FG-15, 3FG-3, FT-12-20, PF-10.
Woodlawn (46) - Pool 4 0 2-2 10, Kindle 4 0 2-4 10, Tiemann 3 1 0-0 9, Bonifacius 2 0 2-4 6, Kabat 1 0 0-0 2, Langhauser 3 1 0-0 9.
2FG-17, 3FG-2 FT-6-10, PR-14.
Fouled Out - Kabat, Woodlawn.
Technical Fouls - None.