02-11-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – The Woodlawn Cardinals had one hiccup this season.

And the bitter pill they had to swallow in a loss to Odin in the title game of the Midland Trail Conference Tournament title game is probably still fresh on their minds.

Since that loss, the Cardinals have gotten back on track.

Much to the chagrin of the next four opponents that they played since the 49-48 loss back on January 25.

In those four contests, including Tuesday night’s dominating conference win, Coach Shane Witzel’s club won that quartet of games by a combined 101-points.

On Tuesday night Woodlawn rolled out to a 28-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to a 72-41 win at Wayne City to improve to 18-3 on the season and 7-0 in the MTC.

“We have had to deal with adversity before and sometimes you can learn some things from a loss. That (Odin) was definitely a tough loss for us and if we win out it is an important lesson and so far we have had a pretty good stretch since then,” said Coach Shane Witzel. “And that has been the issue with us most of the year. We have had stretches where we play very well but we have other stretches where we don’t. We are trying to become more and more consistent. We need to be consistent on both offense and defense.”

Ross Owens, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, set the tone early as he canned one of his six 3-pointers on the night just seconds into the game.

Six-foot-three senior Chase Phelps led all scorers with 20-points, scoring mostly inside.

This combination spelled doom for the host Indians, who never had a lead in the game that was over by halftime.

Jake Robinson, also a 6-foot-3 senior, helped out the Woodlawn effort with 14-points as the Cardinals sent Wayne City to its first league defeat and a 4-1 MTC mark.

“From the first possession, we got a quick-hitter and got good open look for Ross (Owens) and he hit it then we jumped right into our press. We got some turnovers and got some easy baskets and we mixed it in with some good offensive sets. We were patient. We got guys some open looks. We had a good mix of outside play and inside play,” said Coach Witzel. “The defensive intensity was very good in both our zone and our man.”

Coach Russ Gerlach’s club never got into a rhythm and saw its overall record slip to 10-9 despite 12-points from 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Nick Downen and 11-markers from Canyon Clark, a 6-foot junior.

Senior Logan Wollerman also added six points for Woodlawn as he, along with Owens, got the Cardinals out to a great start in the opening minutes.

Owens hit a pair of 3-pointers and Wollerman hit his first of two treys in a quick 13-3 run.

When Phelps closed the scoring burst, Coach Gerlach needed a timeout with 3:53 left.

“It is so difficult to come back against a good team like that. Early in the game we turned it over too much and we didn’t follow the game plan,” said Coach Russ Gerlach. “We didn’t on offense or defense. Everyone has to work together and do their job and if you don’t do it it’s going to be ugly.”

Following Clark’s second 3-pointer of the quarter a few second later, the Cardinals delivered a haymaker of a run.

Jake Robinson scored six points to help trigger a 13-0 run.

Five-foot-seven junior guard Parker Renaud picked up a couple of assists in the scoring spree, feeding both Robinson and Phelps for easy shots in the paint.

When Owens stepped out and nailed his third long range shot in the period, Woodlawn led 26-6 with :43 left.

Wayne City couldn’t get anything going against the Woodlawn pressure as the Tribe hit just 2-of-9 shots and committed eight first quarter turnovers.

Woodlawn got to a 20-point spread early in the second quarter.

Phelps hit 1-of-2 free throws and he followed up that made charity with a score after a quick Wayne City turnover.

When Robinson added another lay in on an assist by Phelps, the Indians needed another timeout at 36-14 Woodlawn with 5:39 before halftime.

Owens would add two more long-range shots in the second quarter.

When his second one found the mark from the left corner courtesy of an assist from 6-foot-1 junior Bryson Sanders, the Cardinals were up 44-20.

Six-foot-two sophomore Austin Ballard got in on the fun by closing the quarter with five points.

His conventional three-point play on a shot in the lane while being fouled by Wayne City’s Chase Gammon, closed the half at 49-21 Woodlawn.

Coach Witzel’s squad closed the book on the victory by opening up the second half with an 11-2 run.

Owens’ final trifecta from the top of the circle started the onslaught and Phelps added a pair of baskets and a free throw, which pushed the lead to 59-23.

One of the bright spots on the night for Wayne City was Downen, who hit a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter for the Indians.

Woodlawn’s final run of the night, as they had one in each quarter, was of 11-2 variety.

Reserve Brett Harris, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, netted five of the points on a 3-pointer and a lay in.

When junior reserve Hayden Baker scored on a fast break lay in, Woodlawn led 72-37.

Reserves Taylor Owens and Caleb Kunce each scored in the final minute for Wayne City.

“We knew they would press us and we had a game plan on how we would handle their press and we didn’t even do that tonight,” added Coach Gerlach. “As soon as they made their first basket we had three of our five guys in the wrong spot. From then on it was just constant errors and not following the game plan. They (Woodlawn) are too good of a team to just kind of ‘wing it’ against.”

The Cards dominated all of the stats in this contest.

Woodlawn finished 28-of-51 from the floor, including a sparkling 9-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Owens hit 6-of-8 from the 3-point line on the night while leading the club with seven rebounds, part of a 30-17 advantage Woodlawn held on the glass.

Phelps hit 9-of-17 of his shots, all from inside the arc while also grabbing five boards.

Wayne City wasn’t so effective, hitting just 13-of-40 from the floor overall and just 7-of-19 from beyond the arc.

The Tribe committed 15-turnovers in the loss.

Woodlawn is back in action on Wednesday night as they travel to Sesser-Valier in a make up game while Wayne City will travel to Sandoval on Friday.

“I thought we were able to make the extra pass tonight, we were patient enough to get the ball reversed a couple of times,” added Coach Witzel. “And sometimes we haven’t done that well this year. It is helpful when you get an open shot that you make it. You mix in the steals and the turnovers from the press, that is how you put up that big of a number in the first half.”