12-19-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – Most fans that have seen the Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes play in 2013-14 know about this guard-oriented team that has rolled out to a 7-1 record.

But they proved on Wednesday night they are not a one-dimensional club.

Getting the ball inside early and working the ball back out late, Z-R had everything going right in their 72-31 pounding of Grayville in the second of four games played at the 60th Annual Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

Six-foot senior forward Brandon Jones, who plays bigger than his height, came up big early in the game.

Jones led all scorers with 14-points and his eight rebounds helped keep the Bison off the glass.

By the time Grayville knew what hit them, Zeigler-Royalton improved their mark to 3-0 in Pool B with a convincing triumph.

“He (Jones) is a very underrated player. For his size he does a phenomenal job in the paint. He came off of ACL surgery last year and he was kind of slow coming back at the beginning of the year but the last couple of games he is rounding into form and he is getting confidence in his leg,” Zeigler-Royalton head coach Matt Morgan explained. “It is starting to play off (the hard work) for him.”

Eleven different Tornadoes combined for 23 made 2-point field goals and six 3-pointers as they took an early lead and never let up to put them in position to play for the championship on Saturday night.

Nick McPhail, a senior leader from the backcourt, added 10-points for Coach Matt Morgan’s club while reserve Andrew Reece nailed three of the long range shots to finish with nine points.

Bailey Schimpf, Boris Moskoff and Timmy Brooks pitched in eight points each in the lopsided victory.

Grayville, not unlike a horse race, never got out of the gate and trailed 19-6 in a “blink-of-an-eye” opening quarter.

Coach Richard Nelson saw his Bison come up empty offensively, hitting just 11-of-47 shots overall (23.4 percent) while making just 1-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Colton Aldredge, a 6-foot-1 senior, led the Bison with seven points and his 3-pointer in the opening minutes cut the Tornadoes’ lead to just 8-5 at the 4:26 mark.

Then Z-R scored 10 of the next 11 points and led 19-6 at the end of one.

The Tornadoes hit 7-of-13 shots in the first quarter, on their way to a 29-of-59 effort offensively (49.1 percent) in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated.

Jones scored six of his points in the opening salvo, scoring a pair of baskets and a couple of free throws while McPhail also started strong with nine first quarter points.

McPhail converted a conventional three-point play and Jones and McPhail added late scores to close the quarter in a robust fashion.

“He’s not that big when you look at him but he finishes and he has a soft touch around the basket,” said Coach Nelson about Brandon Jones. “He hurt us tonight offensively and 9-out-of-10 times he was the first one back on defense.”

Grayville (2-6 overall, 1-3 in the WCHT) was just 2-of-14 in the first frame from the field.

Reece hit the first of his 3-pointers in the second quarter beginning and Brooks added a key rebound basket as Z-R kept a double-digit advantage throughout half.

Grayville got to within 31-16 at the break but came out in the third quarter flat and Zeigler-Royalton took full advantage.

The Tornadoes took the air right out of the Grayville sails with a 7-0 run to give them a 38-16 lead.

Jones scored four of the points while Moskoff nailed a long-range shot.

During this 1:55 stretch, the Bison had five possessions end with five turnovers.

Following a Grayville score by senior Keegan Ready, Z-R closed the quarter by scoring 12-straight points for a 50-18 advantage.

Brooks scored twice in the lane and yet another Tornado devastated the Bison with a long-distance score.

Senior Nick Eisenhauer hit from the right corner as Z-R led by 32-points heading into the fourth quarter.

A fast break conversion by Schmipf and the second trey by Reece pushed the lead to 62-22 with 5:01 to go.

Zeigler-Royalton coasted home from there and are almost assured a spot in Saturday night’s tournament finale.

“The start was fantastic tonight. We had a little lull there in the second quarter but we talked about it at halftime that ‘you have to keep it (the switch) on’ and for the first time this year we want to bury somebody and get it over with,” said Coach Morgan. “We came out in the third quarter and just flat out got after it. I’m really proud of these kids defensively because we came out and played exactly like we are capable of doing. Offensively everybody contributed and we got Reece (Andrew) going. He can be a dead-eye shooter and he ended up with three 3’s.”

Not only did Grayville not shoot the ball well, they committed 23-turnovers.

Coach Morgan’s troops only had eight turnovers and held a 31-29 rebounding edge.

“Scouting them I knew exactly what to expect,” said Coach Nelson. “Their guards are extremely explosive and we couldn’t chase them. They are a very disciplined team. Having discipline at this level you’re going to have games like that. We did not execute tonight and this score does not reflect the season we have had. We had too many unforced turnovers.”

EDWARDS COUNTY 50, CLAY CITY 38
The Lions stayed in contention in Pool A with a win over the Wolves in the final of four games played on Thursday night.

The defeat dropped them to 2-2 in the tournament and 2-4 overall.

Clay City (38) – Kessler 3 0 0-0 6, Lybarger 0 1 2-2 5, Wicke 0 0 3-4 3, Pittman 1 0 0-0 2, Beck 0 0 0-0 0, Prosser 2 0 0-0 4, C. Klingler 3 1 2-2 11, Ausbrook 1 0 2-4 4, Q. Klingler 1 0 1-1 3.
2FG-11, 3FG-2, FT-10-13, PF-13.
Edwards County (50) – Thompson 0 0 4-5 4, Potter 1 2 0-0 8, Schuh 1 2 3-3 11, Troyer 0 2 0-0 6, Borowiak 6 0 0-1 12, Smith 0 1 0-0 3, Grimes 3 0 0-0 6.
2FG-11, 3FG-7, FT-7-9, PF-19.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

CLAY CITY 71, PATOKA 69
The Wolves opened the Thursday session with a triple-overtime victory.

Clay City was led by 20-points from Cody Pittman and 15-points from Leo Lybarger.

Two other Wolves ended up in double-figures in scoring with Jon Ausbrook and Andy Kessler finishing with 13 and 10.

Patoka wasted an opportunity for a win, despite 23-points from Jered Cain and 17-points from Johnnie Clift.