12-12-12
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – Heading into Wednesday night's game of the Wayne City Holiday Tournament, Thompsonville head coach Brandon Chaplain was worried about his opponents' quickness advantage.

The anxiety proved to be warranted.

Zeigler-Royalton forced the Tigers into 26-turnovers, with six of them coming in the final minutes.

The Tornadoes got Thompsonville into foul trouble and capitalized from the foul line.

Those two resounding factors added up into a come-from-behind 51-47 triumph.

With the win, Z-R improved to 2-1 in Pool A in the tournament. With a win against Webber Township on Thursday night, the Tornadoes will get themselves a spot in the third place game.

“I thought that when we were able to get up and pressure them it really opened things up for us,” said Z-R head coach Matt Morgan. “The kids just absolutely battled in there in the second half and took care of business.”

Coach Morgan's scrappy bunch is now 7-3 on the season.

Zeigler-Royalton outscored T'Ville 20-6 in the final eight minutes.

Jeremy Weddle, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, scored five points in the frame while he and his teammates combined to nail home the win by connecting on 13-of-18 free throws.

Weddle, with the Tornadoes trailing 43-33, connected from the right wing from behind the 3-point arc.

His trifecta sparked the Z-R cause and when his runner in the lane found the mark with 2:40 left, Zeigler-Royalton tied the game at 46-all.

The Tornadoes finalized the win by hitting 5-of-8 from the line while Thompsonville came up empty in the final quarter.

After a bucket by Ryan Darnell with 6:12 to go in the game, the Tigers didn't make another field goal.

“Jeremy (Weddle) was struggling Monday night and I told him you have to keep chipping away because you're the energy we need off the bench,” added Coach Morgan. “Tonight he came up huge for us. Defensively he did a phenomenal job on Householder in the fourth quarter. Him hitting the big three was the momentum changer.”

Coach Chaplain's squad was 2-of-12 in the final stanza.

The Tigers' issues with turnovers aside, Thompsonville had a chance to put Z-R away in the third quarter.

Leading 24-19 at the half, the Cats went on a 10-0 scoring prowl.

Senior guard and team leader Brady Householder canned a trey to begin the scoring blast with Ryan and Lance Darnell each scoring in the paint.

When Householder closed the run with a pair of free throws, Thompsonville was in command at 34-19.

Neither team set the gym on fire offensively.

Zeigler-Royalton was 14-of-52 from the floor and 4-of-18 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers were a bit better, hitting 15-of-43 overall, 4-of-10 from deep.

Thompsonville won the rebounding battle, 34-25.

Nevertheless, the Tigers' turnover problems doomed Coach Chaplain's club.

Thompsonville had ample opportunity to put Z-R away in the middle part of the contest but couldn't take care of the ball well enough.

Householder hit four 3-pointers in the game and finished with a game-high 17-points.

His 3-pointer while being fouled by Z-R's Jeremy Pedigo with 2:34 left in the second quarter gave Thompsonville back the lead at 19-17.

He canned another trey from the left corner and teammate Shane McRoy grabbed an offensive board for a basket at a 24-19 halftime lead.

Counting the third quarter beginning, Thompsonville outgunned the Tornadoes 19-2 in a seven minute stretch and were in command.

But to their credit, the Tornadoes stepped up the defensive pressure and closed the game strong for the win.

Following Householder, 6-foot-6 junior Ryan Darnell finished with 15-points for the Tigers.

Zeigler-Royalton was topped by junior guard Nick McPhail with 13-points while Weddle added 11.

Z-R will face Webber Township on Thursday night at 7 pm while Thompsonville's next game will be Friday night at 8:30 pm against Cisne.

Thompsonville (47) – Householder 0 4 5-5 17, Williams 1 0 1-5 3, R. Darnell 4 0 7-12 15, L. Darnell 2 0 0-0 4, Henson 2 0 0-2 4, McRoy 2 0 0-0 4, Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Parkhill 0 0 0-0 0, Kerley 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-4, FT-13-24 , PF-24.
Zeigler-Royalton (51) – McPhail 2 1 6-8 13, Pedigo 0 0 0-0 0, Moskoff 2 0 6-8 10, Subblefield 2 0 1-2 5, Jones 2 0 5-6 9, Schimpf 0 1 0-0 3, Weddle 2 2 1-2 11, Reese 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-19-26, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Henson - Thompsonville.
Technical Fouls – None.

Down 42-32 heading into the final stanza, head coach Joel Brinkman's club put the clamps down on Clay City, holding the Wolves to just two points in the final eight minutes.

The result was an 18-2 scoring edge in the fourth, which kept Ed Co's title hopes alive at the Conrad Allen.

Five-foot-eleven senior Jonah Laws carried the Lions to the win with 23-points. Mitch Lear netted eight points for Edwards County.

Clay City was led by Andy Kessler with 11-points with Jon Ausbrook chipping in eight.

The Lions are now 3-0 in the event and can punch a ticket into Saturday night's title tilt with a Friday night triumph over Crab Orchard.

Clay City (1-2) with a win over Crab Orchard on Thursday can reach the final day of the event.

Clay City (44) – Kessler 4 0 3-6 11, E. Brown 1 1 0-0 5, Wolfe 3 0 0-0 6, J. Brown 0 1 0-0 3, Prosser 2 0 1-2 5, Ausbrook 0 2 2-3 8, Dulaney 3 0 0-0 6. 2FG-13, 3FG-4, FT-6-11.
Edwards County (50) – Laws 5 0 13-14 23, Toutloff 1 1 1-4 6, Compton 3 0 0-3 6, Lear 1 2 0-0 8, Borowiak 3 0 1-3 7. 2FG-9, 3FG-1, FT-21-28.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

The Cisne Lions would have no part of the third rally, jumping out to a 20-7 first quarter advantage as they cruised past Grayville.

Coach Adam Ellis' club improved to 10-1 on the season and 3-0 in Pool A.

Six-foot senior Erick Powell netted 17-points while Dustin Atteberry and Bjorn Fjermedal added 12-points each as Cisne roared to a 39-19 halftime lead.

Coach Richard Nelson saw his Bison slip to 0-3 this week and 5-6 overall.

Six-foot-three junior Patrick Murphy topped Grayville with 11-points.

A win by Cisne over Thompsonville on Friday night will put the Lions in the championship contest.

Grayville needs a win over Webber Township on Friday to secure a final day spot.

Grayville (43) – Burdin 0 1 1-3 4, C. Neeley 1 0 0-0 2, Thompson 1 2 1-1 9, Ready 2 1 0-0 7, Lee 1 0 0-0 2, Best 4 0 0-0 8, Murphy 2 1 4-4 11.
2FG-11, 3FG-5, FT-6-8 , PF-16.
Cisne (67) – Hamilton 1 0 0-0 2, A. Atteberry 3 0 3-6 9, Conrad 0 1 0-0 3, Mathews 0 0 2-4 2, D. Atteberry 4 1 1-2 12, Powell 7 1 0-0 17, Thomason 1 0 0-1 2, Fjermedal 3 0 6-6 12.
2FG-20, 3FG-5, FT-12-19, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Fjermedal - Cisne.
Technical Fouls – None.